Chip Shots: Chopped

My brain has been more tired than usual, and around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting at my desk – the last person in one of the plants where I work – unable to formulate a thought nor begin another task.

I thought for sure I could head home later the same evening and work on my column. Wednesday passed… no column.

I rationalized, “ya’ know, there is no sense writing anything until all the Thanksgiving Day (and evening) games are finished.

I sit here, mid-afternoon Friday, now, with the aforementioned games past us, and having re-watched the condensed version of these games on NFL+ without a long stream of thoughts. Instead, my thoughts are on a chopped Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) schedule.

Once again, the NLC is split into the Big Two and the Little Six.

I know we have readers from Wawasee and even a few from Northwood, but… facts.

Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) member Goshen fell to Columbia City earlier this week 71-4. This led me to look at the pre-conference state of the NLC.

It’s not pretty.

Northridge will bring energy to the Tiger Den January 10, 2026, that cannot be underestimated, but their start is not as strong as it was among the most recent seasons.

Concord, NorthWood, and Plymouth – the next tier of team strength – have each scored 24 points, 25 points, and 28 points respectively, against decent teams with winning records not at the caliber of the 2025-26 version of the Warsaw Lady Tigers. To Plymouth’s credit though, their 28 points came at the hands of a Bremen Lions squad that promises the possibility of another berth to the Class 2A semi state.

Mishawaka has scored 25 points in two of its regular season losses, and the Cavemen will continue to struggle even in a very week “bottom six” NLC collective.

Goshen, with its aforementioned lopsided loss, and Wawasee, not only have five and three respective sub-30-point scoring efforts, but Goshen also only registered 18 points in three of those contests, and 16 points in another. Wawasee has 16- and 15-point finishes in that mix.

Each of the seven NLC games the Lady Tigers play this year are comprised of two teams with teenagers of varying age, so anything can happen. Nonetheless, if any of these games are close it will still be quite surprising.

With this said, here are some things worth watching:

• Brooke Zartman and Joslyn Bricker are chasing program career scoring records. If they are hot from the field, grab some white-out to adjust the record books.
• Reagan Robinson – a 5’5” sophomore – is a master class in hustle. She is fearless in the paint grabbing rebounds, constructively physical, and leaves everything on the court.
• Regan Huss is finding her groove in the Lady Tigers’ system. She plays tough and classy at the same time, and she has backed up the community’s preseason excitement about her three-point shooting>
• Seniors Alexis Neely (improved passing including notably greater assists, ballhandling, physical strength), Kyra Kiser (converts on the give and go and slips inside for baskets when opponents double team other Tigers) is also an enforcer in the paint.
• Seniors Kelsey Wren and Erin McManus could start on any other NLC opponent’s team as well as other area teams. However, they did not fall prey to more open transfer rules adopted by the IHSAA.
• Cayleigh Goheen, a 6’1” junior, has also been helping Kiser spell 2025 graduate Brooke Winchester on the boards and defending in the paint.
• The Lady Tigers’ ball security has vastly improved year by year as well. A solid high school girls’ basketball team consistently avoiding more than 12-13 turnovers per game will make a deep postseason run.

A promising and (so far) dominant Junior Varsity squad along with the athletes returning for next year’s campaign noted will give fans a great glimpse into Lady Tiger basketball’s future.

Come on out because you’ll see history made, and a future forming. Hopefully, other NLC girls’ basketball programs will see brighter futures in the ensuing years.