NAPPANEE — The cliche' "live by the three, die by three" rang true for the Wawasee boys basketball team Friday night at NorthWood High School. Taking on the West Noble Chargers (13-10) in semifinal action of Class 3A Sectional 21, the Warriors (10-13) made just 8 of 43 three-point attempts, falling 52-39 in the process. "We were getting the open looks, we just weren't able to knock them down," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "If we just shoot a little bit below our average on the season, it's a whole different ballgame. You have to give West Noble a lot of credit. They came out and stayed in a zone. They gambled that we were going to miss the shots and it paid off for them." The zone West Noble coach Jim Best, a former Wawasee assistant, turned to was a 2-3 and it worked to perfection. "They played excellent team defense," Best said of his Chargers, who held Wawasee to 21 percent shooting overall. "I looked up at the clock in the fourth quarter and Wawasee had 29 points. They did a nice job. They covered the wings really well. It was a great team defensive effort." The zone worked so well that Mishler actually had senior Jake Clark hold the ball on his hip for approximately a minute-and-a-half late in the second quarter with West Noble leading 21-17. Mishler may have hoped Best would get out of his zone to pressure the ball, but that didn't happen. "We had a four-point lead, so there was no reason for me to go out," Best said. "At that time, I thought, 'Let's just stand here for a while.'" After calling a timeout, Wawasee hit two three-pointers to close the half, the last being by senior Zac Patrick at the buzzer, helping Wawasee hold a 23-21 halftime lead. In the first half, 20 of Wawasee's 23 field goal attempts were from behind the three-point arc, but with a lead, the result was hard to argue with. However, the rim got a little tighter in the second half. Through the first 13 minutes of the final half, the Chargers outscored the Warriors 24-6, building a 45-29 lead with 2:58 remaining. "They really hit the three-pointers well in the first half and we were really hoping that wouldn't continue into the second," Best said. "I think they cooled off a little bit in the second half and it made it a little bit more difficult for them. That's the kind of ball they play. They look for those shots." The Warriors, who hit 34 percent of their three-point attempts on the season, only hit 2 of 23 in the second half, the first coming from senior Trent Koble with 2:35 left in the game. While Wawasee was staying behind the three-point line, West Noble took just four shots from behind the arc, making one. Instead, the Chargers used their size, converting 18 of 31 field goals (58 percent). "They were able to make shots we were willing to allow them to take," Mishler said. "They were hitting the 10-, 12-foot jumpers, and that's what our plan was. We knew we had to take (sophomore Drew) Schermerhorn away from the perimeter and we knew we had to take the bank shots and easy layups away from their bigs. If we could do that, we'd be giving something up, which was the 10- to 12-foot jumper. They hit those and we missed our threes." Schermerhorn hit West Noble's only three-pointer, finishing the game with 16 points, but it was 6-foot-4 sophomore Keith Gibson that was the bigger problem for the Warriors. Making 7 of 9 field goals, Gibson tallied 20 points and 13 rebounds, making 6 of 6 free throws as well. Starting three sophomores and two juniors, West Noble proved they may be a tough out not only this season, but in years to come. "They're young and their whole program is changing," Mishler said. "Jim's doing an awesome job with them. He's got them excited." West Noble will look for its first sectional title tonight against NorthWood, which reached the 7:30 p.m. championship game by defeating Lakeland 51-41 in Friday night's first semifinal. For Wawasee, which was led by junior Ryndan Aaron's 20 points, it was the final game for seniors Koble, Patrick, Jake Clark and Bauer Schmeltz, all of which are starters. "The seniors have so much invested in it," Mishler said. "They have their parents and their support system around them, but it's so hard to end it like that. The only thing that can really help them feel better is taking the life lessons they learned from basketball and being the best they can be outside the game. And also knowing the legacy they left for the younger guys is to work your tail off. If Wawasee continues with that kind of work ethic, then the seniors have done their job."
WEST NOBLE 53, WAWASEE 39 Wa 14 9 5 11 – 39 WN 15 6 13 19 – 53 WN – Drew Schermerhorn 5-6 5-6 16, Nick Thomas 1-3 3-4 5, Phil Miller 2-5 1-2 5, Keith Gibson 7-9 6-6 20, Nick Noe 3-5 1-1 7, Damon Lortie 0-1 0-0 0, Armando Rosales 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-31 16-19 53. Wawasee – Trent Koble 3-10 1-2 9, Jake Clark 1-9 0-0 3, Ryndan Aaron 6-20 4-5 20, Zac Patrick 1-2 1-3 4, Bauer Schmeltz 1-12 1-2 3, Austin Lutz 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Clark 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 12-56 7-12 39. Three-point goals – WN 1-4 (Schermerhorn), Wawasee 8-43 (Aaron 4, Koble 2, J. Clark, Patrick); Team Fouls (fouled out) – WN 12, Wawasee 18 (J. Clark); Turnovers – WN 17, Wawasee 7; Rebounds – WN 35 (Gibson 13), Wawasee 22 (Schmeltz 5); Assists – WN 9 (Noe 4), Wawasee 6 (J. Clark 3); Steals – WN 4 (Miller 2), Wawasee 13 (Koble 3, J. Clark 3, Patrick 3); Blocks – WN 2, Wawasee 0; Records: WN 13-10, Wawasee 10-13
