Mental Toughness The Key For Wawasee
SYRACUSE — It’s been a year full of ‘almost’ for the Wawasee girls basketball team.
The Lady Warriors played more than a handful of tight games during the regular season, almost pulling a few upsets along the way. Wawasee struggled to find a way to win in too of those many contests, but was always right there at the end, with the exception of one game.
Last Tuesday Wawasee traveled to Tippecanoe Valley to play the No. 4 ranked Lady Vikings and were ran out of the gym with a final score of 72-38. This Tuesday the Lady Warriors will return to Valley to face, you guessed it, the No. 4 ranked Lady Vikings. This time the stakes will be much higher as it is the opening of the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 21.
Wawasee bounced back on Thursday for a win over Concord and closed the season winning three of its last four. The Lady Warriors have played some of their best basketball over the last month of the season, but the regular season contest against Valley certainly gave doubts as to whether or not Wawasee will be ready for the sectional rematch.
“Us,” said Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman when asked about his team’s biggest obstacle. “We have to be very, very conscious that we’re okay mentally and that Tuesday’s game didn’t destroy us mentally. It’s no secret that we’re not the most mentally strong team.
“Little things happen and it causes us to go on little droughts then we get out of the funk and we’re okay.”
But the game against Valley was not the typical roller coaster ride for the Lady Warriors, it was a downhill tumble from start to finish.
“That particular game, that was a buzz saw,” Zolman commented. “Valley had not played that well all year. We just happened to be there when they played really well. One good aspect is that I don’t think they can play any better and I don’t think we can play any worse.”
Wawasee (8-14) will need a few breaks to go its way if it wants to knock off the 21-1 Lady Vikes, but the Lady Warriors will also have to put a better product on the floor than they did last week.
Wawasee relies heavily on the production, and leadership, of Kylee Rosotchak. The senior was kept in check by Valley in the last meeting, scoring just eight points. Aubrey Schmeltz provided the most promise in the starting lineup in that first meeting as the junior scored 10 points. Hannah-Marie Lamle also provided solid minutes off the bench.
Valley is one of the deepest teams in the tournament and is comfortable going 10 deep, if needed. That leaves Wawasee with the task of having to get quality minutes and production out of its top eight players that include the three already mentioned in addition to Seaquinn Bright, Hannah Haines, Erin Wiktorowski, Kabrea Rostochak and Aubrey Kuhn.
The Lady Warriors bring in one of the sectional’s best defensive units, it terms of points given up per game. Wawasee surrenders just 43 points per contest, tied for second in the sectional field. But Wawasee’s Achilles’ heel has been its offense this year and Valley boasts one of the best defensive units in the state, surrendering 34 points on average.
Tuesday’s draw is a tall task for Wawasee, definitely, but a Lady Warrior win is far from out of the question. The Lady Warriors know what to expect when Valley plays its best, but the Lady Vikings have yet to see Wawasee at its best.
The two county rivals will tip a 6 p.m. Tuesday night. The winner will face West Noble in the semi-final at 6 p.m. on Friday.