GOSHEN - Warsaw Community High School's varsity girls basketball team kept itself in the Northern Lakes Conference race Saturday, defeating Goshen 48-36.
The road win gave Warsaw with a 2-2 NLC mark, leaving the Tigers behind Plymouth's and Wawasee's 3-1 records and Elkhart Memorial's 4-0 conference record. Memorial put itself in the conference driver's seat Saturday, defeating Wawasee 54-45.
"It's a good conference win," Warsaw coach John Snyder said. "Our conference is very difficult, with Elkhart Memorial beating Wawasee, it just kind of keeps us in it. It's a tough, uphill climb for us. But this is also a win against a possible sectional opponent, and a win on the floor we'll be playing the sectional at. It's a trifecta."
Following a slow start, the Tigers earned that trifecta win by holding the Redskins without a field goal for 10:54 between the first and third quarters.
"As the game went along, we just wore them out," Snyder said. "We just kept making adjustments, defensively. As the game went on, they just had more and more of a difficult time against us. So I was pleased with the defensive effort of the team."
With just 15 seconds remaining the first quarter, Goshen freshman Natalie Newell hit a field goal, resulting an a 13-8 Goshen advantage. From there, a stiffened Warsaw defense led to a 15-3 run and a 23-16 lead midway through the third quarter. During that span, Goshen's only points came from the free-throw line, with its first field goal since late in the first coming off a Kelsey Peters' jumper with 5:36 left in the third quarter "We came out slow and had too many turnovers, once again," Snyder said. "We were standing too tall. Our execution was just poor, but we were able to make some adjustments and some subs gave us some energy."
Following eight first-quarter turnovers, Warsaw committed 12 over the next three quarters, despite a full-court press and half-court trap implemented by the Redskins. Snyder credited the Warsaw turnaround to his bench, which may not have filled the scorebook, but did cut down on turnovers, while forcing many from the Redskins.
"I give a lot of credit to Cendall Ogle," Snyder said of the sophomore. "She came off the bench and played tough defensively. She was just all over (Goshen senior Kaila Stevens), and that really hurts them."
Freshman reserve Kayla Stout also gave Warsaw a boost in the post, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds on a night when senior Kate Denlinger was held in check with four points and two boards. Sophomore Liz Tat led Warsaw with 11 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field, while sophomore Kelci Freds finished with 10 points, all coming in the second half.
"I wasn't excited about the way we executed, but I am excited about the way we played," Snyder said. "This is a good win against a quality team."
Warsaw will be back in NLC action Saturday when the 3-13 Concord Minutemen visit the Tiger Den.
