SOUTH WHITLEY – In essence, the Wawasee boys basketball team had to defeat the Whitko Wildcats twice Saturday night in South Whitley. After building a 61-42 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Wawasee Warriors (5-0) saw their lead shrink and vanish when Whitko (1-3) took a 66-65 lead following senior Logan Irwin's 17th point of the quarter on a made three-pointer with 2:01 remaining. However, from there, Wawasee junior Jacob Thompson hit a three-pointer that ignited a 7-0 run that gave the road team a 72-66 win. "A player like Logan is so good," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said of Whitko's Stetson University-bound 6-foot guard. "I knew if we were going into the fourth quarter with a lead under 20, he was going to make it a game. He's that kind of competitor. He's a great kid. He understands the game and he has an IQ of a coach. He just knows what needs to be done and he gets it done." Irwin's 17-point fourth quarter gave him 36 for the game, but his coach/father Rob Irwin had hoped for a little more than his 2-of-6 shooting in the first half for eight points. "For us to be good, it doesn't take a rocket scientist, Logan can't be bad," Rob Irwin said. "I understand he has three or four guys guarding him all the time and they're beating him up. But, if you're that good, you have to find a way to make 'us' competitive and find ways to get us in games when we can win it in the end." Along with Irwin's production, Whitko also got 11 points from both senior Jordan Sims and junior Alex Stoddard. One Wawasee's side, balance was key, as senior Trent Koble, Thompson and junior Ryndan Aaron each scored 13, while seniors Bauer Schmeltz and Zac Patrick each netted 12. "When we're being scouted, coaches say, 'We can't leave this guy alone, because he will shoot it and score,'" Mishler said. "They concentrated and did a good job of taking Jacob out of stuff, but our other guys stepped up." In the win, the Warriors made 11 three-pointers, with five different players hitting one, led by Aaron's four. "They had some guys step up and hit some threes that I didn't think could make threes," Rob Irwin said. "You don't count on that stuff." Despite those players converting three-pointers, Whitko still found itself within striking distance late in the game. Following Thompson's made three-pointer with 1:15 to play, which put the Warriors in front 68-66, Wawasee had a chance to increase its lead with 17 seconds remaining with Schmeltz at the free-throw line. However, Schmeltz missed both, but Patrick nabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and converted two free throws to get a firm grip on the lead. "Guys lose games because of something little like that," Rob Irwin said about giving up the offenseive rebound on the missed free throw. The win improves Wawasee's record to 5-0, but the close call served as a good lesson for Mishler's Warriors. "We just need to learn to play with a lead," he said. "I think we got a good taste of what that means today. "This is definitely one we feel good about, but I don't think we feel good about that fourth quarter and it's something we can learn from," he added. In defeat, Rob Irwin saw something in his team he hasn't seen thus far this year. "We showed signs," he said. "We finally played like we wanted to win. We're getting better. This group is just young and doesn't have much experience with a lot of the guys we're expecting things out of." Both teams return to conference action Friday, as Wawasee is at Warsaw and Whitko hosts Tippecanoe Valley.
