Wawasee Basketball: Warriors Bounce Bruins
WATERFORD MILLS — It was not the most prolific performance ever, but it got the job done. The Wawasee basketball team visited Bethany Christian Tuesday night and left Jim Buller Court with a 37-23 win, snapping a seven-game losing streak in the process.
“Anytime you pick up a victory, you’re doing something right,” said Wawasee head coach Jon Everingham. “Even though Bethany is struggling a little bit, they’re very well coached. We’re not the type of team that can apply a ton of pressure, so I knew this game would be closer than what most people probably thought. But, I was proud of our guys for hanging in there. There’s no quesiton that we’re not a high-powered offensive juggernaut right now. We’re without our leading scorer (Trevon Coleman) and we’re trying to find our way with some other guys.”
There were plenty of other guys that wanted to step up and help Wawasee snap its losing skid. The Warriors had eight players score in total and five tie for the team lead with six points each. One of those players tallying six on the night was Tyler Smith. The senior has been struggling so far this season after finishing the 2015-16 campaign as the team’s leading scorer, but that hopefully changed with his performance Tuesday evening.
Smith had a huge three-point play in the third quarter to put his team up 23-14. The play seemed to rally an otherwise reeling Wawasee team at the time. Recent struggles have also plagued Smith at the free throw line but he went 2-3 at the strip against Bethany. Further signs of Smith’s turnaround could be seen on other places in the final stats as well. In addition to tying for the team lead in points, Smith led the team with five rebounds, three assists and tied teammates Cayden Wegener and Ryan Edington for a game-high two steals.
“I made it known to him (Smith) that we was kind of in the coach’s doghouse,” Everingham explained. “If I didn’t think that he worked his way out the doghouse tonight then I wouldn’t be telling you about it. He’s certainly a kid that’s an icon on the team. It’s very difficult to bench a guy like that but I did it because I wanted him to step back and gain a view from the bench. We held him out for the first quarter then got him his minutes.”
Smith’s three-point play was big for the team in the third, to start the fourth the Warriors got another big basket from a senior. Cameron Schlabach drained a three pointer to put Wawasee up 26-16, forcing a Bruins timeout with 6:39 to play in the game. The basket sparked a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter for the Warriors.
Wegener, Schlabach, Jairus Boyer and Jacob Hand all joined Smith in tallying six points in Tuesday’s game. Bethany was led by an 11-point effort from Seth Brenneman.
“Overall, it was a very positive night defensively,” Everingham stated. “Certainly there are some things to work on offensively, but we already knew that. We’re going to continue to work and get better and score more points.”
Wawasee (5-8) travels to Concord Friday night. The Warriors have not won in McCuen Gym since Jan. 26, 2007.
Wawasee won the JV contest 51-25. Ben Hoffert led all players with 12 points for Wawasee while Marshal Miler added 11 for the Warriors.