Solid Start Not Enough For Warriors
PLYMOUTH — It may have been the most frustrating game of the season for the Wawasee boys basketball team. The Warriors finally got the good start they wanted but an atrocious third quarter left them with another conference defeat. Wawasee went home with a 62-42 loss at the hands of Plymouth.
The Warriors looked to be in good shape with a back-and-forth start between the two Northern Lakes Conference foes, but a 9-0 run near the end of the frame gave the Pilgrims a good cushion to work with.
The scoring run by Plymouth did not fully swing momentum in favor of the home team but Wawasee’s sudden drop of production on offense prevented the Warriors from ever closing that gap. Wawasee had seven turnovers in the first half and 16 total empty possessions. The missed opportunities prevented the Warriors from pressuring Plymouth too much but kept them within striking distance at the break, 32-23.
The third quarter proved to be the breaking point for Wawasee. The Warriors had seven turnovers in the third preventing them from cutting into the lead and allowing Plymouth to build a 40-16 lead.
“Turnovers, especially in the third quarter, were the key,” said Wawasee head coach Steve Wiktorowski. “We got off to a pretty solid start, which is important for us, even more so on the road. Our defense adjusted and did some pretty good things. We just had some empty possessions and too many turnovers.”
Wawasee’s defense was impressive at times, holding Josh Anders to 14 points, but Nick Felke provided plenty of issues for the visiting squad all night. Felke led all scorers with 24 points. The junior was able to consistently get open and cause problems all night for Wawasee. Felke also led Plymouth with four rebounds.
“I thought we came out in the third quarter with a lot of the same jitters that we’ve been having in the first quarter,” Wiktorowski said. “There were some very easy baskets we just didn’t convert and I thought we panicked a little bit. But, the turnovers are a something we can clean up.
“We got over our big mental hurdle of starting games poorly. The rest of the stuff seems like stuff we can clean up now that we’ve got the mental hurdle out of the way.”
A game that started with a lot of promise for the Warriors ended with them staring history in the face.
With the loss Wawasee has now dropped 32-consecutive games in the NLC, tying a record set by NorthWood from 1988-1993. The Panthers, ironically, broke that streak in a game at Plymouth. Wawasee’s streak trails only North Newton’s which, as of Friday night, now stands at 45 consecutive losses, the longest active streak in the state.
While the overall team result left something to be desired, there were several individual performances that impressed on the court.
“I thought Jayce (Boatwright) bounced back tonight, he came out and played much better” remarked Wiktorowski. “Dalton (Pearish) and Chase (Rookstool) did a really night job inside for us. We really battled hard inside tonight.”
Boatwright led Wawasee with 11 points while Pearish scored six points and brought down seven rebounds. Rookstool continued his solid senior campaign by tallying eight points and leading the team with eight boards. Tyler Smith also had a decent night for the Warriors with nine points and two steals.
Wawasee (1-11, 0-4) will host Bethany Christian Tuesday night. Plymouth (11-4, 3-1) hosts Northridge next Friday.
Plymouth won the JV contest 39-35. The Pilgrims were led by Clay Hilliard’s 16 points. Brian Collins led Wawasee with 11 points.