Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PLYMOUTH - Given what they did to his team nearly two weeks ago, third-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle wanted to hold Wawasee stars Kory Lantz and Austin Kaiser to 31 combined points Wednesday evening.
The Tigers did that, but the play of Wawasee senior starters Michael Conrad and Ryan Kauchak was key in the Warriors beating Warsaw 60-58 in the semifinal round of the fifth and final Northern Lakes Conference Tournament.
On Dec. 17, Kaiser scored 27 and Lantz 23 as Wawasee pasted Warsaw by 18 at the Hardwood TeePee.
Wednesday evening in the second semifinal game at Plymouth High School, Kaiser scored a team-high 20 points, but Lantz had an uncharacteristic night, scoring just three points. He finished the game 1 of 10 from the field, 1 of 6 from three-point range and 0 of 4 from the free throw line.
After the game, Wawasee coach Phil Mishler, whose Warriors improved to 6-0 and advanced to tonight's NLC Tournament title game at Goshen High School with Northridge, said Lantz had a bad blister on his foot.
Lantz didn't appear to have any trouble getting up and down the court; however, his sub-par shooting performance rendered the idea that maybe it was a problem with his hand.
"Sometimes you have those off nights," said Mishler. "It's tough being out there in a tank top and shorts with all those eyes on you."
It didn't seem to bother Kaiser, Conrad, Kauchak.
Kaiser and Conrad hit eight three-pointers between them, with Kaiser scoring 20 points and Conrad 17. Kauchak finished the game 5 of 5 from the field and 4 of 6 from the free throw line to score 14 points.
"Our goal was to hold the Lantz-Kaiser connection to 31 points or under," said Ogle, whose Tigers fell to 6-3 on the season. "We did that, unfortunately, Conrad had a very good game. He hit some big threes."
All four of Conrad's three-pointers came in the second half, two in the third quarter and two in the fourth. His first trey in the final frame gave the Warriors a 45-44 lead with 5:35 to play, while the second pushed Wawasee's advantage to 56-50 with 1:35 remaining.
"He missed his first three shots, but we're confident in his shot and we told him to keep shooting," Mishler said of Conrad. "He knocked down some big ones."
The Tigers cut the lead to 57-55 when junior John-Wesley Maierle hit the second of a two-free-throw opportunity with 23 seconds left.
Conrad hit one of two free throws with 14 ticks on the clock, pushing the lead back to three, and Kauchak added a pair of charity tosses with seven seconds left for a 60-55 advantage.
Warsaw senior Michael Wienhorst, who missed a three-pointer prior to Kauchak's free throws that would have tied the game at 58, hit a trey with two seconds left to account for the final score.
Wienhorst led all scorers with 21 points, while junior Colin Clemens scored 13. Andrew Holladay finished with seven, Maierle six and Shaun Cabrera five.
Wawasee led 14-11 after the first quarter, while the Tigers held a 24-22 advantage at the half. The teams were knotted at 40 at the end of the third quarter.
Northridge, behind 30 points from 6-5 freshman Brent Eaton and 22 points from 6-10 senior Ronnnie Thomas, beat Plymouth 68-57 in Wenesday's first semifinal game.
Northridge (7-1) and Wawasee, the only undefeated NLC team left after Concord lost Tuesday and Plymouth Wednesday, square off at 7:45 p.m. today.
The girls championship game between Warsaw and Plymouth tips off at 6 p.m.
WAWASEE 60, WARSAW 58
Wawasee 14 8 18 20 - 60
Warsaw 11 13 16 18 - 58
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Lantz 1-10 0-4 2 0 3
* Kaiser 6-12 4-7 3 3 20
* Gerber 2-6 2-2 8 3 6
* Conrad 4-7 5-6 5 2 17
* Kauchak 5-5 4-6 4 2 14
Mock 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Leach 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 18-40 15-25 23 10 60
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Cabrera 2-6 1-4 4 0 5
* Holladay 3-4 1-1 1 0 7
* Maierle 3-3 0-0 2 0 6
* Wienhorst 7-14 4-5 2 2 21
* Clemens 4-8 5-5 4 3 13
Conley 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Fuller 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Reinholt 2-3 0-0 4 0 4
Team 0-0 0-0 6 0 0
Totals 22-40 11-15 23 6 58
Three-point goals - Wawasee 9-21 (Kaiser 4-8, Conrad 4-7, Lantz 1-6), Warsaw 3-9 (Wienhorst 3-6, Clemens 0-3). Turnovers - Wawasee 11, Warsaw 14. Fouls - Wawasee 16, Warsaw 19. Fouled out - Maierle.
