Whitko Regaining Its Swagger
SOUTH WHITLEY – It’s not a common thing for a coach to change his philosophy midway through a season. But, sometimes, you just have to go with what works.
Whitko, which ran into a whopper of a midseason fight and came away with plenty of bruises, is starting to get its ship headed in the right direction at the right time. The Lady Wildcats girls basketball team went 1-5 facing four ranked teams in a three-week stretch that included a powerhouse Louisville Eastern squad and both of its Three Rivers Conference losses to Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester.
Coach Brandon Bradley needed to find some winning combos, and decided to just go new school. Employing an open gym style where his girls are free to run the offense so long as they have communication and movement, Whitko is starting to find that winning edge again. Just in time for the dance to start Tuesday at the Central Noble Sectional.
“As a whole, when we’ve been aggressive, we’ve probably taken care of the ball a little better than when we play passive and ‘feel teams out,’” said Bradley, whose team will take on Bremen at 7 p.m. Tuesday. “If we can dictate tempo with our defense, that would be a major benefit for us offensively.”
Whitko won its final six games to finish at 17-6 overall, which bookended a 10-1 start to the season. The 17 wins tie a school record.
As she has done all season, Aly Reiff has been at the helm. The junior, who verbally committed to Xavier University Thursday night, is doing it all again for the Wildcats, scoring 20 points per game to go with per game totals of five rebounds, five assists and four steals. All of the attention Reiff generates has allowed others to flourish, including Jen Reiff, who is averaging over 11 points per contest.
Brianna Cumberland, who was a key cog last year before going down with an ACL injury in the sectional, has slowly worked her way back. Cumberland has the ability to score in bunches, but has had quiet nights as well. The slick shooter is hitting around nine points per night.
The Yohe twins – Hanna and Haley – chip in about six points between them and are as pesky as anyone on the defensive side. Kennedy Krull gives Whitko an inside presence, but doesn’t score much at three points per game.
Whitko has a dangerous draw in the Class 2-A Sectional No. 35 at Central Noble, facing a Bremen squad (10-12) that had injury issues to open the season, but since got itself into rhythm. Micaela Box missed the first part of the season, but has come on to lead the Lady Lions in scoring at 15.3 ppg and assists at 3.1 apg. Maggie Whitinger, Alexis Jennings, Karlee Feldman and Chelsea Huppert give Bremen about 26 points per game combined, but form a solid lineup.
“Bremen is led by a very skilled and intelligent guard in senior Micaela Box,” Bradley said. “She is able to control games at times from the guard spot, and making sure she doesn’t do that to us will be our top challenge.”
“At the end of the day we just need to be ourselves, play the way we want to play, dictate tempo defensively, attack offensively, and play with purpose, energy, and a sense of urgency.”
Should Whitko get by Bremen, the ‘Cats would face Central Noble (18-6) in the semi-finals as the hosts drew one of the byes in the seven-team sectional. The other side of the draw has Fremont (14-8) versus Prairie Heights (5-17) and defending sectional champion Westview (18-5) against LaVille (8-14), both games Wednesday starting at 6 p.m.
The semi-finals will begin with the Whitko-Bremen winner against Central Noble at 6 p.m. and the other semi-final at 7:30 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m.