Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Whitko and Wawasee had different incentives for winning Friday night's game.
Wawasee came into the game 0-12 and was looking for its first win of the season.
Whitko was looking to move to .500 on the season and keep the Warriors winless.
Whitko won out, beating Wawasee 58-49.
The action was slow starting as the Warriors broke into the scoring column with six straight free throws. Five of those coming from senior center Andrew Warner. Whitko was paced early by Josh Gonzalez. Gonzalez who would terrorize the Wawasee defense all night scored the Wildcats first six points.
The Warriors struggled from the field early and often as they were unable to hit from the field in the first quarter until the 2:00 minute mark on a Warner jumper.
After Warner's field goal the Warriors went on a mini 6-2 run to close out the first quarter with a 14-7 lead.
Whitko went on a run of their own outscoring Wawasee 16-2 over the course of four minutes. Whitko held Wawasee to six points in the second quarter and pushed its halftime lead to 27-20.
According to Whitko assistant coach Jim Ryan the Wildcat players played inspired ball due to the fact that head coach Fred Fields missed Friday night's game due to health problems.
"The players came out and played really well even though Coach Fields wasn't here. They showed great poise and played very well."
Whitko started the second half with another big run. They outscored Wawasee 16-7 to start the third quarter and never looked back. The Wildcats stretched their lead out to as many as 13 points midway through the fourth quarter.
Wawasee could only get to within eight before the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run. One of the few bright spots for the Warriors was the rebounding department, where Warner and Jeremy High had 11 and 13 rebounds respectively. The Warriors killed Whitko in total rebounds 35-17 but were still unable to manage a win.
For Wawasee coach Jerry Davis the ingredients are there for a win but they just can't get over the hump.
"Warner did a great job of being agressive and rebounding along with High we did some good things out there but the ball didn't go down from the three-point line and that hurt us."
The Warriors, 0-13, hope that traveling to East Noble tonight brings them their first win.
WHITKO 58
WAWASEE 49
Whitko (6-6) 7 20 18 13-58
Wawasee (0-13) 14 6 13 16-49
Whitko FG FT A S R Pts.
Wendel 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Waybright 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 5
Mohr 2-7 6-6 0 1 1 10
J. Wendel 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 4#
Gonzalez 9-16 1-2 1 5 2 19##
Ryan 1-2 6-8 1 0 4 9
Martin 1-5 4-9 0 0 5 6
Totals 16-36 17-25 2 8 13 58
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
Ploszek 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Zolman 1-6 0-0 0 2 2 3
Gradle 0-4 0-2 0 0 0 0
Adkins 2-5 0-0 0 0 1 5
High 5-12 0-0 3 0 13 11
Lambert 1-7 0-0 0 0 3 2
Nethaway 5-9 0-0 0 0 3 10
Warner 5-11 5-11 0 0 11 15
Packer 1-1 0-0 0 1 5 2
Totals 20-57 5-13 3 3 38 49
Three-point goals -Whitko 2-5 (Waybright 1-1, Ryan 1-1) Wawasee 3-11 (Zolman 1-6, Adkins 1-3, High 1-2.) Turnovers: Wawasee 12, Whitko 9. Total Fouls: Wawasee 23, Whitko 12. Fouled out: none.
JV: Whitko 59 Wawasee 58 OT
Wawsee scoring leaders - Travis Speicher 15, Travis Kleinke 10.
Whitko scoring leaders -ÊBryan Howard 26, Brent Goble 20.
