Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was quite ugly at times, but the Wawasee girls basketball team picked up a 51-38 win over Goshen in both teams' Northern Lakes Conference opener Friday evening.
"I'm at a loss of words as to what to tell the kids," said a flumoxed Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. "We had too many possessions where we did good things. Then we had possessions where we reverted to our old ways, doing things they did in junior high."
Wawasee struggled with fouls and turnovers all game long but had just enough in the tank to pull out the win.
The Warriors also used a height advantage with 6-foot-1 senior Shawn Knafel and 5-10 freshman Terra Weisser to top the Redskins.
Knafel finished with game-highs in points and rebounds, racking up 12 and seven respectively, while Weisser was a perfect 4 of 4 from the field to finish with eight points.
"One bright spot was Terra Weisser gave us a kick start and Shawn Knafel had a good spurt," said Zolman.
The Warriors' defense forced Goshen into eight turnovers in the second quarter and held the Redskins to just three points but could only put 12 points of their own on the scoreboard.
Wawasee also struggled with foul trouble. Junior point guard Kalyn Lantz picked up two personal fouls in the first quarter and was forced to sit out the rest of the first half.
Zolman's squad took a 24-13 lead into halftime and looked to put the game out of reach early in the third quarter when Sophomore Lacy Mroz nailed a three-pointer out of the break.
Kylee Ort and Mroz started the second half in place of Lantz and Brennan McAdams in hope of providing a spark.
"That group did a nice job of playing defense at the end of the first half and not fouling," said Zolman of his group that started the second half. "We were hoping to carry that over into the second half."
Ort finished with three points and three rebounds while Mroz finished with eight points and hit two of Wawasee's five three-pointers.
The Warriors extended their lead to 36-21 at the end of three quarters and led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter but let Goshen close to within 10 points on several occasions.
"Give Goshen credit," said Zolman. "They forced us to play their style at several points of the game."
Zolman, who spent an extended period of time talking to his team after the game, said he was confused by the erratic and sloppy play of his team.
Wawasee battled against highly-ranked South Bend Washington in their prior game, a 62-48 loss.
Against a 4-3 Goshen squad, the Warriors lacked cohesiveness on offense or defense.
The Redkins didn't help their own cause as they shot just 13 of 37 (35 percent) from the field and committed 23 turnovers in the game.
Erica Emmanuel led Goshen with 11 points and five rebounds.
Kelsey Peters led the Redskins in defeat with 10 points but shot just 4 of 9 from the free-throw line.
Goshen finished 10 of 20 from the charity stripe for the game.
Taylor Goshert scored eight points for Wawasee and finished with six rebounds.
The Warriors, 6-2 on the season and 1-0 in the NLC, have a week to prepare for their next game as they take on Kosciusko County rival Warsaw Dec. 16 in the Tiger Den.
Warsaw, 3-3 on the season, takes on Plymouth today at home.
WAWASEE 51, GOSHEN 38
Goshen 10 3 8 17 - 38
Wawasee 12 12 12 15 - 51
Goshen FG FT R S Pts.
*Woodford 1-5 0-1 3 3 2
*Stevens 2-5 1-3 1 2 6
*Peters 3-7 4-9 3 2 10
*Borden 2-7 0-0 2 1 5
*Hughes 2-3 0-0 2 0 4
Emanuel 3-6 5-7 5 1 11
Abney 0-3 0-0 2 0 0
Barker 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 13-37 10-20 19 9 38
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
*Walker 2-4 0-0 0 1 6
*McAdams 1-1 1-4 3 1 3
*Goshert 2-8 3-6 6 0 8
*Knafel 5-8 2-2 7 0 12
Wolf 1-3 1-2 4 0 3
Weisser 4-4 0-0 3 3 8
Ort 1-2 1-2 3 0 3
Mroz 2-5 2-2 1 0 8
Totals 18-37 10-18 28 6 51
Three-point goals - Goshen 2-11 (Stevens 1-2, Borden 1-6, Abney 0-2, Peters 0-1), Wawasee 5-10 (Walker 2-3, Mroz 2-4, Goshert 1-3). Turnovers - Goshen 23, Wawasee 23. Fouls - Goshen 18, Wawasee 19 . Fouled out - Emanuel.
JV - Wawasee 36, Goshen 24
Wawasee (6-1) - Ashlee Ort 11, Lacy Mroz 6, Amber Brady 5, Lindsey Bowser 4, Jamie McDaniel 4, Megan McDaniel 4, Ashley Sharp 2
