SYRACUSE - The Whitko boys basketball team looked poised for a long postseason run during the opening game of the Class 3A Sectional 21 at Wawasee High School.
After defeating the NorthWood Panthers (14-7) by a score of 51-44 Friday in Nappanee, the two teams squared off again Tuesday, as the Whitko Wildcats (16-5) looked a little more fluid in a 61-45 win, advancing to Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal against Columbia City."We knew we had to play a strong game to have an opportunity to win and we did not do that tonight," NorthWood coach Aaron Wolfe said.
According to Whitko coach Rob Irwin, the difference between the regular season finale and the sectional opener was the health of his son, junior Logan Irwin.
Averaging 25 points per game this year, Logan netted 18 points on 4-of-13 shooting in last week's game, but in the tournament win, he scored 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
"Logan was healthy and that's a big difference," Rob Irwin said about his son, who had been suffering from an upper respriatory infection. "When he's healthy, he can play hard. He had a different gear than he's had the last three games."
After reaching No. 2 in the Class 3A rankings earlier this season, Whitko lost three straight before defeating NorthWood.
Following the impressive sectional win, the Whitko coach saw his team returning to the form that saw them climb to No. 2 in the state.
"It seemed like the old team was back," Rob Irwin said. "We went through a three-week span when our kids weren't like this. Tonight was kind of the way we've played all year, as far as intensity and mentality of 'we aren't going to get beat today.'"
That mentality showed early as Whitko jumped out to an 18-8 lead with Logan Irwin connecting on back-to-back threes to end the first quarter.
"It was the type of night, where all that could go wrong, did go wrong," Wolfe said.
Whitko opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run that extended the Wildcats' lead to 24-8 before NorthWood senior Michael Paul hit a three-pointer with 4:12 left in the second quarter.
"Zac (VanDeWater) was great, Max Elder was great and so was Derek (Snep)," Rob Irwin said. "All the guys played really well. I thought we guarded the heck out of them. It was hard for them to get a good look."
The Wildcat defense did supply ample pressure on the Panthers, who finished the game hitting 14 of 39 shots, led by Paul's 16 points and Cameron Williams' 13.
"I thought they did a good job of defending us on the interior," Wolfe said. "We struggled to finish plays around the basket early on."
To hold the Panthers' offense in check, Rob Irwin implemented a defense by committee on NorthWood's most dangerous player, Paul.
"Kory Wood was just all over Paul all the time," the Whitko coach said. "I felt sorry for him, because they had to play him the whole time and we were having Alex (Stoddard) and Kory tag team him. If we guard people like that, we're awfully hard to beat."
On the flipside, the points were a little easier to come by for the Wildcats, who hit 18 of 37 shots, while also going 22 of 25 at the free-throw line.
"The right guys were shooting them," Rob Irwin said about the free-throw shooting.
Hitting their first 18 free throws, VanDeWater hit 10 of 10, Logan Irwin hit 9 of 10 and Elder hit 3 of 3.
The free-throw shooting was only part of VanDeWater's night, as he scored 19 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocked shots.
VanDeWater's classmate, Elder, also had a good game by scoring 13 points and hauling in six rebounds.
Whitko now faces Whitley County rival Columbia City Friday at 6 p.m.
The two teams met in the first game of the season, with the Columbia City Eagles winning 59-58 on a controversial three-pointer at the end of the game.
"I'm never looking forward to playing a (Chris) Benedict (coached) team," Rob Irwin said when asked if he was looking forward to a shot at redemption. "Chris has kind of had my number over the years."
