SYRACUSE - Despite a 14-game win streak and a win over top-ranked South Bend St. Joe in Saturday's Class 3A northern semistate, many will view Wawasee's varsity girls basketball team as the underdog Saturday's state finals against sixth-ranked Brebeuf Jesuit.That's just fine with ninth-year coach Kem Zolman and the eighth-ranked Warriors.
"We've been the underdog, we may as well finish the season as the underdog," said Zolman, whose team defeated highly-touted St. Joe 58-46 at North Side Gym in Elkhart to advance to the state finals for the just second time time school and first since 1985.
"They have arguably the No. 1 player in the state. They're ranked ahead of us. You'd have to be crazy not to keep us in the underdog role. We've flown under the radar the whole time. I just wouldn't bet against our kids right now. Not with their grit and determination. They're a tenacious and confident group. They're not afraid."
The Warriors (22-3) and Braves (22-6) square off Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Brebeuf, which won the state championship in 2004, features 6-foot-6 senior center Ta'Shia Phillips, whom one recruiting website called the fourth-best high school center in the country.
The 220-pound Phillips, who was a starter on Brebeuf's state championship team when she was a freshman, enters the state finals contest with Wawasee after leading the Braves with 30 points and 19 rebounds in a 55-53 overtime win against Evansville Bosse in the semistate championship game.
The Warriors, who posted a 7-0 record against a tough Northern Lakes Conference schedule, are not strangers to playing highly-regarded players.
In Saturday's semistate loss to Wawasee, Tennesse-bound guard Sydney Smallbone was held to 11 points for St. Joe, while 6-5 Minnesota-bound center Kristen Dockery managed 14 points against a much-smaller Warrior lineup.
Smallbone, who had to deal with a feisty Wawasee defense that gives up just 37 points per game, finished 5 of 13 from the field. She entered the contest averaging nearly 25 points per game.
Rather than Smallbone or Dockery - both seniors - taking centerstage and leading their team into the state finals, it was Wawasee sophomore Taylor Goshert who scored her team's first 18 points of the game en route to a 29-point performance.
So yeah, tell Wawasee's players they can't win. Tell them they don't have a chance. It's as if it just makes them better.
"All week long, people were saying how we couldn't win because we were playing St. Joe and they're No. 1 in the state," said Jessie Wolf, one of three Wawasee seniors. "We'll be the underdog again. People will be talking about Phillips. That's OK with us."
The Warriors and Braves played Dec. 23 in the Wawasee Shootout, with Brebeuf winning 58-53. That was Wawasee's last loss of the season.
Though they may have nerves playing in Conseco Fieldhouse for the state championship, Zolman and the Warriors know what they're getting into having played the Braves already this season.
"When you see (Phillips) for the first time, it's an awesome thing," said Zolman, who in nine years with the Warriors sports a 141-65 coaching record. "She is big. I was really glad to play them in the shootout. When we first saw her, our girls' mouths dropped. I was glad to get that out of the way. Playing at Conseco Fieldhouse will be awesome enough for us."
Rest assured though, that just playing at Conseco Fieldhouse isn't enough for these young Warriors.
Their plan Saturday is one again to silence any naysayers
