Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - Tuesday's girls basketball game between NorthWood and Wawasee could have been called the battle of Will vs. Zolman.
Natalie Will scored 31 of NorthWood's 79 points, grabbed two steals and pulled down three rebounds, while Shanna Zolman scored 25 of Wawasee's 42 points, grabbed three steals and pulled down five rebounds.
In the end, Zolman could not carry the Warriors by herself and Wawasee fell to the No. 7 (3A) Panthers, 79-42.
The Panthers held the Warriors scoreless until 2:25 remained in the first frame as they took a quick 10-0 lead.
"We didn't hold our composure," said Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. "If you look at the beginning, if we had a couple of shots fall in and could have stayed two or three points behind or maybe even tied it up. But those shots didn't fall and we felt bombarded by the deficit."
NorthWood outscored Wawasee 20 to six points in the first quarter behind 12 points from Will. Zolman netted all six of the Wawasee points.
Zolman continued her run in the second frame as she scored the first seven Wawasee points of the quarter. Michelle Lamb scored four points in the last 1:30 to give Wawasee 17 points at the half.
"We tried not to let her (Zolman) run the floor," said NorthWood coach Steve Neff. "We decided that if she scored 40, then we would just have to score 41 as a team. We knew where she was, and we made her work for it and work on defense, but she was not the only person we focused on."
Balanced scoring was a key for NorthWood in the second quarter as Angie Callander, Erin Newcomer, Kasey Chamberlin and Will each added to the 23-point Panther scoring effort.
At the half, NorthWood held a commanding 43-17 lead.
"We didn't play defense, that was one of our problems," said Zolman. "They just beat us to every ball."
NorthWood scored the first baskets of the second half and took a 47-17 lead early, but before long, Wawasee had reduced the lead to 26, 55-29 going into the fourth quarter.
Zolman continued to dominate the Wawasee scoring as she netted seven of Wawasee's 12 third quarter points.
In the fourth, the Panthers outscored the Warriors 24-13 as Will scored 13 points.
"Natalie (Will) has experience," said Zolman. "Right now she has more quickness than Shanna (Zolman). She's a great player."
After the buzzer sounded, the scoreboard showed NorthWood on top 79-42.
"We played a good team game," said Neff. "We shot well, we rebounded well, and we played defense well."
"We can't let this one game affect the rest of our season," said Zolman. "We have another important NLC game Saturday. We'll watch the film and try to learn from our mistakes."
Wawasee (7-2, 0-1 NLC) and NorthWood (4-1, 2-0 NLC) will each face NLC foe Northridge in their next game. NorthWood travels to Northridge Thursday, and Wawasee will host Northridge Saturday.
NORTHWOOD 79
WAWASEE 42
NorthWood 20 23 12 24 - 79
Wawasee 6 11 12 13 - 42
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.
Stichter 0-1 0-0 3 1 0
Chamberlin 7-12 2-4 3 2 16
Callander 7-10 1-3 3 2 17
Will 12-14 7-9 3 2 31
Duncan 4-7 0-0 4 0 8
Newcomer 2-3 0-0 2 2 4
Morris 1-2 0-1 1 0 2
Zell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Haney 0-0 1-2 2 0 1
Totals 33-49 11-19 21 9 79
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Zolman 9-26 4-5 5 3 25
Frantz 0-3 0-1 3 1 0
Price 0-4 3-4 1 0 3
Lamb 3-9 0-0 4 0 6
Hymer 0-1 0-2 0 0 0
Hunt 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Hunziker 3-3 0-0 0 0 8
Krull 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 15-47 7-12 15 4 42
Three-point goals - NorthWood 2-4 (Callander 2-3, Morris 0-1), Wawasee 5-13 (Zolman 3-9, Price 0-2, Hunziker 2-2). Turnovers -ÊNorthWood 9, Wawasee 20. Fouls - NorthWood 13, Wawasee 15. Fouled out - Zolman.
Officials - Tim Filson and Ron Day.
JV Score -ÊNorthWood 38, Wawasee 20
