SOUTH WHITLEY – The final score doesn’t indicate the intensity, especially on defense, that Columbia City and Whitko displayed in the Lady Wildcats’ 57-46 home win Friday night. But Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley had a good example of neighboring schools stepping it up against each other. “Aly (Reiff) said she was playing against her whole church tonight,” he said. It was Whitko’s first win over the Lady Eagles since a 60-41 victory on Nov. 9, 2007, in South Whitley. Whitko’s win was only the second in the annual series since 2000. Led by Reiff and Hanna Yohe, who scored six points each in the first period, the Lady Wildcats led 18-8 after the first period. Signs of fatigue soon followed, and Columbia City cut the deficit to five by halftime. “It is a rivalry; at least we look at it that way. I understand why they wouldn’t, because we haven’t put a string of wins together against them. I know the kids were obviously excited,” Bradley said. “I didn’t see much different from our first two games. Maybe their adrenaline (was a factor), we blew out to that early lead, and then it wore off. We played really tired in the second quarter; we were standing up and down defensively, and didn’t box out very well. On offense we were standing around watching other people dribble, and that’s not how we run offense. We talked about that at halftime.” After the intermission, Whitko stumbled a bit out of the locker room, turning the ball over four times in the first 2:14 of the second half. But Columbia City couldn’t capitalize on the opening, and both teams settled down and found the basket in the last three minutes of the quarter. Jennifer Reiff had eight of Whitko’s 16 points in the quarter, and she finished with 13 points for the game. The final quarter saw Columbia City work to get back in the game, but struggle with putting the ball in the basket a bit. In the second half the Lady Eagles made just 9 of 27 shots, but kept themselves from falling further behind by making 10 of 15 free throws after halftime. Meanwhile, Whitko made 58 percent of its shots after intermission. The Lady Wildcats, however, made just 12 of 24 free throws, including a 5 of 10 effort in the final minute that kept them from putting the game away. “We had a little bit of unsuredness in the third quarter, but I thought they were, too. You could see the nerves late, and that’s something we have to work on,” Bradley said. Aly Reiff finished with a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Brianna Cumberland was the third Whitko player in double digits with 10 points, including a trey and hitting five of eight free throws. Columbia City’s Chelsea Pettigrew and Holly Martinez shared team-high scoring honors with 14 points each. Now 3-0, Whitko comes right back to take on another Whitley County rival when it travels to Churubusco tonight. “That has always been a trap game for us, because back-to-back nights, it’s physical, and there’s a lot of pride. I think since I’ve been here the last four years, three of the games have been single-digit games,” Bradley said. Actually, all four games have been decided by seven points or less, and Whitko has won every year since Churubusco’s 57-39 win on Nov. 13, 2009.
WHITKO 57, COLUMBIA CITY 46 CC 8 10 14 14 – 46 Whi 18 5 16 18 – 57 Columbia City – Darian Farber 1-4 0-1 2, Chelsea Pettigrew 6-8 2-2 14, Elise Cormany 4-14 0-7 8, Holly Martinez 4-15 6-8 14, Regan Decker 0-3 2-2 2. Morgan Bales 2-5 0-0 4, Natalia Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Bella Kreig 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 18-53 10-20 46. Whitko – Jennifer Reiff 5-9 3-4 13, Haley Yohe 1-2 0-0 2, Brianna Cumberland 2-4 5-8 10, Avaree Freel 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Day 0-2 0-0 0, Aly Reiff 8-15 1-2 18, Kayla Schipper 0-1 0-0 0, Kennedy Krull 2-4 3-8 7, Brooke Christoffel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 13-27 57. Three-pointers – Columbia City, none, Whitko 2 (Cumberland, A. Reiff); Rebounds – Columbia City 31 (Pettigrew 8), Whitko 24 (A. Reiff 11); Turnovers – Columbia City 14, Whitko 11; Fouls – Columbia City 21, Whitko 15; Fouled out – Cormany, J. Reiff; Records: Columbia City 1-1, Whitko 3-0. JV – Columbia City 35, Whitko 24 Columbia City – Hunter Alles 11, Miranda McConnell 7, Madison Hansen 4, Kate Frei 4, Ava Winters 4, Grace Cotter 3, Shayla Harris 2. Whitko – Suzanne Sickafoose 10, Ellie Snep 10, Sarah Hewitt 2, Cassidy Stout 1, Brooke Christoffel 1
