The rivalry between Warsaw and Columbia City has produced some down-to-the-wire girls basketball games over the years.
Tuesday night's regular-season matchup in Warsaw wasn't one of them, as the host Lady Tigers bridged the second and third quarters with a 16-2 run and beat the Lady Eagles 64-39."It's been a great rivalry over the years," said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. "It doesn't matter who the coach is or who the players are, you want to play well. And it always feels good to come out on top in this game."
With the 24-point win, the Lady Tigers have won four of their last five games and are now 4-3 on the season. The Lady Eagles, who have lost nine straight to Warsaw and trail 28-18 in the all-time series, fell to 5-4 on the season with their third straight loss.
Warsaw led 21-19 midway through the second quarter, but started to pull away with a 9-0 run to close the half.
The Lady Tigers then opened the third quarter with a 7-2 spurt to take a 37-21 lead that Columbia City never full recovered from.
The Lady Eagles cut the lead to 10, 41-31, but were outscored 22-8 the remainder of the game.
Warsaw's biggest lead of the game was the final margin.
"We came out and got a big win," said Harter. "The kids all played well, and they're gaining more and more confidence."
One player in particular who was feeling confident Tuesday night was sophomore Lindsay Baker, who scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Baker's previous career high in scoring was 10 in a 65-49 win at Whitko on Nov. 26.
After making just 2 of 18 three-point attempts in the first six games of the season, Baker converted 5 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc against Columbia City.
"Lindsay is gaining confidence in her outside shot," said Harter. "And they were all in the flow of the offense, that's the good thing. She played well tonight."
Baker finished the game 8 of 12 from the field overall and 2 of 2 at the free throw line.
Senior Kayla Stout added 18 points and nine rebounds in the win.
"Kayla and Lindsay are our most experienced players," said Harter. "They have a lot of pressure on them to do well. I thought tonight they were both relaxed and just let things come to them."
Junior Lauren Burish scored eight points for the Lady Tigers, who finished the game 22 of 43 (51 percent), 9 of 14 from three-point range, and 10 of 15 at the charity stripe.
Warsaw outrebounded the Lady Eagles 32-23 and dished out 15 assists to Columbia City's seven.
Senior Maddie Hinen led Columbia Cith with 12 points, while classmate Sierra Burlage chipped in with 10 points.
The Lady Eagles were 18 of 47 (38 percent) from the field overall, 2 of 8 behind the arc, and 1 of 4 at the free throw line.
The Lady Tigers will be in action again Saturday when they host Northern Lakes Conference rival Wawasee (7-1). Both Warsaw and Wawasee are 1-0 in NLC action.
