Wawasee Falls To Columbia City

COLUMBIA CITY -ÊThe Wawasee boys basketball team had just two games left before sectional play when they traveled to Columbia City to face the No. 6 (4A) Eagles Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for the Warriors those two games were with Columbia City and Tippecanoe Valley, a pair of teams who had only lost two games between them.

The Eagles still have only one loss on their record and they showed why they deserved their ranking, defeating the Warriors 42-29.

Wawasee coach Phil Mishler and his Warriors were looking to get ready for the start of sectional play Tuesday. They did just that for at least half the game.

"We did a lot of good things in the first half," said Mishler. "I felt like we did what we needed to do."

Wawasee seemed to have the answers to Columbia City early as the Warriors jumped out to a 10-4 lead late in the first quarter, primarily on the shoulders of the hot-shooting Stephen Conrad. He found the basket for two treys as well as a two early to score eight points in the first six minutes.

Columbia City called timeout with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter and the score at 10-4 in favor of Wawasee.

Whatever Columbia City Coach Chris Benedict said, it was just what the Eagles needed, as it was all Columbia City after that. The Eagles went on to outscore the Warriors 38-19 for the remainder of the game.

Immediately after the timeout the Eagles got two quick threes to tie the game 10-all at the end of the first quarter. Wawasee opened the second quarter with a turnover to give Columbia City the lead. At halftime the Eagles maintained a slim, two-point lead at 16-14.

If anything it was the third quarter that led to the demise of the Warriors as Columbia City outscored the Warriors 15-5 in the third to take a 31-19 lead. Columbia City continued to play excellent defense as they made the Warriors work very hard to find a shot. It was that defense that led to Wawasee's 32% shooting from field goal range.

The game remained very physical with both teams going into the fourth quarter with only three fouls each for the game. The stat would hurt Wawasee as they needed to get Columbia City to the line and the Eagles weren't in the one and one yet.

The fourth saw Columbia City content to work the ball and wait for the foul. They made nine free throws in the fourth, never allowing Wawasee to pull any closer than eight as the Eagles held on for the final of 42-29.

"We couldn't establish our defense in the third quarter," said Mishler. The Warriors also lost the battle of the turnovers in this game, something unusual for Wawasee. They turned the ball over 14 times compared to just 5 for Columbia City.

Columbia City will take their record to 18-1, with their only loss in holiday tournament play to Noblesville. Wawasee's record now stands at 14-6. Both teams enter the same sectional next Tuesday night in Warsaw. Columbia City will take a perfect 5-0 record against fellow opponents as they will take on Warsaw in game two on Tuesday night. They Warriors will battle Carroll of Allen County in game one that same evening.