12-29-2003SYRACUSE – If there were any questions as to whether or not Warsaw’s varsity girls basketball team would be physically or mentally exhausted Saturday night, the Tigers’ answer was loud and clear.
Playing their sixth game in a week, their third in two days, the 4A No. 8 Tigers had enough gas left in the tank to cruise to a 73-25 win at rival Wawasee in the first round of the Northern Lakes Conference Lake City Bank Holiday Tournament.
Warsaw’s 48-point win came after playing at the Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle the day before, beating No. 5 Jeffersonville in the semifinal round and a physical Mooresville club in the championship.
Three games in 30 hours, and yet the Tigers were unfazed, starting Saturday’s NLC Tournament game with an 8-0 run, leading 18-2 after the first quarter and 34-13 at halftime.
“I thought we focused well,” said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst. “We came to play tonight, our bench came to play tonight. I’m happy with the whole team. I thought we were pretty fresh. I thought we’d be tired, but we looked pretty fresh.”
The win was the 12th straight for the Tigers, who are now 12-1 and play Concord (4-7) in the second semifinal game Tuesday at Elkhart Memorial. Concord advanced to the second round with a 50-36 win over Goshen. Plymouth (7-4) and the host Crimson Chargers (6-2) open up semifinal play Tuesday at 6 p.m. The winners play Friday at Warsaw in a boys/girls doubleheader for the championship.
Wawasee, now on a two-game skid thanks to rival Warsaw, sits at 5-5 on the season and plays the second game in the consolation bracket Tuesday at Northridge against Goshen (4-6). NorthWood (4-5) and Northridge (5-7) play at 6 p.m.
Trailing by 16 after the first quarter, the Warriors came out determined in the second stanza, cutting Warsaw’s advantage to 20-13 with an 11-2 run.
That was Wawasee’s shining moment in the game, and the Tigers came right back and made things dim again for the Warriors by closing out the half with a 14-0 run.
“The way we played tonight tells me we’re pretty focused right now,” Wienhorst said. “I hope we keep the intensity up. I don’t know of many girls basketball teams that have won six games in a week. That’s pretty impressive.”
Warsaw took its 6-1 record to Wawasee on Dec. 20 and won by 36, and then followed that with double-digit wins over 3A state runner-up St. Joe and 4A state runner-up Perry Meridian Tuesday in the Lady Tiger Tournament before winning games at the Hall of Fame Classic by margins of 17 and 12.
The Tigers led Wawasee 54-19 after three quarters of play Saturday, and then held their biggest advantage of the game when junior Laura Heiman scored with 1:19 remaining to make it 72-23.
Miss Basketball candidate Jaclyn Leininger led Warsaw with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. The 6-foot senior was 2 of 4 from three-point range and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. She also tallied seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Sophomore point guard Julie Seiss, who scored 22 against Wawasee in the first half of their first game, was 5 of 9 from the field and 5 of 5 from the charity stripe for 16 points. She also dished out eight assists and had five rebounds and five steals.
Senior center Michelle DeGeeter added 10 points and five rebounds for the Tigers, who shot 22 of 40 from the field, 5 of 10 from three-point range, and 24 of 30 at the free throw line.
The Warriors finished the game 8 of 40 from the field and 1 of 8 from the three-point line but did make all eight of their free throw attempts.
Sophomore Tiffany Fick led Wawasee with 10 points, while Rachel Canen had nine and Havilah Rensberger, Mistie Hershberger and Jessie Wolf two each.
NO. 8 (4A) WARSAW 73, WAWASEE 25
Warsaw (12-1) 18 16 20 19 – 73
Wawasee (5-5) 2 11 6 6 – 25
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 2-3 0-0 1 1 5
* Seiss 5-9 5-5 5 5 16
* Reichard 1-1 0-2 1 0 2
* Leininger 8-11 6-6 7 2 24
* DeGeeter 3-4 4-4 5 2 10
Abbitt 0-2 0-2 0 0 0
Braddock 1-3 2-3 2 1 4
Durcholz 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Clay 1-4 0-0 1 1 3
Smith 0-0 2-2 2 1 2
Sand 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Heiman 1-2 2-2 2 1 4
Kindig 0-0 3-4 1 1 3
Totals 22-40 24-30 31 15 73
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Rensberger 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
* Canen 2-13 4-4 4 4 9
* Hershberger 0-4 2-2 5 2 2
* Wolf 0-7 2-2 1 0 2
* Fick 5-11 0-0 3 1 10
Walker 0-2 0-0 5 1 0
Olson 0-0 0-0 2 1 0
Totals 8-40 8-8 21 9 25
Three-point goals – Warsaw 5-10 (Leininger 2-4, Seiss 1-3, Mayer 1-1, Clay 1-1, Sand 0-1), Wawasee 1-8 (Canen 1-8). Turnovers – Warsaw 12, Wawasee 23. Fouls – Warsaw 11, Wawasee 23. Fouled out – Wolf, Fick.