SYRACUSE - Wawasee juniors Brennan McAdams, Ashlee Ort and Kylee Ort need a break.
After helping the Wawasee girls soccer team reach the Crown Point Semistate, they're now intregal parts of the basketball team, set to take on the Plymouth Pilgrims in the Plymouth Semistate Saturday at approximately 3 p.m."We've had three days off," McAdams said about the girls' busy school year.
Beginning soccer practice back on Aug. 1, the girls are hopeful their athletic season will last at least until March 1, the date of the girls basketball state finals at Conesco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. But even with all that time dedicated to athletics, they don't seem to mind.
"We're friends with the people on the team, so we're always together," Kylee Ort said. "We're right where we want to be."
On top of being where they want to be physically, they're also where they want to be figuratively - a game away from avenging a loss in last season's state championship game.
"This is what we've been waiting for since last March," McAdams said Saturday's semistate game.
Last March, the Wawasee girls fell to Indianapolis Brebeuf in the Class 3A title game, and now, just one team stands in their way of a return trip to Indianapolis. However, that one team is Northern Lakes Conference foe Plymouth, a 58-40 loser at Wawasee on Jan. 19.
"They've always been one of our biggest rivals, so it will be fun," McAdams said of the matchup.
All the girls described the last meeting between the two NLC teams as fun, with Ashlee eager to see if she and her teammates have improved since that win.
"I want to see how we've progressed," she said. "They're also a team we're familiar with, which makes it a fun semistate."
It's probably a given that both teams have improved since that game, and coach Kem Zolman is even more confident that another 18-point win isn't likely.
"You look at our second game against NorthWood," Zolman said of his team's 48-33 sectional-opening win over the Panthers following a 59-36 win on Jan. 5. "We're planning on a tough game for a semistate championship, not a blowout. It's going to be about who's able to do what they want to do the best."
What both teams do well is protect the ball, play tough defense, run a patient offense and hustle. Wawasee enters the game averaging 52 points, while surrendering 34, compared to Plymouth's 53-39 average.
"We're probably a little more uptempo than they are," Zolman said. "But at this level in the tournament, every possession counts. In the regular season, you can screw up five or six possessions and come back. At this point, there's no room to screw up."
And after watching the Pilgrims in action, he's also noticed there's no time to let up.
"They have a lot of hustle," Zolman said of the Pilgrims. "You think you have a loose ball, then they take it away and score an easy bucket."
That may be the scouting report for the Pilgrims, but it could just as easily be the same for the Warriors. On the year, the Warriors have averaged 16 steals a game, led by McAdams 3.3 spg. Illustrating how the Warriors give equal-opportunity to recording steals, on average, Ashlee posts 2.9 a game, followed by junior Taylor Goshert's 2.7, Kylee's 2.6 and senior Kalyn Lantz's 2.5.
Those quick hands have led to a 23-2 record on the basketball court, while quick feet led to a 15-5-1 record on the soccer field. The reason for the extended postseason runs in both sports was due to loyalty, according to the three.
"We had great seniors in soccer, and we just didn't want to see the season end for them," McAdams said. "The same thing's true for basketball. We have two great seniors in Kalyn Lantz and Erin Wallace."
After having already missed out on one semistate victory this season, the three know what it takes to compete at such a high level. And following that loss on the soccer field, they're looking for a better feeling on the basketball court.
"We had high standards," Ashlee said about getting onto the hardwood immediately after losing the soccer semistate match, 2-1, to eventual state-runner up Penn. "We set goals to shoot for."
That loss at Crown Point, coupled with the state championship loss a year ago, has left a bitter taste in the mouthes of a girls, a taste they want to flush out as soon as possible.
"You know what it's like, so it just makes you want it more," McAdams said about all the postseason success the girls have had over the past year.
The girls are also careful not to look past the Pilgrims, even though their ultimate goal sits just a week away.
"It does seem real close, but we try not to look ahead," Ashlee said.
"But we can't help it sometimes," McAdams chimed in, before Ashlee could finish, "It is amazing how close it seems."
Another amazing feeling may be a season without any athletic committments. Last spring, the Ort twins competed on the Wawasee softball team, while McAdams took part in track. However, this season, they're leaving their schedules free.
"We just want to focus less on sports," McAdams said. "It got to be too much.
"We did learn about time management," she added. "And to leave Sundays open."
With two more wins, all the work they've put in will be well worth it. And while contemplating that, they'll have the time to just lounge back in a comfortable recliner - taking a well-deserved rest.
