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Not having suffered a loss since November, the Whitko girls basketball team traveled to Syracuse Thursday night to take on Wawasee in the regular season finale for both teams. It was a slow start, but eventually the Lady ‘Cats got into a rhythm and there was no stopping them from there. The team heads into sectional winners of 20 straight after a 67-22 victory.
“It’s really awesome when you think about where we were six years ago compared to where we are now,” Whitko head coach Justin Jordan said after the win. “But now, everybody’s record is 0-0. We can’t have any hiccups. We have to keep our foot on the gas and hopefully we can keep playing.”
There seemed to be a lid on the basket to begin the game for Whitko. Thanks to some aggressive defense, the visitors were getting a ton of open looks at or near the rim. For whatever reason, the Lady ‘Cats just could not get anything to fall. It wasn’t until freshman Ady Luecke came off the bench and hit a three that the team finally got on the board. On the other end, Bailyn Likens scored the first four points for the Lady Warriors to give the home side an early advantage.
Ady’s older sister Jocelyn scored the next six points, including a four-point play. While Whitko remained in front for the next few minutes, Wawasee was able to come up with baskets when they needed them, allowing the home side to stick within a possession or two.
With nine fouls committed in the first five minutes, the game lacked any sort of rhythm. Most of the points being scored were coming from the foul line and field goal percentages had not improved much for either side. The Lady ‘Cats were still able to do a good chunk of damage from beyond the arc, as Jules Leffers added a pair of threes in the opening quarter.
Whitko caught fire from deep late, going up by as many as eight in the final two minutes of the first. Heading into the second, the visitors led 19-13 and were getting contributions from every player who saw the court.
“I don’t know what made us start so slowly, but it definitely is not something we are used to,” Jordan said. “There were some choice words said after the first quarter and I think that woke them up a bit.”
The Lady ‘Cats really ramped up the defensive intensity over the next few minutes, preventing Wawasee from crossing midcourt on its first four possessions of the second. The team was starting to turn the turnovers into points as well, and soon led by double figures.
A triple by Jayma Stonebraker near the midway point of the quarter really broke things open, extending the advantage to 17. The Lady ‘Cat defense was starting to really frustrate the Lady Warriors, as the home side still had not taken a shot in the period, let alone scored. Fast forward to the two-minute mark, and that was still the case. It wasn’t until 90 seconds remained that the home team scored its first point at the free throw line, ending a 19-0 run that lasted nearly seven minutes.
It was a total team effort for the Lady ‘Cats, as no player had reached double figures despite scoring over 40 points. The balanced attack that Whitko has used all season long was on full display as the visitors took a 41-14 lead into the half.
Wawasee senior Brielle Poucher reaches out to keep control of the ball while driving to the basket during Thursday night's home game against Whitko...Nieter
It only took a few minutes of action in the second half for the Lady ‘Cats to build a 35-point lead and start the running clock. Even with the large lead and complete control of the game, the visitors were not slowing down at all. Whitko was still pressing and trying to force turnovers on every defensive possession, then trying to run the fast break afterwards.
To put it in perspective, With two and a half minutes left in the third, Audra Weaver scored the home side’s first field goal since the first quarter. With an incredibly deep bench, it didn’t matter who was on the court for the visitors. Everybody was making plays. With eight minutes to go, Whitko was in full control with a 52-16 lead.
“We put an emphasis on defense this year. We have a lot of girls that are unselfish and they don’t care who scores,” Jordan said. “But they pride themselves on their defense. That’s what we’ve been hanging our hats on.”
Reese and Jayma Stonebraker, as well as Hazel Leffers, each reached double figures in the first two minutes of the fourth. Those would be the final points of the night scored by the usual rotation players, as Jordan emptied his bench with a little over six minutes to go.
With the clock running the rest of the way, there wasn’t much action from there. Both teams hit a couple of shots down the stretch as the Lady ‘Cats finished the regular season with their 20th straight victory.
Whitko (21-1) will face host Woodlan in the team’s sectional opener on Tuesday. Wawasee (7-13) will travel to Tippecanoe Valley to take on Fairfield that same night.
“We’ll have to take good care of the basketball. It’s going to come down to our defense being able to create some offense,” Jordan said. “They play a tough 1-3-1 with some size so it’ll be tough but we’ll keep taking it one game at a time.”
