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INDIANAPOLIS - Though its players, coaches and fans would like to forget the first quarter and the outcome of Saturday's Class 4A state championship game, Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team had a season to remember.
The second-ranked Tigers' dream season ended Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with a nightmarish 53-38 loss to fifth-ranked North Central, but it will go down as one of the best in school history.
En route to their state runner-up finish, the Tigers set school records for most games played in a season (29) and games won in a season (26), and won seven various team championships.
Warsaw was ranked preseason No. 1 by Hoosier Basketball Magazine and the coaches association and never appeared lower than ninth in the polls at any point during the season.
"This is a great group of young ladies to be around," said Tiger coach Will Wienhorst, who earned his 400th career victory with a win at rival Columbia City on Dec. 29. "They've been through a lot, and I can't say enough about them. They worked hard all season, and I'm very proud of them."
Warsaw senior Michelle DeGeeter, daughter of Mike and Jeanine DeGeeter, was honored for her accomplishments on and off the court Saturday, as the four-year varsity starter was the recipient of the prestigous Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award. The award was given to a player in each of the championship games Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse. The recipients in the 1A, 2A and 3A games were from the winning teams.
"I'm very proud of her," said Wienhorst. "Now her name goes down in history. Her name goes down with a lot of young ladies who have worked very hard on the basketball court and very hard in the classroom."
Included in the seven team championships the Tigers won this year were the City Securities Hall of Fame Classic, Lady Tiger Tournament, Lake City Bank Northern Lakes Conference Holiday Tournament, Warsaw Sectional, Huntington Regional and the Warsaw Semistate.
The Tigers, who finished with a 26-3 season record and made their fourth state championship game appearance in school history, also won the NLC regular season championship by going 7-0 for the second straight year.
After a come-from-behind win over Carroll in the sectional championship game, and then a double-digit win over No. 10 Kokomo in the regional semifinal, a large contingent of Tiger fans saw Warsaw win the regional title in convincing fashion over No. 9 Huntington North.
The number of fans continued to grow for the semistate, where nearly 3,000 fans witnessed one of the most thrilling Tiger victories in school history.
After trailing by eight with four minutes left in regulation, the Tigers came back and won in overtime as senior standout Jaclyn Leininger hit two free throws with nine seconds left, putting Warsaw in the state finals for the first time since 1991.
"I'm really proud of the way the fans turned out," said Wienhorst. "They got to see a great game for the sectional championship, two great games in the regional, and just a great comeback by the girls in the semistate. The fans really came out and supported us, and we thank them for that."
The WCHS Athletic Department said they sold 1,000 tickets for the state finals in the first two hours of sales.
Official attendance at Saturday's 3A and 4A state championship games - which included cheering sectionals from all four teams that played in the evening session as well as fans from around the state that showed up that door - was 9,073, with an estimated 2,100 of them representing Warsaw.
Among the Tiger fans in attendance at Conseco Fieldhouse were several former players, including 1976 Miss Basketball Judi Warren and her teammates from the first-ever girls basketball state championship team.
Coach Janice Soyez' team was introduced at center court at halftime of the 4A state title game as part of a celebration honoring the history of girls basketball in the Hoosier state.
"They gave us some nice flowers and told us to carry on the tradition," said Wienhorst when asked if the players from the 1976 team had talked to the current players. "They let us know that they were behind us."
A lot of people were, as evidenced by the number of orange shirts in attendance at Conseco Fieldhouse, and by the way they were given a standing ovation and warm welcome back at the team's hotel.
