Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - After Wawasee's loss to Bremen last Friday to put the Warriors at 0-20 on the season, coach Jerry Davis said that every team is in the same boat when it came to sectional competition.
The Warriors rocked the boat Tuesday night when they earned their first win of the season in an upset win in the sectional against Lakeland, 51-48.
Wawasee jump-started the game by taking a quick 5-0 lead with 6:52 left to play after Josh Zolman netted a three-point basket.
Lakeland, however, refused to give in and scored five points in under 30 seconds to knot the tally at five.
The Lakers continued to pummel the Warriors for the next two minutes, and with 4:42 left in the first frame Lakeland held a 10-5 lead over Wawasee.
On the next Wawasee possession, the Lakeland squad could not seem to keep their hands to themselves as they fouled four times in 19 seconds.
By the end of the first, the Warriors had cut the Laker lead to three, 14-11, and Wawasee was ready to regain the lead.
In the second stanza, the Warriors were on a mission as they held Lakeland scoreless for more than half of the quarter to take a 20-14 lead with 3:25 left.
The Lakers remained scoreless until 3:20 remained on the clock when Nick Yoder hit both halves of a one-and-bonus to give Lakeland its first points of the second frame.
The Warriors continued to battle and went into the lockers with a 24-21 advantage at the half.
A three-point basket by Jerod Weimer tied the game at 24 to start the second half, but Jeremy High answered with a two-point goal to put the Warriors back on top.
Josh Weimer slipped another basket past the Warriors to tie the score at 26, but Chris Lambert returned the favor by netting a three-pointer of his own to give the Wawasee squad a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
After three quarters of play, Wawasee had increased its lead to 39-34, and the Warriors could begin to smell the sweet scent of victory.
In the fourth, Wawasee held Lakeland scoreless until 4:33 and took a 43-34 lead before Aaron Meyers sank both shots of a one-and-bonus opportunity.
With 1:52 left in regulation, Mitch Todd hit a two-pointer to bring the Lakers to within three, 45-42, but Wawasee answered the call with a Zolman basket to hold the lead at five.
The Lakers and Warriors traded baskets for the next minute and a half until the score stood at 49-46 with 34 seconds left to play.
Lambert netted both ends of a one-and-bonus with 33.2 seconds remaining to restore Wawasee's five-point lead, but Matt Grossman nailed a basket with just 17 ticks left on the clock to make it a one possession game.
With less than 20 seconds on the clock, Wawasee attempted to inbound the ball with a cross-court pass, but the ball missed its mark and sailed out of bounds near the far end of the floor, giving possession back to Lakeland.
Lakeland inbounded the ball and took a last second shot that failed to make the journey through the net as the Warriors rebounded the ball and listened to the buzzer sound in their first victory of the season.
As the Wawasee team and fans filtered onto the floor, the scoreboard told the story: Wawasee 51, Lakeland 48.
"It was ugly out there at times," said an emotional Davis, "but the kids went ahead and played tough. The players kept focused and pulled it out."
Three Warriors scored in double figures in the Wawasee victory. Andrew Warner netted 16 points and led the team with seven rebounds, while Lambert scored 12 points and pulled down three rebounds for the Warriors. Zolman added 10 points in the Wawasee victory.
"You hope your seniors will play big in the sectional," said Davis. "Our seniors did. They are the most experienced players on the team, so I'm not surprised, but they did a great job out there tonight."
"Now our kids have a story to tell their children in the future. The end will be a lot happier than it could have been."
The Warriors will not have much time to relish their victory, however, as they must prepare to play West Noble in the first game Thursday evening. West Noble defeated Northridge, who was favored to win the sectional, 78-62 in Tuesday night's sectional opener.
"Now that we've gotten a taste of winning, we want to keep it going," said Davis. "When I said we'd have practice tomorrow, the kids almost raised the roof off the locker room with their cheers."
Wawasee 51 Lakeland 48
Wawasee 11 13 15 12 - 51
Lakeland 14 7 13 14 - 48
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Zolman 4-7 0-0 0 1 10
Lambert 4-7 2-3 3 1 12
High 2-2 2-2 4 0 6
Nethaway 0-3 0-0 3 0 0
Warner 7-10 2-3 7 0 16
Wilson 0-3 2-2 0 0 2
Knisely 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
Packer 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Gradle 1-2 0-0 3 0 3
Ploszek 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 19-38 8-10 23 2 51
Lakeland FG FT R S Pts.
Je. Weimer 2-5 0-0 0 1 5
Todd 5-12 0-1 1 0 11
Grossman 3-3 0-0 1 0 6
Romer 2-9 0-2 2 2 4
Jo. Weimer 1-9 2-2 2 1 5
Na. Yoder 3-4 2-2 2 0 8
Meyers 0-0 2-2 2 1 2
Ni. Yoder 2-2 3-4 3 0 7
Eberhard 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 18-45 9-13 13 5 48
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 5-12 (Zolman 2-5, Lambert 2-4, Wilson 0-1, Gradle 1-2), Lakeland 3-21 (Je. Weimer 1-4, Todd 1-6, Romer 0-3, Jo. Weimer 1-8). Turnovers -ÊWawasee 12, Lakeland 16. Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls -ÊWawasee 16, Lakeland 16.
Officials -ÊSteve Homner, Jack Urban.
Game 1 Score - West Noble 78, Northridge 62.
Leading scorers -ÊNorthridge: Anderson 21, Thomas 13, Weirich 12; West Noble: Burns 22, Blotkamp 19, Dragoo 18.
