COLUMBIA CITY – Whitko High School’s girls basketball team played well enough on the defensive end of the floor to win, but failure to execute on offense led to a 37-34 loss at Columbia City Friday night. After closing an eight-point defecit to two in the last two minutes of the game, the Lady Wildcats in the last 20 seconds missed the front end of a one-and-one, got a turnover only to throw the ball away, failed to foul the Lady Eagles until there was less than a second left, then could not inbound the ball for a last-second shot. While pleased with the defensive effort, Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley shouldered the responsibility for the Lady Wildcats’ offensive issues. “Defensively, we did pretty much what we wanted to do. We took the ball out of Aubrey Wright’s hands pretty well and forced them into some different situations offensively,” he said. “For us offensively, I thought we were terrible, and I take 100 percent of the blame for that. We didn’t have any movement, we didn’t have a lot of teamwork offensively, we didn’t screen, we didn’t cut, we stood and watched people. It seemed like when we did pass, it was one pass, two at the most, then it was head down and drive to the rim. And when they did that, they were collapsing in the lane. “For years, Columbia City has run nothing but man (to man defense) I have to do a better job of reaching my kids and making them understand what we have to do offensively. The Lady Wildcats struggled to take care of the basketball early, turning the ball over 10 times in the first quarter. The defense kept them in the game, as the Lady Eagles couldn’t fare much better, carrying a 6-5 lead into the second quarter. Whitko led only once all night, taking a one-point lead on senior Maggie Gawthrop’s jumper with 1:15 left in the second quarter. The lead lasted about 20 seconds and was erased when Elise Cormany answered with a contested layup. The Lady Eagles’ lead fluctuated between two and six points most of the evening, with Whitko drawing close on several occasions but never quite getting to the top of the hill. Bradley said he wanted to watch tape to find the root cause of the turnovers, 25 in all for the game. “I’m not so much concerned about the turnovers as why we turned the ball over,” he said. “We ran what I call a mannequin offense, where we stood around, and we can’t play that way. We’re going to be like this all year until we figure out some kind of movement and that’s 100 percent on me.” While Whitko fell to 1-1 on the young season, Bradley wasn’t willing to put too much emphasis on one contest, instead keeping his eyes on the season-long big picture. “It’s not a conference game, and it’s not a sectional game, so ultimately at the end of the year it won’t be one we’ll look at,” he said. “It is a rivalry game, I guess, but I’d think we’d need to win a few to make it a rivalry. It’s been pretty one-sided since I’ve been here, and that’s on me.” Indeed. The Lady Eagles, now 2-0, have claimed seven straight over Whitko, and 13 of the last 14 meetings have gone Columbia City’s way. Lady Wildcat Aly Reiff led all scorers with 16 points, while Gawthrop added 11. Columbia City’s Cormany paced the Lady Eagles with 13 points. Whitko won’t have much time to get past the loss, with Churubusco coming to visit at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
COLUMBIA CITY 37, WHITKO 34 W 5 9 9 11 – 34 CC 6 9 12 10 – 37 Whitko – Reghan Craig 1-1 0-1 2, Brianna Cumberland, 1-5 0-0 3, Aly Reiff 7-15 2-3 16, Aly Nicodemus 0-2 0-0 0, Maddie Gawthrop 4-9, 3-5 11, Haley Yohe 0-2 0-0 0, Avaree Freel 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Yohe 1-3 0-0 2, Emily Day 0-0 0-0 0, Michelle Kelsey, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-37 5-9 34. Columbia City – Aubrey Wright 0-3 3-4 3, Chelsea Pettigrew 0-5 3-4 3, Elise Cormany 6-11 1-4 13, Baily Rentschler 3-6 0-1 6, Macie Hinen 4-11 0-2 8, Regan Decker, 0-1 0-0 0, Natalia Johnson 0-0 0-2 0, Bella Krieg 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 15-41 7-17 37. Three-pointers – Whitko 1 (Cumberland), Columbia City 0; Rebounds – Whitko 33 (Reiff 8), Columbia City 27 (Hinen 9); Turnovers – Whitko 25, Columbia City 19; Fouls – Whitko 17, Columbia City 12; Fouled out – Cumberland; Records: Whitko 1-1, Columbia City 2-0. JV – Columbia City 43, Whitko 34 Whitko – Haley Yohe 2, Anna Ousley 10, Riley Insley 12, Claire Reiff 2, Brooke Christoffel 2, Hanna Yohe 6
