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Fresh off an emotional victory over rival Northridge this weekend, the Warsaw girls basketball team welcomed conference foe Mishawaka to the Tiger Den on Thursday night. This game was not as close as the previous Lady Tiger victory, but the result was still the same. Just about everything went right for Warsaw in a 88-21 win.
“I thought the girls came in and played hard, did what they needed to do,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said after the game. “They know with two wins this week they can clinch a share of the NLC and I thought they came in to this very business-like.”
As is often the case, the Lady Tigers had no trouble building an early lead against a lesser opponent, with four different players scoring the first nine points of the game over the first 90 seconds. From there, the home side quickly went up by double figures a minute later.
With starter Regan Huss missing the game with shin splints, fellow junior Cayleigh Goheen entered the starting lineup and made the most of it in the early going. The forward scored five points in the first five minutes while also grabbing a couple of boards and a pair of steals.
Six minutes into the game, the lead had already been extended to 20 and it was quite clear what type of game this was going to be. After eight minutes, Warsaw led 31-6 and Brooke Zartman led all scorers with nine. Joslyn Bricker also had her fingerprints all over the opening period, scoring seven while finding a ton of open teammates with some pretty passing.
Two more triples for Zartman gave her an early five while extending the Lady Tiger lead to 30 early in the second. Bricker’s first triple of the night came a possession later and put her into double figures as well.
While the offense was as efficient as always, the defense was doing its job as well. Warsaw was taking the will away from its opponents in real time, turning the Lady Cavemen over at a rapid pace and turning almost every giveaway into a score at the other end. Goheen’s second putback bucket of the night inched the lead close to 40 in what was a fantastic showing for the home side.
Senior Kyra Kiser looks to score while working under the basket during Thursday night's home game against Mishawaka...Nieter
“Cayleigh was fantastic tonight. She’s been giving us some good minutes off the bench and she’s been ready for the opportunity,” Krebs said. “She’s proved that she’s been preparing for her role to increase and she took advantage of it. She was a force inside.”
A minute before halftime, she’d become the third Lady Tiger in double figures on her second and-one of the night. She’d add one more steal and score 30 seconds later for good measure. Zartman paced all scorers with 20 in the first half as Warsaw headed into the break comfortably leading 57-12.
The Lady Tigers continued to spread the love as the second half got going, as Kyra Kiser hit her first three of the night to extend the lead over 50. Joslyn Bricker, who had still put up 13 points in the first half despite being a bit passive, began to take over here in the third. The senior aggressively hunted her shot in the paint and was hitting it at a high clip.
Another senior who had a quieter first half was Alexis Neely, and she also came alive in the second half. Scoring seven points in the quarter, including five straight, the guard became the fourth Warsaw player to score 10+ late in the third.
Junior varsity player Charlotte Kesler put her name into the scoreboard early in the fourth before a Bricker three extended the lead to over 70. The only question left was if the Lady Tigers were going to crack 100. They had 86 with five minutes left, but were starting to slow down.
Thirty seconds later, Warsaw emptied its bench, with Goheen as the only remaining starter in the game. She’d put the finishing touches on a career night a possession later, getting fouled while hitting a midrange jumper and finishing the three-point play at the line. It would be the final basket of the night for the home side.
Zartman and Bricker each had 23. Goheen filled the stat sheet, putting up a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while also adding five steals. Neely finished her night with 13.
Warsaw (19-1, 5-0 Northern Lakes Conference) travels to Goshen on Saturday.
“This is a big game for us in the sense that it’s another day we get to spend time with each other,” Krebs said. “With that being said, it’s all about us continuing to get better each time we take the court.”
