Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Coming off of their first loss of the season to Jasper County on Saturday, the Warsaw girls basketball team had the opportunity to bounce back on Tuesday in their return to the Tiger Den. Standing in their way was a Penn team the Lady Tigers have had their fair share of success against in recent years. The trend continued, as the home side dominated their opponent to the tune of a 58-23 victory.
“Huge win for us, I was curious to see how the team would respond tonight,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said. “This group isn’t used to losing very often. If this is how they respond to adversity, we’ll be in good shape.”
Both teams began the game in an offensive groove combining for 10 points in the first 90 seconds of the game. Reagan Huss had the hot hand early on for the home team, scoring seven of her team’s first eleven points. The junior led the charge as a 9-0 run for the Lady Tigers put them in front by six midway through the first.
A triple by Joslyn Bricker extended the run to double digits before Alexis Werner finally stopped the bleeding for the Lady Kingsmen, but only temporarily. With a little under two minutes to go in the opening period, a layup by Alexis Neely put all five starters in the scoring column.
The Warsaw offense remained in a rhythm from there, as Neely and Bricker both added big buckets down the stretch. After just eight minutes, the Lady Tigers were firmly in control with a 22-9 lead.
No matter where Warsaw was getting its shots, they were falling at a high percentage. But it wasn’t just that. The Lady Tigers were playing their brand of suffocating defense to perfection. It was relentless the way they stalked ball handlers and prevented any easy passes, shots, or anything else. Sophomore Reagan Robinson made her first appearance in the second quarter, playing some hard nosed defense, which was greatly appreciated by her teammates.
“Reagan is a pest out there,” Krebs said. “She gave us exactly what we were looking for defensively tonight.”
In the final minutes of the first half, the home side still sat in front comfortably with a 15-point lead. Both teams went through a bit of a scoring drought in the final 120 seconds, but the large lead allowed the Lady Tigers to head into the break up 32-18.
Junior Cayleigh Goheen of Warsaw looks to score while working under the basket during Tuesday night's home game against Penn...Nieter
Bricker opened the second half up by scoring the first four points for her team to hit double figures. Brooke Zartman followed that up with a layup of her own to quickly extend the lead to 20 just two minutes into the third.
As good as the offense was, the defense was even better. Minutes continued to tick off the clock and Penn was unable to get any offense going at all. The Lady Kingsmen couldn’t buy a bucket in the quarter, going the entirety of the period without scoring a single point.
“We talked about how proud we were of the girls for their defensive intensity after the quarter ended,” Krebs said. “This is an offensive minded team, so to see them buy in defensively the way they did tonight, very proud of them for their mental focus.”
After the white-hot start to the second half, things cooled down significantly for the home side. After scoring six in the first three minutes, the team only managed three the rest of the way. With eight minutes to go, this one was all but final with Warsaw up 43-18.
Penn finally got one to fall on its first possession of the fourth, but at this point, the only impact the bucket had on the game was in determining the final score. Midway through the period, Warsaw began emptying the bench.
A few minutes after that, the Lady Tigers were able to extend their lead to 35 to speed the rest of the game up. Upon doing so, they took out the rest of the starters.
Bricker led the way with 17 points. Huss had 13, while Zartman added eleven.
Warsaw (6-1) begins Northern Lakes Conference play Tuesday when the team travels to NorthWood.
“These seniors have gone their entire career without losing a conference game. The trophy has stayed here for the last four years, and our challenge to the girls is asking them if they want to keep it,” Krebs said. “We’ll enjoy Thanksgiving and then we’ll hit the ground running with NorthWood.”
