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Coming off just its second loss of the season, the Warsaw girls basketball team set its sights on Akron and rival Tippecanoe Valley. The Lady Vikings gave the Lady Tigers one heck of a battle, but eventually the visitors were able to wear the home team down in a 55-32 victory to get back into the win column.
The Lady Vikings opened the game on fire defensively, holding the usually high-scoring Warsaw side scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. This presented Valley with a massive opportunity to build an early lead before their opponents could get into a rhythm, but the home side was only able to manage four points themselves during this early stretch.
Brooke Zartman finally ended the drought with a triple a little after the midway point of the quarter before a layup by Cayleigh Goheen gave the visitors their first lead. Even still, the Lady Tigers looked out of sorts offensively. The connectivity and unselfishness Warsaw usually has on full display was absent in the opening quarter, and the Lady Vikings were taking full advantage of it and keeping things close.
“We just weren’t emotionally crisp and sharp to start this game. It took us a while to turn the corner,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said. “Hats off to Tippy Valley and how Coach Parker prepared them for tonight. They took a lot away from us.”
After taking the early lead, Valley would go nearly four minutes themselves without scoring a basket. That ended in the final minute of the first, as Gaby Gonzalez launched a three from well beyond the line to put her team back in front. It lasted mere moments though, as the final basket of the quarter came off the fingertips of Zartman to make it 9-7.
Gonzalez came up big for Valley once more early in the second, hitting a big and-one to end another dry spell for the home side. The senior point guard was doing everything in the first half, but most importantly, she was carrying her squad on the scoreboard with 10 of the team’s first 12 points.
Out with an illness in Tuesday's loss to Homestead, Warsaw senior Alexis Neely made her return felt in the second quarter, hitting back-to-back threes to give her team a big boost. However, each time it looked as if the Lady Tigers were finally going to go on the run that saw them pull away, the Lady Vikings were right there to prevent it. Three minutes before halftime, it was still a one-point game.
“I thought our girls played incredibly tough tonight. We wanted to try a few things that not a lot of people have against Warsaw in terms of how we defended them,” Valley head coach Rebekah Parker said. “They did a great job of getting their shots, and we played our best offensive options, just couldn’t match them.”
Senior Erin McManus of Warsaw finds herself open for a three-pointer during the second quarter...Neiter
The final two minutes before the break were massive for the visitors, as they were able to use their speed and athleticism to push the tempo and go on a run. Warsaw was forcing turnovers at a rapid rate and was beating their opponent to the other end after doing so. The result was an 8-0 run to end the half that put the orange and black up by nine.
The first few minutes of the third quarter would be crucial in determining what type of game this was going to turn into. Those minutes belonged to the Lady Tigers, as they continued the run that ended the first half with seven more points to extend the advantage to 16.
“We started to play together again. We started to pass the ball more and make the right play,” Krebs said. “That’s four veterans figuring it out, but that’s not something we can do against a team in the tournament.”
Four straight points by Hadley Wise ended the run and gave some life to the home side, but only temporarily. Warsaw answered the short spurt with another 7-0 burst that grew the lead close to 20. Zartman continued to lead the charge, closing in on 20 points herself.
With eight minutes to go, the visitors led by 17. For the most part, the Lady Vikings were still doing a fantastic job defensively. Valley just was not able to consistently come away with baskets on the other end.
“We need to be more player-led. Sometimes we get tired and the rhythm of our offense gets a little bit off before we run a set play,” Parker said. “When you reach sectional time, you’re going to have to figure out how to just play basketball with less of that structure.”
It remained that way as time continued to tick away, with Warsaw starting to outscore the home side at a three to one pace late in the game. The Lady Vikings continued to battle though, giving their all on both ends of the court until the final buzzer sounded. Despite the lopsided final score, this one felt much closer for a majority of the contest.
Zartman led all scorers with 23 points. Gonzalez scored 12, Joslyn Bricker and Wise both had 10. Goheen grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
