Jennifer Walker-Crawford led Warsaw with 22 points Thursday night.

WARSAW – Teachers Credit Union was the sponsor of the Lady Tiger Classic Thursday.

It was the Warsaw girls basketball team that did the teaching, however, in how to win a tournament championship Thursday night.

The hosts put on a defensive clinic in dominating Lowell 57-33 in a matchup of a pair of previously undefeated teams in the title tilt.

The Tigers, who improved to 11-0, forced the Red Devils into 23 turnovers and held them to an 11-of-33 shooting effort in the impressive victory.

The stellar senior tandem of Jennifer Walker-Crawford and Lindsay Baker each turned in sensational efforts to pace Warsaw to the championship. Walker-Crawford had a game-high 22 points to go with seven rebounds, while Baker added 17 points and a game-high five steals.

“This is huge for our confidence and very good for our program,” said fifth-year Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. “The girls have worked hard and it’s good to see all that hard work paying off like this. We did take a step forward tonight as a team.

“It’s nice to see Jennifer and Lindsay playing the way they are as seniors. When they are playing offensively like they did tonight, it let’s the rest of our team relax a little bit.”

It was definitely defense that won this championship for the Tigers, who last won their own tourney during the 2003-04 season. It was also in 2003-04 when the Tigers had a longer winning streak than the current one of 11 as that team, led by Miss Basketball Jaclyn Leininger, won 16 in a row after losing the season opener to Tipppecanoe Valley. That Warsaw team also went on to capture a Class 4-A state runner-up finish at season’s end in 2004.

Warsaw spotted Lowell, now 10-1, a 2-0 lead. From there, it was all Tigers. The hosts outscored the Red Devils 13-2 the rest of the opening period as Walker-Crawford smoothly scored six points and Baker added five. Warsaw’s pressure defense forced Lowell, which had 33 turnovers in a win over Perry Meridian earlier Thursday, into 10 miscues in the first quarter.

“We talked in the pre game about defensive pressure on the ball and the girls did a great job listening and following the game plan,” Harter said. “The girls read the passing lanes so well and make it difficult for teams to find the open person.

“We wanted to make No. 33 work and the girls did great job on her. And we wanted to focus on No. 32 and No. 30. The girls just worked as a team defensively tonight. They trusted each other and moved as one unit on defense and that was a big key for us.”

Warsaw built its lead to 24-10 at halftime as Lowell hit just 5-of-14 shots. Walker-Crawford had 11 points and Baker eight at intermission. The Tigers led 40-18 after the third quarter.

The 57 points scored by Warsaw was a season high versus Lowell. The Red Devils entered the tournament Thursday only allowing 27.9 points-per-game in their 9-0 start.

“We did a nice job being patient offensively and working the ball around tonight,” said Harter, whose team was 19-of-40 from the field. “Our free throw shooting (15-of-27) is the one area we struggled in tonight.”

Lowell’s Katie Bobos, one of five senior starters, managed just two points on two free throws. The aforementioned No. 32 had scored 24 points in Lowell’s 60-53 win over Perry Meridian in a first-round game Thursday.

Jennifer Walker-Crawford makes a sweet pass to a teammate Thursday night for Warsaw.

Junior Nikki Grose, despite foul trouble, had six points and seven rebounds for Warsaw. Brooklyn Harrison also netted six points for the champions.

Hunter Jusevitch led Lowell with 11 points. Carley Austgen scored seven for the Red Devils.

Senior Katie Kelly scored 19 points as Perry Meridian beat South Bend St. Joseph 73-46 in the consolation game Thursday night. Senior Lauren Spencer scored 15 points and junior Cassie Baird 10 for the Falcons, who improved to 4-7. Junior Mary Freeby led an injury-riddled St. Joe team, now 5-7, with 19 points.

The Warsaw trio of Walker-Crawford, Baker and Grose led the all-tourney team. Also selected were Bobos of Lowell, Baird of Perry Meridian and Freeby of St. Joe.

The Warsaw junior varsity team went 1-1 in round-robin play of the tournament Thursday. The JV Tigers defeated Perry Meridian 44-40 as Courtney Farling scored 18 points and Megan Kratzsch and Erin Clemens each had eight. Warsaw then suffered its first loss of the season with a 39-26 setback to Lowell. Kratzsch and Jodie Carlson each scored seven points for coach Mindy Stookey’s team, now 10-1 on the season.

Warsaw hosts Marion on Jan. 3 at Grace College. The JV game tips-off at 6:15 p.m.

The Warsaw girls basketball team won its own Lady Tiger Classic Thursday. The hosts remained undefeated on the season with wins over South Bend St. Joseph and Lowell.