Tigers Respond In A Big Way In Sectional Semi
GOSHEN – The Warsaw girls basketball team proved to be some very good listeners Friday night.
Just ask their coach.
Whatever words of wisdom that Michelle Harter delivered to the Tigers at halftime of their sectional semifinal game, they were taken to heart.
Warsaw came out with more energy and effort in a dominating display in the final half to crush Concord 70-34 in the Class 4-A Goshen Sectional.
A plethora of players played big roles as the defending sectional champion Tigers rolled into the title game. Warsaw, which improves to 11-13 with its sixth straight win, will face No. 4 Penn (23-2) at Goshen Saturday night at 7:30.
The Kingsmen beat Northridge 53-36 in the second semifinal Friday night. Penn, whose losses this year were to Class 4-A No. 1 Columbus North (67-52) and Class 3-A No. 3 South Bend St. Joseph (50-49), beat the Raiders 77-26 during the regular season. Northridge, which won the Northern Lakes Conference title at 7-0, finishes its season at 21-5 overall.
Penn, which has won five straight sectional titles and was added to the field at Goshen this year, beat Warsaw 61-37 at Warsaw back on Nov. 24.
Kenzie Welk turned in a stellar performance to pace the Tigers past Concord. The junior guard tossed in 14 points.
Junior Madi Graham scored 14 points, while junior Dayton Groninger also had 14 despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble. Junior Page Desenberg was her usual reliable self with 10 points. Groninger also led the winners with eight rebounds, while Graham and Desenberg each had five.
The Tigers also got a big second-half spark from Jessie Kersey. The diminutive sophomore guard played huge with a big boost of energy for her team.
Warsaw used a huge third quarter to put the game away. The Tigers opened the second half with a 13-0 run to turn a 33-18 halftime edge into a 46-18 cushion. Groninger, Warsaw’s leading scorer on the season, made up for lost time to spark the surge. The talented guard sat out the entire second quarter after picking up a pair of fouls in the first frame. Groninger scored six points in the third period as Warsaw outscored concord 20-3 in the period with six different players scoring for the Tigers in the frame. Concord managed just one field goal in the stanza.
“The big thing we talked about at halftime was that we stepped on the floor tonight assuming we were just going to win,” said Harter. “We had no energy and intensity in that first half. We had silly fouls on the defensive end because we were not playing good fundamental defense. We were reaching. And then we were throwing the ball around on offense.
“The girls got the message. They came out and responded very well in that third quarter. Jessie Kersey really gave us a spark, which is what we needed. I thought that both Jessie and Morgan (Bruner) did a great job tonight. They really came in off the bench and picked us up.
“We went deeper into our bench earlier tonight because we had to with some early foul trouble. The girls responded. I definitely like the scoring balance that we had. That’s what you want to see. The girls coming in and building their confidence. Page just continues to do a tremendous job for us, getting in position to score inside and with her rebounding.”
Warsaw, which beat Concord 82-34 on Jan. 23 at home, led 18-9 after the opening period. Welk came out on fire with seven first-quarter points to lead the Tigers. Warsaw led 33-18 at halftime as Welk netted 10 points and Desenberg scored eight. Justyce Warren scored seven points in the first quarter for Concord, which had the game tied at 9-9 early before the Tigers closed the opening period of play with a 9-0 run.
Freshman Kacy Bragg scored seven points and Kersey and junior Mariah Rivera each had four for the Tigers. Freshman Maddie Ryman netted two points and sophomore Kennedy Patton one.
Anna Nisen, one of four seniors, led Concod with nine points. Junior Justyce Warren had seven points for the Minutemen, who finish at 5-18.
Senior Nicole Wilhelm had five points and sophomore Jenica Albert four for Concord. Junior Kelly Allison had three points and Chandyn Redmond, Camille Lozier and Alexandria Rapaich each had two for the Minutemen.
Warsaw shot 21-46 overall from the field and were 24-31 from the free throw line. Concord went 10-36 from the field and 12-16 from the line.
Harter knows that her team will need to put together a complete game on Saturday night if they want to pull the upset and cut down the nets for the second straight year at Goshen.
“We have to come out with energy at the start of the game and played four solid quarters on both ends of the floor,” Harter remarked prior to the start of the Penn-Northridge game Friday night. “We have to take care of the ball on offense and not put our opponent on the free throw line or give them second or third shot opportunities.”