Warsaw’s Harter, Grose Reap Rewards
The Warsaw girls basketball program continues to garner rewards for an outstanding 2012-13 season.
Warsaw coach Michelle Harter and standout junior Nikki Grose are the latest members of the program to receive recognition.
Harter has been selected as head coach of the Junior All-Star team. Grose is one of six players tabbed as members of the North Six for the squad.
Harter guided the Tigers to a 24-2 mark this past season. The tremendous season included the program’s first sectional title since 2004. Warsaw also won the Northern Lakes Conference championship and the Valparaiso Regional title before losing to Fort Wayne South Side 47-44 in the Class 4-A Warsaw Semistate. Harter, formerly a longtime assistant coach in the program, is now 80-31 in her five seasons as head coach.
Grose turned in a huge year for the Tigers, especially in postseason play. The 6-0 forward/center averaged 11.8 points-per-game to rank second on the team in scoring and grabbed a team-high 9.5 rebounds per contest. Grose had game-high totals of 20 points and 13 rebounds in the No. 8 Tigers’ semi state loss to the Archers.
The North Six team also includes NorthWood standout Morgan Olson. The 5-11 forward led coach Steve Neff’s Panthers in scoring at 19.9 points-per-game this past season. NorthWood finished 22-4 and won a Class 3-A sectional title before losing 42-39 to Fort Wayne Concordia in a semifinal game of the Bellmont Regional.
The Core Six Junior All-Stars group includes Sydney Buck (Homestead), Kindell Fincher (Fort Wayne Canterbury), Tayler Goodell (Columbus North), Whitney Jennings (Logansport), Erica Moore (Mt. Vernon-Fortville) and Maura Muenselman (Evansville Mater Dei).
The North Six team features Grose, Olson, Jaclyn Heath (LaPorte), Kellie Kirkhoff (Roncalli), Kayla Brown (Westfield) and Courtney Smith (Fort Wayne Concordia).
The South Six squad includes Mackenzie Campbell (Rushville), Danielle Cuttino (Ben Davis), Jenna Knepp (Barr-Reeve), Ana Owens (Lawrence North), Destiny Washington (Lawrence North) and Lauren Whitlatch (Bloomington South).
The Junior All-Stars will play the Kentucky Junior All-Stars in exhibition games June 7 and 8. They will then play the Indiana Senior All-Stars on June 10 and 12. The sites and times for these games will be announced at a later date.
Members of the Core Six Junior All-Stars will play in all four games, while the North Six will play in two of the four contests and the South Six in the other two games.
The Indiana Junior All-Stars were picked by the 22-member IBCA all-star panel.