Young Warriors Grow Up Quickly

SYRACUSE -ÊAfter Wawasee's girls basketball team went to practice in Columbia City's gym for the regional, the Warriors stopped at a fast food restaurant to eat. An elderly couple approached coach Kem Zolman and asked if they were a junior high team.

His reply: "Last year most of them were."

Now those girls who were playing in junior high last year have won Wawasee's first sectional since 1986 and they are heading to the Columbia City Regional.

However, as teams advance through the tournament, opponents get tougher and the stakes are higher. Although Wawasee is coming off a big win over NorthWood in the semifinal round of the sectional and a victory over 20-4 Angola in the championship game, the competition will only get tougher.

Now the Warriors will have to face off against Columbia City, a team that has been ranked in the state all season, in the regional. In the most recent high school girls poll, Columbia City was No. 10 in Class 3A.

"Columbia City is a very aggressive, very physical team," said Zolman. "They start two to three seniors with experience, and that always presents a problem for us.

"It will be interesting to see how our young kids play against a more experienced team. We will just try to play as strong and as hard as we can."

In the regional, that young Wawasee team will look to the state's leading scorer, Shanna Zolman, for leadership both offensively and defensively. Zolman one of only two sophomores on the team, averages 32.9 points per game to lead the offense. She also dishes out 3.1 assists per contest, second only to Dusty Krull's 4.3 per game.

Zolman pulls down 7.4 rebounds and grabs 5.5 steals per game to lead the Warriors on the defensive end of the court as well.

"Well, unless you've been under a rock for the past two years, you've heard about Shanna Zolman," said Columbia City coach Wayne Kreiger. "She is probably the best shooter in the area if not in the state.

But Zolman is not the only Warrior who attacks the boards. Freshman Jessica Leach pulls down 7.0 rebounds per game while Meagan Wallen grabs 4.8.

However, Columbia City will present a challenge for the young Warrior squad. Not only are the Eagles more experienced, they have several players who pose a scoring threat.

Seven Columbia City players score more than four points per game. Connie Myers leads the Eagles with 19.5 point per game, while Brooksie King chips in 12.2 points per game for Columbia City. Katie Stroup adds 8.0 points per contest as well.

"We have eight players who have been playing consistently all season," said Kreiger. "We really don't put any restrictions on any of the girls as far as shooting. Offensively, whoever's open has the green light to shoot."

"Connie Myers is very aggressive," said Zolman. "We cannot let her dictate the tempo of the game. If we do, she will cause a lot of problems for us."

Although both teams pose a real scoring threat, the coaches feel that something else will be the key to the game: rebounding.

"I think rebounding is always a key," said Kreiger. "Being able to defend and get the boards is absolutely critical."

"The key in this game is offensive boards," said Zolman. "Controlling turnovers will be important as well. That is something we have worked on a lot, especially in our two sectional games."

Zolman feels something else is important for the Warriors as well.

"We are taking one game at a time, and hopefully we can move on," said Zolman. "We need to have the mental attitude that allows us to win and then say, 'All right, next.'"

WAWASEE

(15-7)

Wawasee 80, Westview 48

Wawasee 83, Elkhart Memorial 64

Wawasee 76, Fairfield 44

Wawasee 59, East Noble 56

West Noble 74, Wawasee 72

Wawasee 63, Elkhart Central 45

Garrett 65, Wawasee 41

Wawasee 59, Mishawaka Marian 49

NorthWood 61, Wawasee 48

Wawasee 63, Northridge 57

Wawasee 79, Angola 57

Lakeland 54, Wawasee 53

Warsaw 63, Wawasee 50

Wawasee 67, Goshen 37

Wawasee 63, Tippecanoe Valley 35

Wawasee 73, Bremen 51

Plymouth 54, Wawasee 31

Wawasee 80, Culver Academy 30

Concord 59, Wawasee 52

Sectional

Wawasee 71, Whitko 46

Wawasee 48, NorthWood 44

Wawasee 45, Angola 39

No. 10 COLUMBIA CITY

(17-5)

Columbia City 65, Whitko 27

Columbia City 55, Elmhurst 41

Columbia City 76, North Side 26

Columbia City 54, Bishop Dwenger 33

Columbia City 64, Bellmont 50

Columbia City 71, Homestead 49

Marion 58, Columbia City 51

Columbia City 74, Warsaw 66

DeKalb 54, Columbia City 48

Columbia City 42, Penn 38

Columbia City 69, Lafayette Jefferson 57

Columbia City 58, New Haven 32

Northrop 66, Columbia City 63

Homestead 69, Columbia City 54

Columbia City60, Carroll 52

Columbia City 69, Norwell 37

Columbia City 60, East Noble 39

Columbia City 79, Huntington North 77

Leo 55, Columbia City 54

Sectional

Columbia City 59, Bishop Dwenger 42

Columbia City 43, FW Wayne 29

Columbia City 62, FW Concordia 52

1999-2000 Wawasee Stats

(Through 22 games)

Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG A APG S SPG R RPG

*Zolman (F) 257-451 57.0 66-141 48.0 143-156 92.0 724 32.9 68 3.1 121 5.5 163 7.4

*Leach (C) 70-117 60.0 0-0 -- 26-57 45.0 166 7.5 13 0.6 31 1.4 154 7.0

*Wallen (F) 57-110 52.0 0-0 -- 40-66 60.0 154 7.0 9 0.4 62 2.8 106 4.8

*Krull (G) 51-145 34.0 2-22 9.0 20-35 56.0 122 5.5 95 4.3 35 1.6 51 2.3

*Fawley (G) 13-66 21 0-7 0.0 13-24 52 41 1.9 81 3.7 22 1.0 30 1.4

Hunziker 17-38 45.0 0-9 0.0 15-23 65.0 49 5.4 9 1.0 11 1.2 24 2.7

Higgenbotham 9-15 60 0-0 -- 1-2 50 19 2.7 1 0.1 5 0.7 22 3.1

Henderson 5-26 19 3-20 15 0-0 -- 13 1.3 6 0.6 4 0.4 9 0.9

Wawasee 502-1,050 48.0 73-194 37.0 282-440 64.4 1,356 61.6 308 14.0 319 14.5 634 28.8

Opponents 429-1,065 40.0 64-178 35.0 213-343 62.0 1,132 51.5 257 11.7 132 6.0 686 31.2

1999-2000 No. 10 (3A) Columbia City Stats

(Through 22 games)

Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG A APG S SPG R RPG

*Con. Myers 159-293 54.3 1-1 100.0 109-180 60.6 428 19.5 83 3.8 58 2.6 221 10.0

*King 103-189 54.5 0-0 -- 63-101 62.4 269 12.2 28 1.3 48 2.2 147 6.7

*Stroup 59-147 40.1 30-75 40.0 29-43 67.4 177 8.0 64 2.9 36 1.6 74 3.4

*Moore 27-82 32.9 4-23 17.4 36-56 64.3 94 4.3 78 3.6 28 1.3 55 2.5

*Peppler 32-71 45.1 0-4 0.0 20-27 74.1 84 4.2 34 1.6 24 1.1 27 1.4

Cha. Meyers 47-145 32.4 0-2 0.0 22-37 59.5 116 5.3 35 1.6 33 1.5 90 4.1

Faylor 41-88 46.6 0-0 -- 21-38 55.3 103 4.7 17 0.8 9 0.4 90 4.1

Roberts 16-32 50.0 3-4 75.0 20-24 83.3 55 2.6 39 1.9 15 0.7 26 1.2

Col. City 484-1,052 46.0 38-109 34.9 321-508 63.2 1,327 60.3 379 17.2 252 11.5 730 33.2

Opponents N/A