Warsaw Basketball: The Calm During The Storm
NORTH MANCHESTER – It is very hard to lose a basketball game in which a team never trails. Such a ‘Deanism’, as some have called the genius analysis of the late Dean Smith, applied to Warsaw in The Jungle at Manchester, to which Warsaw led the entire way of a 59-40 final in girls buckets Wednesday night.
Dayton Groninger hit a shot right out of the gate, and along with a avalanche of defensive pressure, the Lady Tigers were able to pressure its way to a quick 8-2 lead. Warsaw really wasn’t threatened from there, as it would run out to a 22-3 lead and take as much as a 33-point lead in the second half.
Groninger, after finding the sledding tough in the first half of the season opener against Fort Wayne Luers, had no trouble getting going Wednesday night against the Squires. Groninger outscored Manchester 16-9 in the first half and would settle at 23 points, getting points at will within 10 feet of the bucket. The senior would add eight rebounds and three steals, a floor burn diving for a loose ball, and displayed handles on a double team that freed her up for an easy shot after being pinned in the corner by two Manchester defenders.
“Dayton needed to attack and go in and finish strong,” stated Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter about Groninger’s inside game against Manchester. “Now teams can’t sag out on her and not let her shoot from out, because if they do she can attack, get in there and finish. And that just adds something extra to our offense that we didn’t have all the time last year. Dayton is just coming out and doing it on both ends, and that’s what you want to see from a senior leader.”
Madi Graham was part of the defense-makes-offense parade for Warsaw, scoring 12 points and adding a pair of steals and three rebounds. Kacy Bragg had five points in the first quarter before picking up a pair of fouls that slowed her night. Bragg ended up with seven points and three rebounds.
Manchester didn’t snap out of its fog until midway through the third quarter when three-pointers finally started to fall. The huge deficit in the third quarter was levied by four Kerigan Hatfield bombs in the second half to give her the Squires’ team-leading 12 points. Manchester would hit eight threes altogether.
“It’s hard, you get a big lead and it’s hard to come out and keep that same type of mentality,” Harter said. “I thought we did a good job continuing with that. Just down the stretch we got a little laxed. But very pleased with the overall effort from the girls and how they came out and just played strong.”
In the JV game, Warsaw got the victory over Manchester by a 28-15 count.
Warsaw is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2012-13 season when the Lady Tigers made it to the semi-state, and looks to run its streak with a Friday night matchup at the Tiger Den against Huntington North (1-0). Manchester falls to 2-1 after beating Adams Central and Lewis Cass in blowout fashion. The Squires look to right the ship Saturday night at Bluffton.