SOUTH WHITLEY - The Whitko Wildcats boys basketball team is prepared to defend its Class 3A, Sectional 21 title at Columbia City High School.
Last season, the Wildcats may not have been expected to win the title, but they did so by defeating Lakeland 51-49. This season, no one's a clear favorite to win the sectional, which seems wide open with Whitko (10-10), Columbia City (13-7), NorthWood (8-12), Wawasee (13-7), Lakeland (12-8), Tippecanoe Valley (8-12) and West Noble (8-12)."It's all about who gets on a roll," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said. "Columbia City, with their talent and playing at home, might have be favored."
Whitko opens the sectional Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Wawasee, a team the Wildcats defeated 75-71 Dec. 12 in South Whitley.
"I know they're improved," Irwin said about the Warriors. "Riley Stichter and (Jacob Thompson) have really been coming along."
Wawasee enters the sectional using an uptempo offense averaging 78.9 points a game, the fourth most in the state.
"If we had to play them, I think we're in the best spot," Irwin said. "Playing them first allows us more days to recover. If we played them on Friday, it wouldn't be the best thing to have to come back on the next day and play again."
Wawasee's high-octane offense features three players averaging double-digit scoring, led by junior Riley Stichter's 22 points, followed by senior Keegan Beer's 16 and freshman Jacob Thompson's 14.
"We've got to be able to contain Stichter," Irwin said of the 6-foot-4 Stichter who closed the regular season out with 40 points in a win over Tippecanoe Valley Friday. "They're doing a lot more high-low offense to get him the ball."
Getting the ball Whitko's leading scorer is never a problem, as sophomore Logan Irwin is averaging 25.5 points a game as the team's point guard, having broken the 500-point plateau with 509 this year.
Along with the 25-point average, the coach's son also averages 4.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
Accompanying Logan Irwin's production, Whitko also gets 15.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals from junior Zac VanDeWater. However, outside of those two, it's anyone's guess where the numbers will come from on a given night.
"(Sophomore) Derek Snep is beginning to understand his role," Irwin said. "If we can get him, Logan, (freshman) Alex Stoddard, Zac and (junior) Mitch Yeager making some shots, we're tough to deal with."
Junior Max Elder has also been important to the Whitko lineup, but injuries have limited his on-court action.
Whitko's third-leading scorer this year has been Stoddard (4.1), followed by Yeager (3.8), and Elder (3.1), while Snep is the team's third-leading rebounder at 4.1 a game.
Going into the seven-team tournament, Whitko may be defending its title, but Irwin knows this year's squad has familiar faces, but isn't the same team as last year.
"We have a bunch of the same players, but not one senior," the coach said. "(Last year), Kaden Krull gave us about eight rebounds a game, Ryan Bumbaugh and Todd Reed also added needed defense. As seniors, those guys understood that each game could have been their last. Sometimes, with the young guys, you don't get that. Logan, Zac and Max were big parts of that team, so they've been there before. The pressure of a sectional hasn't really been there for the younger guys."
And getting those less experienced guys ready for the sectional is something Irwin's been striving for with each passing game, as Whitko's lost three of its last four.
"It doesn't really matter what you do in the regular season, it's what you do in sectional," Irwin said.
