NAPPANEE - Wawasee High School's girls basketball team enjoyed winning the NorthWood Sectional so much last season, the Warriors decided to do it again this year.
Defeating the Whitko Wildcats 42-26 in Saturday's Sectional 21 championship, the Warriors punched their ticket to this Saturday's Peru Regional, where they'll face 18-5 Eastbrook in the 10 a.m. game."I'm so proud of these kids," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "There's been some adversity and so many things that go on along the way - as all teams do. They just battle every time and respond every time we challenge them."
According to senior Kalyn Lantz, there's a simple reason for the girls' resiliency.
"The team, we get along so well together and we just love being around each other," she said. "I know most teams don't gell as well as we do. We just have fun out there."
Early on against Whitko, no one was having much fun as the team ended the first quarter in a 6-6 tie.
"You don't know what everyone presents," Zolman said about slow start. "It's just kind of like two heavyweights trying to figure out what each one is going to do. That's what happens when you get to the sectional championship. It just took us some time to get into ryhthm."
That rhythm was found in the second quarter, when Wawasee used a 13-0 run to go on top 19-6 before Whitko's only two points were scored by senior Jennaca Juillerat with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
"There's a reason that team's No. 1 in the state," Whitko coach Rob Bell said of 21-2 Wawasee. "They don't beat themselves, they make you beat them, and we just couldn't get enough shots to drop."
The reason for the second quarter turnaround was a more relaxed Wawasee team. The result was a 15-2 advantage in the quarter.
"We just found people a lot better, instead of playing a one-on-one offense," Wawasee junior Taylor Goshert said.
By playing more team ball, the Warriors got more inside touches for sophomore post player Terra Weisser, who netted eight points in the quarter, the last two coming as the clock expired.
"I think Terra gets a little better every game, and she came up big today too," Zolman said of Weisser, who led all scorers with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. "We needed that inside presence."
Along with that inside presence providing offense, it also needed to bring the defense. Entering with the fifth-ranked defense in the state, the Warriors limited Whitko to 14 points through three quarters.
"Free throws, defense and the boards," Zolman said. "Those three things we've really tried to emphasize and put into their minds. They really responded tonight."
That defense forced 20 Whitko turnovers, eight coming in the first quarter, and another six in the third. The swarming Warriors also had the Wildcats rushing shots, connecting on just 8 of 34.
"It was as much their pressure, just knowing that they're always coming at ya," Bell said, downplaying the role fatigue may have played after his girls played three games in four nights, including a double-overtime win over Tippecanoe Valley Wednesday. "So we just rushed our shots a little bit."
For their part, Wawasee also played three games in a tough seven-team sectional.
"I think that's why the sectional week is so special," Zolman said. "You play three games in a week, and it's a matter of the will at the end. I'll give our kids credit when it comes to that, because they have desire to keep winning."
And winning a sectional which had six of its seven teams finish with at least 13 wins, makes it even sweeter.
"It's a tough sectional, all the way around," Lantz said. "All the teams are so good."
"They were really difficult, and especially tiring," Goshert said of Wawasee's sectional games against NorthWood, Lakeland and Whitko.
Coming into the game with a school-record 17 wins, the team from South Whitley reminded Zolman of his team from a year ago - a team that reached the state championship game.
"They were flying under the radar and could have come in and upset things," he said. "I told our kids that, and said, 'A championship team responds to that.' So we kind of put that to rest."
With a team that did so much, including its first Three Rivers Conference title, Bell had a hug and words for senior starters Jamie Westness, Veronia Jersey and Jennaca Juillerat as he emptied his bench in the final minute.
"You just tell them thanks, sorry and I just wish there was more that I could have done," he said. "I wish there's more that we could have done to pull this win out for them."
Whitko was led in scoring by junior Ashley Hoopingarner's seven points, while Juillerat and junior Emily Bidwell each scored five.
Behind Weisser's 12 points, Wawasee received nine from Goshert and another eight from juniors Ashlee Ort and Brennan McAdams. Goshert also led the Warriors with nine rebounds.
