Basketball Results: Dec. 19
WARSAW BOYS 51, WHITKO 40
Whitko made Warsaw work for it, but the Tigers were just too much for the Wildcats Wednesday night in South Whitley.
Warsaw shot just 29 percent from the floor (10-34) in the first half, but Whitko couldn’t make up for it by only shooting 25 percent (4-16) in what continued to be a poorly shot contest.
Trevor Rumple, on the other hand, had a shooting night to remember for the Tigers. The senior, who just signed with Olivet Nazarene to continue his basketball career, had a career night for the Tigers with 18 points on 6-10 shooting and hit five from behind the arc. Rumple hit back-to-back threes to start a run in the third, and another three along with one from Jaylen Reese put Warsaw out of reach at 44-35.
Reese ended with 10 points and five rebounds, and Nolan Groninger chipped in eight points, eight boards and four assists.
Whitko had three players in double figures, with 14 points apiece from Brett Sickafoose and Drake Lewis. Spencer Sroufe continued to work back from an ankle injury and played the entire contest, totaling 12 points and eight rebounds.
Warsaw controlled play in the JV game, running out to a 13-2 lead in the first quarter and a 23-point halftime bulge in a 56-37 final. Jackson Dawson led Warsaw with 13 points and three rebounds and Brock Poe had nine points and four assists. Warsaw forced Whitko into 18 turnovers, 16 coming on steals.
Warsaw (5-3) will prep for Class 2-A No. 1 Westview, which will descend upon the Tiger Den Saturday evening. Whitko (2-6) will be off until Dec. 28 when it will play in the Plymouth Tournament.
ARIZONA CHRISTIAN WOMEN 79, GRACE WOMEN 71
Grace’s women’s basketball team wrapped up its trip to Arizona with a hard-fought 79-71 defeat at No. 21 Arizona Christian on Wednesday.
The Lady Lancers (8-8) were led by 20 points from Vironnica Drake and 19 from Brooke Sugg. Grace was unable to overcome a pair of untimely droughts to grab the upset.
The first quarter started with a 3-pointer by Sugg and ended with a late layup from Kyannah Stull. But ACU (9-4) wrapped up the quarter with a 21-17 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Sugg knocked down back-to-back triples to chop ACU’s lead down to 28-27.
But Grace hit a dry spell after Sugg’s treys and did not score again for the next four minutes.
Grace fell behind by 12 but managed to whittle the deficit back to 39-35 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Lady Lancers continued to keep pressure on ACU and eventually made a push in the closing minutes.
With 3:21 left in the period, Grace trailed 53-42. But Drake rallied Grace with seven straight points over the final minutes; the Lady Lancers were behind just 56-53 entering the final stanza.
Grace’s offense hit another fateful drought to start the fourth quarter. The Lady Lancers were scoreless for the first 4:15 of the fourth, allowing ACU to open up a comfortable 66-53 cushion.
The Lady Lancers still managed to fight back in the final frantic minutes as 3-pointers from Stull and Drake gave Grace hope.
Drake made back-to-back layups to pull Grace within five at 70-65 with 3:01 on the clock. But ACU iced the win by making four of its next five field goals, resulting in the final eight-point margin of victory.
Drake’s 20 points came with six rebounds, and Sugg had a busy stat line with 19 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
Brooke Treadway was a boost off the bench, making 6-of-6 from the floor for 12 points with three steals. Stull tallied 10 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, and Kaylie Warble had three points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Lancers return home on Dec. 29 for a doubleheader with the men’s team. Grace will host Asbury at noon at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
MANCHESTER GIRLS 41, TRITON 26
Manchester’s defense was center stage Wednesday in its win at the Trojan Trench.
The Lady Squires created 13 steals and saw Triton commit 24 turnovers overall. Triton’s shooting woes on the night didn’t help, the Trojans just 2-14 from the floor in the first half and 9-32 overall (28 percent).
Alyxa Viers had the only hot hand for Triton, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds, but no other home sider had more than four points. Manchester had Kennedy Fierstos hit three from deep and scored 15 points overall. Eva Bazzoni and Kennedy Lauer each added eight points, the three Squires combining for seven steals.
“Our defensive effort and execution made up for a less than ideal shooting night for us tonight,” said Triton head coach Jake Everett, who returned to his alma mater. “I thought we played hard and executed well in the second half against a well-prepared Triton team. We look forward to some rest before gearing up for the county tourney.”
Triton and Manchester went to overtime in the JV game, with Triton squeaking out a 31-29 win. Taren Yates led the winners with nine points while Jessica Soriano and Jaelyn Bules added seven points apiece. Beletu Stout led Manchester with 10 points and Ranissa Shambarger added eight points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Triton (4-11) will host Rochester Saturday evening while Manchester (8-5) will gear up for the Wabash County Tourney on Dec. 28.
FORT WAYNE CARROLL 7TH GRADE BOYS 24, LAKEVIEW 22
The tight contest had Lakeview (13-4) come up short despite Andrew Potter’s nine points. Layton Isbell added six points and Matthew Hotchkin finished with five points.
LAKEVIEW 8TH GRADE BOYS 42, FORT WAYNE CARROLL 31
German Flores had a team-high 12 rebounds to help the Tigers to a win. Jaxson Gould paced the offense with 22 points and five assists, Tucker Curtis had eight points, and Will Bergan and Nehemiah Wright combined for eight points.
TRITON 8TH GRADE BOYS 53, CULVER 22
Chandler Westafer dropped 20 points on Culver in the big win. Cole Irvine added eight points and Cameron Shively and Trenton Conley both hit for seven points. Triton also won an abbreviated B game 12-8.
CULVER 7TH GRADE BOYS 49, TRITON 41
Anthony Schuh scored a whopping 24 points, but the Trojans couldn’t catch the Cavaliers. Cole Shively added nine points and Javan May had six points in the loss.