Tough Times Continue For Warrior Cagers
MIDDLEBURY — It’s getting hard to find answers for the Wawasee boys basketball team.
Thursday night the Warriors played their best first quarter of the season, only to follow it up with three disappointing quarters that led to the program’s 34th consecutive Northern Lakes Conference loss. Northridge used Wawasee’s missed chances and 26 points from Kurtis Hochstetler to grab a 60-36 victory.
The Warriors jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game and but Northridge quickly responded and turned the first quarter into an exciting, back and forth affair. Both teams were finding their shots early and it looked like fans would be in store for a very entertaining game between two teams desperately needing a win. But the closely competitive contest quickly turned into a one-sided game.
Wawasee scored 16 points in the opening frame, building a 16-11 lead to take into the second quarter, but the Warriors scored just 20 points the rest of the game.
The second quarter is where Hochstetler started to make his move. The senior hit four threes in the frame, five in the half, and was part of what turned out to be a huge turning point in the game.
After a long three from Hochstetler put the Raiders up 23-20, the following possession for Wawasee ended with a charge call against Tyler Smith. That call was viewed by Wawasee’s bench, and fans, as questionable at best and the Warriors never would not score for the remaining three minutes of the half. Northridge took a 29-20 lead into the break.
Hochstetler would hit six threes for the game, as many as Wawasee’s team total. The senior did not start due to disciplinary reasons but made up for that with his play off the bench. Hochstetler was 9-13 from the floor, 6-7 from deep, led all players with 26 points and nine rebounds.
Smith was one of a few Warriors that showed promise in the game. Smith missed last season entirely due to a leg injury and is finally tapping back into the potential that so many knew he had. The junior is taking on a leadership role for the Warriors and is quickly becoming a positive force on the court. Smith had nine points and three rebounds for Wawasee Thursday night. The Warriors were led offensively by Jairus Boyer’s 13 points.
Wawasee failed to find much production after that opening quarter. The team communication and confidence just seemed to drop after the charging call against Smith.
“Something always seems to happen in that second quarter,” said Wawasee head coach Steve Wiktorowski. “We’ve gotten off to better and better starts the past three or four games. Those starts have extended longer and longer, today it was that whole first quarter. Then one thing goes wrong and we lose our focus.”
Earlier in the year these mental lapses by the Warriors were somewhat expected. It’s a young team and growing pains are part of the process. Having a bad game against Warsaw or Angola, two teams that have a combined 35-1 record, was something that could be easily understood. But lately the schedule has been much lighter, the boys have gained more experience, which means the excuses eventually have to stop. Wiktorowski knows that as well as anyone, and he’s searching for answers the same as anyone else.
“We work on this confidence issue every single day,” Wiktorowski said. “We talk about confidence constantly. We came in and shot a lot this week which I thought helped us going into tonight and it showed in that first quarter. I’m not so much concerned with raising our confidence in general, but rather keeping it up through tough times.”
Wawasee (2-14, 0-6) will host Goshen next Friday. Northridge (4-10, 2-4) travels to Snider Saturday night.