Second-Half Surge, Seniors Lift Lady TigersThird-year Warsaw girls basketball coach Lenny Krebs described Brielle Harrison as a matchup nightmare Saturday night.
The 5-foot-11 senior was certainly that, particularly in the second half, as she and classmate Kaylee Patton led the Lady Tigers to a 51-37 win over visiting Northern Lakes Conference opponent Concord on Senior Night.
Harrison, who scored her 500th career point with a free throw in the fourth quarter, scored 15 points in the second half en route to a career-high 22 points.
She finished the game 7 of 10 from the field overall and 8 of 9 at the free throw line.
Patton scored three points, and finished with game-highs of nine rebounds and seven assists.
The play of their two seniors helped the Lady Tigers outscore Concord 34-17 over the final 16 minutes and turn a 20-17 halftime deficit into a convincing win.
“I thought both of our seniors were big, and they led us tonight. We followed along, and that’s the way it’s meant to be, those seniors pulling the weight, and they did that tonight,” said Krebs, whose team won for the 10th time in its last 12 games and improved to 14-7 overall and 6-1 in the NLC.
“I thought in the first half were a little panicked and in a hurry, and as a result everything seemed a little rushed. I thought in the second half we settled down. I’ll tell you, Brielle Harrison, she’s a matchup nightmare, and it was just a great job by Brielle Harrison and Kaylee Patton. I’m proud of those two and how much they’ve contributed to the program.”
Harrison scored seven points in the first half, and then dominated in the third and fourth quarters as Concord struggled with 6-2 Warsaw sophomore Abby Sanner, who tallied 12 points and seven boards in the win.
“I’m just so excited, so happy I got my career high tonight,” said Harrison, whose previous high was 21 points against Fort Wayne Snider earlier this season. “I played my game the best I could, and it just happened. We worked so hard in the second half, and it feels really good to win on Senior Night.”
Harrison upped her career point total to 508, while Patton sits at 524.
Saturday’s win over Concord pushed Warsaw’s advantage in the overall series to 52-2.
The Lady Tigers haven’t lost to Concord since 1983, as they beat the Minutemen for the 44th consecutive time.
Concord fell to 14-7 overall and 4-3 in the NLC.
“I told (Concord) Coach (Cassie) Cepeda that I’m just so thrilled with what she’s done with their program. I’m thrilled for them 21 of the 22 games of the season. I’m not so thrilled when they play us,” said Krebs.
“She’s done a heck of a job with the program. Credit their administration, they made a great hire, and by golly she’s got the program winning and playing well.”
Cepeda is in her fourth season as the head coach at Concord. The Minutemen won four games in her first season, 10 the second year and 14 last season.
The 14 wins a year ago was the first winning season Concord had in more than 20 years.
Devine Johnson led Concord Saturday with 14 points, while Jadelyn Williams scored eight points, and Sydney Simon and Kendal Swartout finished with six and five points, respectively.
Junior Kensie Ryman scored eight points for Warsaw - netting the home team’s first eight points - and dished out four assists. Sophomore Kacilyn Krebs chipped in with six points.
The Lady Tigers are in action again Wednesday in the regular season finale at Elkhart Central. Warsaw will then host the sectional for the first time since 2009.
Warsaw won Saturday’s JV game 27-25 in overtime.
Marin Hart led the Lady Tigers JV team with 10 points.
