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SYRACUSE - Garrett coach Ken Feagler has coached girls basketball for eight years.
He has seen good players, average players and bad players.
But he has seen no one else like Wawasee freshman Shanna Zolman.
Zolman, who last week was first in the state with 30.3 points per game, scored 41 to lead Wawasee (7-1) past Garrett 64-53 in Saturday's championship game of the Warrior Holiday Tournament.
"That Zolman girl, what can you say?" Feagler said. "She's an All-American. She's the best girls basketball player I've seen, and I've been coaching eight years now."
Coming from Feagler, the words carry extra clout. Consider his team entered 6-1, and consider the one loss came to DeKalb. DeKalb, the former home of 1997 Mr. Basketball Luke Recker, is the current home of Maria Recker, Luke's sister. Like Luke, she is a talented basketball player.
Zolman, who won the tournament MVP award, helped the Warriors reclaim the title they lost for only one year. Wawasee won the tournament in 1996, but Manchester, which went 21-4 and advanced to the semistate finals, won it in 1997.
Zolman took 14 shots from the field to score her season-high 41 points. She made 12 of them. She hit 15 of 16 free throws, including 10 of 10 in the fourth quarter. She found time to work in nine rebounds, four steals and four assists.
Zolman started strong and finished strong. She scored 16 in the first quarter and 14 in the fourth quarter.
"Shanna," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said, "will rise to any level we need her to play at. That's not bragging. That is just the gift she has been given by God."
Wawasee teammate Sara Frantz scored only seven points. But all seven came at a key time in the game, early in the third quarter.
Garrett took a 26-25 halftime lead, only the second time in eight games Wawasee has trailed at halftime. The Railroaders extended the lead to 30-25 in the first two minutes after halftime, a time coaches always say is key.
Frantz had an answer, knocking down a three-pointer - her first points of the game - to make it 30-28.
Garrett pushed the lead to five at 33-28. Again, Frantz made sure the Railroaders did not run away. She scored Wawasee's next four points to make it 33-32.
"Sara hit a couple, and that's what makes us tough," Zolman said. "Shanna's gonna carry us until everybody starts feeling comfortable. When they knock em down, it's all over."
Then Zolman, who had scored only two points on two free throws in the second quarter, re-emerged. She stole the ball, coasted in for a layup and drew a foul. She converted the three-point play to put Wawasee ahead 35-33 with 4:39 left in the third quarter. The game stayed close, with Wawasee holding a 43-42 lead after three quarters.
The Warriors won the game at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Wawasee hit 15 of 17 free throws in the fourth as the Warriors outscored Garrett 21-11.
Garrett senior Becky Ashenfelter ran into foul trouble, which also hurt the Railraoders in the fourth. Ashenfelter, who stuck to Zolman like lies to Bill Clinton, kept her in check in the second and third quarters, when she tallied only 11.
When Ashenfelter picked up her fourth foul with 6:56 in the last quarter, Garrett led 44-43, the last lead the Railroaders owned. From that point, Zolman scored 14, as Wawasee gained the lead and built the lead to double figures.
Ashenfelter and Courtney Feagler each scored 19 for Garrett.
"When (Ashenfelter) picked up her fourth, that took away their aggressiveness," Kem Zolman said. "The first half she had her way. Then we made some adjustments in our zone. Any player has to adjust themselves if they want to continue to play. That was a key."
Wawasee advanced to the championship by beating Mishawaka Marian 62-47 in the first round. Zolman's 25 points led Wawasee, while Kara Price added 14 and Michelle Lamb 10. Jessica Walz scored 19 to lead Mishawaka Marian.
In the other first-round game, Garrett defeated Manchester 57-42. Ashenfelter scored 24 for Garrett, while Megan Eckert scored 16 for Manchester.
Manchester beat Mishawaka Marian 73-59 in the consolation game. Jessica Hicks scored 23 and Eckert 21 for Manchester.
