Aubrey Schmeltz will be a key performer for Wawasee in the Warsaw Sectional Saturday at Stonehenge (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

WARSAW – NorthWood girls golf coach Adam Yoder is a confident man going into postseason play on Saturday.

Who can blame him?

Yoder’s No. 19 Panthers, on paper, are the favorite heading into the Warsaw Sectional.

NorthWood is not only the defending sectional champion, but the Panthers went undefeated in nine-hole matches this season for the second straight year.

On top of that, NorthWood won the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament title last weekend.

And by the way, the Panthers also have two outstanding, seasoned players at the top of their lineup in senior Linnzie Richner and junior Summer Stillson. Richner shot a round of 79 and Stillson an 82 at last year’s sectional.

Karsten Lingenfelter, a senior from Rochester, was individual sectional medalist with a 76 in 2014.

“I think that from the scores this season that yes we are the favorites going in,” said Yoder in a phone interview Wednesday night after watching his team defeat Penn and LaPorte to improve to 12-0. “I’m confident. We know that we have to play well. There are no guarantees. Winning a sectional is hard to do in any sport.”

Yoder, who is also the girls basketball coach at NorthWood, saw his team shoot 348 a year ago to win the program’s first-ever sectional championship. Wawasee was second at 360 with Columbia City third at 378 and host Warsaw fourth at 383.

“We are more worried about ourselves,” Yoder said. “We know Wawasee is capable. Linnzie and Summer have taken care of a lot of business for us. They’ve been in the fire enough. We just need to come out and be patient and disciplined at the start. Those first five holes are tough at Stonehenge.”

The NorthWood lineup will also include sophomore Madison Richner and freshmen Mackenzie Weaver and Abby Slabaugh.

Wawasee knows what it takes to get the job done this time of year. The Warriors have four players back from their team that went on to finish third at the regional a year ago to advance to the State Finals for the first time in school history.

“We want to win it, but obviously our first goal is to advance to the regional,” said Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone. “We know that we have to go in and play well. We have a strong team from 1-5, but we still have to play well.

“I think that we will be in good shape. The thing is that we have to be smart and not have the big numbers that have hurt us lately.”

NorthWood shot 343 to win the NLC Tourney last Saturday, while the Warriors were second at 359. Plymouth was third at 370 with Warsaw fourth at 399.

The Warriors have a balanced lineup with seniors Kylee Rostochak and Makayla Mawhorter and juniors Aubrey Schmeltz, Madison Beaman and Kamryn Foy. Mawhorter shot an 87 at the sectional in 2014, while Rostochak and Schmeltz each shot a 95 and Foy a 108.

Warsaw junior Page Desenberg will be one of four underclassmen in the sectional lineup for the Tigers (File photo by Mike Deak)

Warsaw will look to continue its season of improvement and hope for the best Saturday.

“Our biggest goal is like it has been all season and that’s to improve and progress,” said first-year WCHS coach Tad Nieter. “The key for us is our short game (100 yards in) and that’s been our focus. We have to limit our mistakes in our short game. That’s huge for us.

“We need to get off to a good start. We go off on the front nine and that’s the tougher nine.”

The duo of Madi Graham and Page Desenberg are the pair of players back for the Tigers. Graham shot a 93 and Desenberg a 102 at last year’s sectional. Graham led her team at the NLC with a 94. The lineup, which has just one senior in Morgan Fuentes, will also include Delaney Wihebrink and Madison Martz.

The field at Stonehenge includes Warsaw, Wawasee, NorthWood, Triton, Tippecanoe Valley, Whitko, Lakeland Christian Academy, Plymouth, Bremen, Caston, and Rochester.

The top three teams on Saturday at Stonehenge advance to the East Noble Regional on Sept. 26 at Noble Hawk.

Action is set to begin at Stonehenge Saturday at 11 a.m. as the No. 1 players from NorthWood, Wawasee and Plymouth will tee off on the No. 1 hole. Warsaw’s No. 1 will tee-off at 11:50 a.m. on the No. 1 hole with the top players from Tippecanoe Valley and Bremen.