Tigers Ace Test Versus Kingsmen
MISHAWAKA – Jennifer Walker-Crawford says her Warsaw girls basketball team is good when it plays defense.
The Tigers were very good Wednesday night.
Warsaw locked down on defense to pass its toughest test of the season in flying colors with an impressive 55-42 win at Penn.
Senior stars Walker-Crawford and Lindsay Baker led the way as the Class 4-A No. 10 Tigers remained undefeated on the season by clamping down on the Kingsmen.
Walker-Crawford netted a game-high 16 points, while Baker and junior Nikki Grose each scored 13 as Warsaw improved to 16-0 on the season.
Penn, whose lone regular-season loss a year ago was a 52-50 setback at Warsaw, was led by 14 points from Taylor Lutz, The Kingsmen, who were state runner-up in 2011 and lost in the semi state in 2012, drop to 13-4. The loss also snapped a seven-game winning streak for Penn.
The Tigers, who entered play Wednesday night allowing just 36.2 points-per-game, held Penn to a 14-of-48 shooting effort. The Kingsmen, in losing for the first time at home this season, was an abysmal 2-of-14 from 3-point range, a key staple in its offensive arsenal.
“Defense is our best friend,” said Walker-Crawford after the win. “We play defense. Our defensive intensity and playing as a team are big keys all the time for us. We can play bad offense sometimes. That’s okay with coach. But, we have to play defense. She really pushes that.
“This is absolutely great for us, to beat a very good team on the road. It shows us how good we really are. We want to win every game, but we just have to take it game by game. Our No. 1 goal this year is to win the sectional.”
Warsaw looked the part of a sectional favorite Wednesday night.
The Tigers trailed just once at a paltry 1-0 to open the non-conference showdown of heavyweights. Warsaw answered with an 8-1 run, keyed by a pair of treys from the University of Toledo bound Baker, to take control. The Tigers led 16-10 after the first quarter and 24-20 at halftime as Walker-Crawford scored seven points and Baker six in the opening half. Penn closed the half with a 9-3 run to pull close at intermission.
The contest was nip-and-tuck in the third quarter. Penn quickly cut the Tiger lead to 24-22 on a Lutz basket to open the final half. The veteran Tigers responded like an experienced team with an 8-0 run, keyed by two buckets by Walker-Crawford, to lead 32-22 forcing a Kingsmen timeout. Penn rallied to cut the advantage to 36-32 at the end of the third period of play.
Warsaw put the pedal to the metal in the final frame to pull away. Penn cut the lead to 38-35 on a trey by Lutz with 6:42 to play. From there, it was all Warsaw as the Tigers got a huge three-point play by Walker-Crawford, followed by a clutch triple from Baker to take command. Warsaw outscored the Kingsmen 19-10 in the final period.
“We came in here tonight wanting to use this game as a measuring stick to see where we are,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. “I’m very pleased with our effort. We hustled defensively, stayed focused and kept our composure.
“The girls played well as a team tonight. The key was executing on offense. We did an excellent job not settling for the first shot and we were willing to make the extra pass to get a better shot. It goes to the girls buying into playing as a team and with confidence.
“Tonight says a lot about our senior leadership. Our seniors have taken ownership of this team and that’s been a big key for us this season. We’re a veteran team and the girls played that way tonight. They executed when we really had to and that shows how much these girls want to get better. We didn’t allow Penn to get on a roll.”
The Tigers still have conference road games at Concord, Elkhart Memorial and NorthWood before hosting South Bend Riley in the home and regular-season finale. Warsaw is bidding for its first undefeated regular season since the 1989-90 team went 20-0.
“The undefeated thing is not that important to me, but it is to our kids,” said Harter, whose team finished 16-5 last season. “I just see our confidence continuing to grow and my focus is to have us prepared for the postseason.”
The Tigers also got strong play from Melanie Holladay and Sarah Ray, a pair of unsung senior guards, in Wednesday night’s win. Holladay had eight points and tied Grose for team-high honors with eight rebounds. Ray played heavy minutes with some starters in early foul trouble and gave the Tigers a huge lift with five key points and solid defensive work.
Warsaw used its superior passing and unselfish team play to shoot a red-hit 22-of-40 from the field in the win. The Tigers were 4-of-12 from beyond the 3-point line in the victory. Grose dished out a game-high five assists for Warsaw, while Baker had four.
Lutz, one of two senior starters, was the lone Penn player in double figures. The Kingsmen, who started a pair of freshmen Wednesday night, were shorthanded. Caroline Buhr, a 6-1 junior, has been sidelined all season due to a knee injury and Jessica Alexander, a 5-9 junior, missed the game due to an illness.
“It’s a recurring theme for us this season,” said fourth-year Penn coach Kristi Kaniewski Ulrich of her team’s shooting woes, which also included just a 12-of-18 mark from the free throw line. “Warsaw’s defense was good and that had something to do with it, but sometimes we just don’t want to stay with what works. Our youth showed a little tonight in our lack of execution.
“Good teams will make you pay and that’s what Warsaw did. They are an unselfish team and smart as well. Our will to fight went away in the fourth quarter and they kept throwing punches at us. To give up that many points in the fourth quarter is uncharacteristic of who we are.”
Penn, whose losses were on the road to Fort Wayne South 61-51, Northridge 52-42 and Hamilton Southeastern 44-43 prior to Wednesday night, was allowing just 36.4 points-per-game.
The Kingsmen won the junior varsity contest 40-22. Courtney Farling led Warsaw with 11 points. Lauren Ellenberger and Kamra Solomon each had eight points to pace Penn.
Warsaw plays at Northern Lakes Conference foe Concord and Penn entertains Northern Indiana Conference opponent South Bend Riley Saturday night.