Defense The Difference For Tigers
BOURBON – The Warsaw girls basketball team was in a downright defensive mood again Wednesday night.
That fact put their coach Michelle Harter in a festive mood after seeing her team wrap up its ninth straight win to open the season.
The Tigers stymied host Triton in posting a workmanlike 49-32 victory thanks mainly to their work on the defensive end.
Warsaw used its pressure on the perimeter and in the fullcourt to force the Trojans into 23 turnovers and just an 11-of-34 field-goal shooting effort. The Tigers, now 9-0, outscored Triton 24-11 in the second half to pull away to the victory.
Senior standout Jennifer Walker-Crawford tallied a game-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds to lead the undefeated Tigers. Junior center Nikki Grose had another strong game with eight points and nine rebounds and junior Brooklyn Harrison was outstanding off the bench for the winners with nine points and seven of Warsaw’s 16 steals.
Sophomore Kylie Mason hit a handful of 3-pointers, four of those in the second quarter, to pace Triton with 15 points. Senior Shana Anderson had seven points for the Trojans, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped to drop to 8-3.
“We’ve been swing all year that defense is the key for us,” said coach Harter. “Good things happen when we play aggressive defensively and our guards pressure the other team and get them out of their rhythm. Our girls are doing a nice job with our pressure.
“The key in the second half was picking up our intensity on defense. We talked at halftime about valuing possessions defensively and we did that. We slowed them down and did a better job finding their shooters.
“Jennifer is doing a tremendous job inside for us. She’s going up strong and finishing. She’s also added to her game where she can also step out now too and that’s a big advantage for her.”
Warsaw trailed just once at 1-0. The Tigers led 11-3 after the opening quarter as Walker-Crawford, a matchup nightmare at 6-1, had seven points. Warsaw built its lead to 21-9 in the second stanza before the Trojans closed the half with a 12-4 run to pull within 25-21 at intermission. Sophomore Mason shot her team back into the game with four treys in the period, including banking one in at the final horn.
The Tigers lead was just three at 29-26 with 2:35 left in the third period after Anderson hit a triple for the Trojans, the only basket of the quarter for the hosts. Warsaw then went on a 13-0 run over a span of 7:56 in the third and fourth quarters with a balanced attack to lead 42-26 after a triple by senior Lindsay Baker.
Warsaw got strong play from the trio of Harrison, senior Sarah Ray and sophomore Pam Miller off its bench. The trio combined for 14 points and seven rebounds and guards Harrison and Ray helped spark the surge on the defensive end.
“I’m very pleased with our bench and its play,” Harter said. “I do like our depth right now. Brooklyn and Sarah are two players who can come in there and put more pressure on the other team for us.”
Harter knows her team still has work to do despite its undefeated record.
“I’m happy to be 9-0 and not completely surprised, but we can’t be satisfied,” emphasized Harter. “We’ve won some games where we did not play all that well and that says a lot about our experience. But, we have to get better as a team.”
Triton coach Adam Heckaman thought his team was its own worst enemy at times Wednesday night.
“Warsaw is a great team and they play their zone and press well, but we hurt ourselves tonight,” said Heckaman. “We made poor decisions. We have to get better at the mental part of the game. We’re a team of spurts. We go on one and then we lose focus.
“What hurt us the most tonight was we let up on the defensive end when we were not scoring in the second half and it has to be the other way around. We lost focus in the second half and that’s when we have to pick it up.”
Warsaw shot 17-of-38 from the field and posted a 32-20 rebounding edge over the much smaller Triton lineup.
The Warsaw junior varsity team also improved to 9-0 with a 30-18 win. Courtney Farling led coach Mindy Stookey’s squad with 11 points. Megan Kratzsch scored six and Vicki Harris five for the undefeated Tigers. Shayla May led Triton with six points.
Warsaw faces South Bend St. Joseph Dec. 27 at 10 a.m. in the opening game of their own Lady Tiger Classic. Triton is idle until hosting Oregon-Davis on Jan. 2.