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After opening the season with a win on Tuesday night, the Warsaw girls basketball team returned to the Tiger Den on Saturday night to play its home opener. It was a great night for the program, as players from last year’s team received their state runner-up rings and saw a new banner be unveiled in the Tiger Den.
“Sometimes to look forward, you have to look back a bit. Last week, I watched games from the semi-state and the state finals for the first time,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said after the game. “It was an incredible opportunity for me to play a small part in what those girls accomplished last year. It was an amazing journey that we hope to go on again.”
Their first home opponent was a stout one, the reigning 3A state champion Norwell Lady Knights, playing in 4A this season due to the success factor. The top-10 matchup was decidedly won by the Lady Tigers, as the team went up by double digits early and stayed there en route to a 69-55 win.
The only player in the first three minutes of the game to record a point was Brooke Zartman, who drained a pair of triples to give her team an early 6-0 lead. The Lady Tiger defense was giving the Lady Knights fits in the opening period, as the 2-3 zone the home side was running provided little room to make anything happen for the visitors.
Eventually, Norwell was able to get it going, thanks to Indiana Junior All-Star Vanessa Rosswurm, who scored seven straight for the defending state champs to put them on top. After the slow start, both teams began to score at a higher rate, going back and forth.
“We knew trying to stop her was a futile effort,” Krebs said,” But if we played her 1-on-1, didn’t double team and forced the rest of the team to beat us, we thought we’d find some success. Rosswurm is a tremendous player. I love watching her play.”
The final moment of the quarter belonged to Warsaw, as Joslyn Bricker drained a three as the clock expired after a great play by Alexis Neely to prevent a turnover. After eight minutes of play, the Lady Tigers led 16-11.
The three ball continued to fall as the second quarter got going, as Northridge transfer Reagan Huss made her second of the game. After a layup by Neely, the home lead had suddenly jumped to 10.
With a lot of the attention going to the Lady Tiger guard duo of Zartman and Joslyn Bricker, it opened up a lot of opportunities for Kyra Kiser down low. The senior took advantage of the open space near the rim, scoring six quick points.
“I’m so proud of Kyra and how far she has come, how hard she has worked,” Krebs said. “She has earned the right to take every shot she does and we trust her to make them.”
That’s not to say the outside shooting wasn’t still clicking too. Zartman’s third three of the night was quickly followed up by Bricker draining one from 25 feet away. After another Warsaw onslaught, it was now a 17-point game.
Norwell answered immediately, scoring six straight points to make things considerably closer. As the halftime buzzer sounded, that’s where things sat.
Senior Joslyn Bricker shoots a three-pointer during Saturday night's home game against Norwell...Nieter
As both sides got into a rhythm in the third, the Lady Tigers were doing a good job of keeping their opponents at bay. There were multiple instances that the Lady Knights were able to get within single digits, but each time, the Warsaw offense quickly went back to the other end and matched it. These “scorebacks”, as the team calls them, are a vital part of their success.
“You know, I’d prefer to not have to get a scoreback and just get a defensive stop, but when we do get one, it can be so demoralizing,’ Krebs said. “Especially when they score two and we go down on the other end and hit a three. We take a lot of pride in answering those makes as quickly as we can.”
The second half of the third quarter mostly consisted of a drought by the home team, and the Lady Knights were able to take advantage. The visitors were able to get within eight, but the final four points of the period belonged to Bricker. The Butler commit made a pair of layups in the final minute to put her team up 12 heading into the fourth.
Two more triples, the latter coming from Kyser, made it a 16-point game just 74 seconds later. As had been the case since the Lady Tigers had gone up by double figures, the team was doing more than enough to keep it that way. With just three minutes remaining, the home side’s advantage sat at eleven.
The Lady Knights threw one last punch at the home side, cutting their deficit to nine with two minutes left, but Huss was there on the other end mere moments later, hitting a dagger triple to push it right back to 12.
Norwell played the foul game in the final minute of the contest, but it didn’t do anything to impact the final result, only the final score.
Bricker led the Lady Tigers with 25 points, while Zartman scored 20. Huss had nine and led the team with eight rebounds. Rosswurm paced all scorers with 26.
Warsaw (2-0) travels back to Fort Wayne Tuesday to take on Northrop.
