NAPPANEE - It didn't seem like much at the time, but a 6-0 run to close out the first half helped the Whitko Wildcats reach their first sectional championship game since the 2001-02 season.
With the West Noble Chargers (5-16) staying within two points, Whitko (17-5) scored six-straight points to take a 30-22 lead into the half, and later held on for the 57-43 Class 3A Sectional 21 semifinal win at NorthWood High School Friday."It only takes one minute, or even 45 seconds, to negate almost two good quarters," West Noble coach Ross Hales said. "We played so well in that first and second quarter, and just lost it for about one minute. You can't play catch-up against a good ball-control team like Whitko."
In front 49-36 going into the fourth, ball control was the name of the game for the Wildcats, who took just four shots, advancing to tonight's 7:30 p.m. championship game against Lakeland.
Lakeland reached the finals thanks to a 57-50 win over host NorthWood in Friday's second game.
"It's about time," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said about returning to a sectional championship game.
"We wanted another shot at either NorthWood or Lakeland," he added. "Lakeland put us out last of year's tournament and NorthWood humiliated us about a week ago (with a 57-40 loss). We don't think we're that bad. It doesn't really matter who we play. We're just happy where we're at."
To be where they're at, Whitko took the lead on a Travis Lepper bucket 28 seconds into the game and never trailed.
"We thought, if we could play defense for 32 minutes, we could win," Irwin said. "That's kind of what happened."
Forcing 22 turnovers, the Wildcats continued a trend all too familiar to Hales and his Chargers.
"It's the same problem we've had all year - we turn the ball over," Hales said.
"That was something we talked about, and worked on, all season long," he added. "We just didn't seem to improve."
And those turnovers came in handy for a Whitko team that shot just 12 of 36 in the first half.
"We shot the ball terribly," Irwin said. "Fortunately, we got enough to go to give us a big enough of a cushion. Our defense kept us where we needed to be. Finally, in the third quarter, we hit a couple to loosen the (West Noble defense)."
After going 1 of 12 from behind in the arc in the first half, Whitko sophomore Zac VanDeWater connected on two triples in the third, his second giving the Wildcats a 42-32 lead with 3:12 remaining in the quarter.
On top of shooting better, the Whitko defense also began keeping track of West Noble senior Nick Spencer.
Entering the fourth quarter with 19 points, Spencer struggled to get it going in the final eight minutes, going 0 of 2.
"We just decided we weren't going to leave him," Irwin said. "You have just one day to prepare, so you don't have three or four days to teach them they can't leave that kid."
Spencer's 19 points were still enough to lead all scorers, while Whitko freshman Logan Irwin netted 15 points and also had four assists and three steals to lead the Wildcats.
Whitko also got 11 points from Lepper and 10 from VanDeWater, while senior Kaden Krull had eight rebounds and sophomore Max Elder had seven boards, all coming in the first quarter.
Outside of statistical leaders, Wildcats senior Ryan Bumbaugh led his team in effort, scoring five points and collecting six rebounds.
"Ryan just comes in and makes plays," Irwin said. "He doesn't get a lot of rebounds, he doesn't score any points and he doesn't really make any assists, but he does a nice job with what we need him to do. He understands what he's supposed to do."
