Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊOn senior night at Whitko High School, it is tradition for the student cheerblock to throw streams of toilet paper from the stands onto the court after the first Wildcat basket.
When Whitko played Wawasee for senior night, the students in Whitko's crowd had to wait until the 3:39 mark in the first quarter when Brent Goble netted the first Wildcat basket before they could perform the ritual. And although the crowd waited a long time to throw the paper, they made up for it by throwing it for a good two minutes.
In fact, a few pieces were thrown so high they stuck in the rafters, and a ladder had to be brought out to remove one especially stubborn strand from the players' line of vision on the court.
"I felt we had tremendous stress and pressure on us tonight," said Whitko coach Steve Pickett. "The whole concept of senior night put pressure on the team. We knew the whole toilet paper thing would not come until the first basket was scored, and that put more pressure on the guys."
While Whitko did not score until the 3:39 mark in the first frame, Wawasee took advantage of the Wildcat scoring drought to build a 13-0 lead. Nine of those 13 points came from senior Jeremy High who was 5-of-6 shooting from the field in the quarter.
The Warrior defense allowed Whitko to score just one basket and one free throw in the entire quarter to take a 26-3 lead into the second stanza.
Whitko started the second quarter with a 12-4 run, but Wawasee quickly thwarted the Wildcats' hopes of a comeback. The Warriors outscored the Wildcats 14-4 in the last 3:42 of the second frame to take a 45-20 lead at the half.
The third quarter started much like the first as Wawasee outscored Whitko 8-2 in the first two minutes of play. Andrew Packer, R.J. Wilson and High combined for the eight Warrior points, while Shane Henderson scored the basket for Whitko.
Wawasee went on to score 20 points to Whitko's 15 in the third frame.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors continued their offensive attack and outscored Whitko 22-17 to earn the 87-52 victory.
Exactly half of the 52 Wildcat points came from free throws as they finished with a 26-of-31 performance (84 percent) from the charity stripe. Whitko shot 13 of 34 (38 percent) from the field.
Wawasee shot 34 of 50 (68 percent) from the field and 13 of 16 (81 percent) from the free throw line.
High led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe. Wilson added 12 for the Warriors.
"We had a very solid performance tonight," said Wawasee coach Robb Berger. "We played 32 minutes, minus a spell or two here and there, of good basketball. We executed the offense and played good defense."
Henderson led the Wildcats with 13 points, while Brandon Waller added 11 points. Waller was a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line.
Wawasee finishes the regular season 6-14, while Whitko ends the regular season 4-16. Wawasee will face NorthWood Tuesday in the NorthWood Sectional, while Whitko faces Culver Military Academy in the Plymouth Sectional Friday.
"We have played our best basketball in the last six quarters of the season as we head into the second season," said Berger. "That's a good sign."
