The Mail-Journal, Volume 20, Number 2, Milford, Kosciusko County, 26 January 1983 — Page 9

Sports

Beat Goshen, now 11-3

Another tough doubleheader greets Warriors

By GARY LEWIS After last week’s successful doubleheader sweep, the third in a row this month, the Wawasee Warriors probably gained even more respect from area opponents. In the NLC, the Warriors find themselves in a tie for first-place. At 11-3, Wawasee owns one of the finest records anywhere and their eighth straight victory makes them a contender for the 11-game consecutive win streak established by a 17-5 Wawasee team during the 1971-72 season. It looks like the Warriors have everything going for them this season. The come-from-behind 60-54 Goshen win was a work of art, a moment that just had to be witnessed to be fully appreciated. Not intimidated by the jam-packed gym and the screaming Goshen fans, Wawasee could have easily given in to the Redskin rally that buried the Warriors in the first few minutes of the contest. At home Saturday, in front of a sparse crowd. Wawasee was the team that jumped ahead. Unlike their Goshen counterparts Friday, however, the Warriors stated ahead to win 70-57 despite suffering from an obvious letdown. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. It's now time to look at the future, though, no matter how glowing of a past its been. For coach John Wysong, the future looks to be even tougher than the past. This week end will be a test for his young team, a rigid test against two experienced well-coached basketball squads. “The most important thing is that we make sure we really realize that our past week end does not do anything for our future week end” — Coach John Wysong “The most important thing is that we make sure we really realize that our past week end does not do anything for our future week end,’ ’ said Wysong. Friday’s home encounter with Whitko Friday night, and Saturday’s away game at East Noble will push the Warriors to the limit, said Wysong. “We all have to rise together again. I know this sounds trite. Again, everybody is going to have to do their job. They have to practice hard this week, they have to be supportive, loyal and enthusiastic.” he said. Wawasee had all of those ingredients Friday night at Goshen, but this week the Warriors will need a super effort both nights. "Our bench at Goshen was just hyped. They were into that game. They would not let the guys out on the floor playing die. When it was time to die, the bench just wouldn’t let them die,” he said. The bench played more than just the role of cheerleader last week. An important member of that bench, junior Kim Zurcher, stepped into the pontest both nights and ignited the Warriors’ offense just at the time it needed ignited. At Goshen, he scored five points to put the Warriors back into contention and in Saturday’s contest played another outstanding game, scoring 11 points in relief. Wysong was impressed with Zurcher’s play. “He’s very poised, and he’s a skilled little player. He’s working hard at improving his overall game, and I think he’s done a good job of it.” Zurcher’s outside slinging is what most fans notice about his contribution, but Wysong notices more. “Everyone notices how well he shoots, and he shoots very well, but he does a lot of other things well too,” said Wysong. His ball-handling skills, passing

t' JXftj J& '£jS* ' x '‘ g ■mmbSS WRL —■- „ ■ .jqggflfa. — —««■«,,. in-. _ in - rr , .. ’" Aa , \r gUIr RfiHfcjiKLx' * AROUND THE TREES — Wawasee’s Jeff Atwood (5-ll> demonstrates how to get a pass around a taller player. Atwood gets Goshen’s Mark Ruhling (8-5) out of position so he can sneak a pass around him to a teammate. It was this kind of crisp ball-handling skills that gave the Wawasee Warriors a 6*54 upset ever archival Goshen. Atwood did the job «u defense, as wed. holding the Redskins’ leading scorer in check most of the contest. (Photo by Gary Lewis)

skills and court sense makes him an excellent “super-sub” candidate. (See related articles below* The regulars, of course, are the difference between winning and losing. Junior Jon Vitaniemi scored 23 Saturday and 17 Friday in one of his great week end’s so far this season and 6-10 center Ron Spunar improved in the second half when Wawasee began to take the inside away from the taller Goshen team Friday. Defensive stalwart Jeff Atwood shutdown Goshen’s Marc Ruhling, the team’s leading scorer, most of the way Friday. Kevin Smith (15 pants Saturday) and Brian Walls (12 points Friday) played key roles. “We all have to rise together again. I know this sounds trite. Again, everyone is going to have to do his job.” Both Whitko and East Noble are 9-3 on the season, so the Warriors won’t be sneaking up on anybody this week. Simply put, Wysong believes hi&team has their “best two teams on one week end that we’ve had all year. Both teams are very good. Whitko is exceptionally good. ’ ’ Whitko defeated Warsaw 76-64 thanks, in part, to 48 trips to the charity stripe. Billed as an upset, Wysong says he knew the Wildcats would be good this season. “We picked them in the preseason as one of the best on our schedule, and they have been,’’ Wysong said. Leading the Wildcats attack are 6-2 Doug Snep, who scored 25 points in the Warsaw win, 6-4 Jeff Reid (16 against Warsaw), 6-2 Jeff Peters and 5-11 Charlie Dull (who scored 15 apiece). All four are seniors and are the mainstays of a team that won 14 last season. The big factor in favor of East Noble Saturday night is that the game will be played at the Knights’ gym. “They’ve been difficult to beat over there,” Wysong explained. “A lot of the names are familiar, a lot of the people are back again who played last year,” he said. The Knights will be coming off a thrilling 67-65 overtime win against North Wood at Nappanee Friday night. Jim Cougill scored 21 Friday, and is one of the Knights’ regulars along with John Foster and Mike Uhl. Uhl ended up hitting the winning bucket. Win or lose, Wysong wants improvement this week end. “I don’t know if we had a week end where we’ve played two good nights of basketball. That’s what we’re looking to play. Two good, hard fought games. Maybe we won’t win them both, and maybe we will, ” he said. “We re not worried about that as much as playing two good ball games back-to-back. That was something we were a little disappointed in last Saturday,” said Wysong. “Maybe people don’t understand why I’m upset after the Westview game even though we won. That’s part of playing your best. Sometimes that means being proud when you lose and being unhappy even though you win. “It’s a level of development we want to see,” says Wysong. On their way to that development, the road gets rougher with two NLC games in a row in the last three games of the season. Success comes at a price, and the Warriors’ will have to pay for their success. “It’s been proven that we can play pretty good basketball, if we re really playing hard . . . you can’t take us lightly,” he said. But from now on, the days of the Warriors as a “surprise” team are over. “We’re certainly not going to sneak up on anybody anymore. We have some tough teams left on the schedule. I mean it’s jqst one after the other — it will really be a challenge for us.”

Warriors 60 Redskins 54

GOSHEN — Wawasee came back from a 10-0 deficit and turned back Goshen’s highlyregarded Redskins, 60-54, in a thrilling, seventh-straight victory. Coach John Wysong's crew gave the veteran Redskins a lesson in patience and perserverance in a jam-packed GHS gymnasium. The Warriors gradually gained control of the contest in the fourth quarter thanks to some clutch free throws and won it down the stretch. The win now puts the Warriors in serious contention for a piece of the NLC crown, giving the club a 3-1 mark in loop play. Wawasee continued its hothanded shooting in the Friday night shootout, converting on 27 of 52 from the floor for 52 per cent. Goshen, which suffered 30 turnovers, couldn’t put the game away after taking the lead at 10-0, and then 18-8 before Wysong took two timeouts in the first eight minutes of action. Wysong sent junior Kim Zurcher into the lineup and he scored five points right away to cut the Redskin lead. Jon Vitaniemi’s free throw made the score 21-19 at the 3:16 mark in the second stanza. From that point on, the strong Wawasee contingent represented on the visitor’s side of the gym roared its approval as Wysong’s crew pulled off another amazing victory. The win is one of the biggest in Wawasee basketball history, dose to matching the 11 straight wins reeled off by the 1971-72 Wawasee team that finished ITS. The battle raged on in the third quarter of play, with the lead changing hands several times Both teams muffed opportunities to establish control until Wawasee settled the issue with about five minutes left in the contest. The Warriors scored 10 straight unanswered points for a 55-46 lead with 2:46 left in the game.

73-31 —

Lady Warriors victorious over visiting Whitko team

By SHARON STUCKMAN Wawasee’s girls got an early lead and rolled onto a sound 73-31 victory when they played host to Whitko last Thursday. In the first quarter Wawasee pulled out to an 8-2 lead, with Whitko scoring only on free throws in the first four minutes of play. The Lady Warriors led 16-8 at the end of the first period. Wawasee held Whitko scoreless from the field in the second quarter. Laura Bowers made the only two points scored by the Wildcat girls with two free throws early in that period. Whitko had its best scoring period in the fourth quarter, when the visitors hit for 15 points. They scored eight in the first quarter and only six in the third, while Wawasee scored 16 points in the first quarter, 24 in the second. 1.4 in the third and 19 in the final period. Marcia Sorensen led Wawasee’s rebounding with nine. Maude Packer had eight rebounds and led the Warrior’s Freshmen grapplers place second Five freshman wrestlers from Wawasee attended an invitational tourney at LaPorte on Saturday. Three came back with first place awards, two placed second, and the team finished second out of eight teams. First place winners for the Warriors were Jeff Dunithan at 112 pounds, Brad Traviola at 119, and Steve Sturgil at 185. Second place winners were Lance Lantz at 145 and Ned Hunsberger at 185. Dahlstrom all-star Wawasee’s Ross Dahlstrom has been selected to represent Region 2 in the final screening process for the annual NorthSouth All-Star Football Game played at Indiana University in July. Dahlstrom was selected as a defensive back. Each region selects 17 players, with 34 going to the all-star game from each of the North’s five regions.

Goshen cut the lead to five, but the Warriors stingy defense and superior ballhandling skills forced more Goshen turnovers in the final, critical moments. Vitaniemi paced the Warrior comeback with 17. Senior center Ron Spunar bounced back from a sub-par performance in the first half of play to end the game with 14, Brian Walls scored 12 and “super-sub” Zurcher connected for 11. For Goshen, 6-5 senior guard Marc Ruhling, who missed the last two contests because of illness, scored 16 and senior forward Jeff Geiser was the leading scorer with 19. WAWASEE (60) — Smith 1-5 0-0 I, Zurcher 5-61-31, Atwood 2-2 0-0 2. Waite 5-14 2-3 2,

Wawasee 70 Westview 56

Wawasee jumped ahead 13-0 in the first four minutes of the game and didn’t let up as the Warriors won their eighth straight game of the season, number six in 1983, with an easy 70-56 win over visiting Westview. The battle between the two Warrior schools was over after that first few minutes of play. Wawasee outscored the out-sized Westview squad 2110 in the first quarter and extended its lead to 22 in the first half of the second stanza for a comfortable 17-pomt lead at the half. Vitaniemi was the leading scorer again for Wawasee, with a season-high 23. Zurcher, just as he did in the Goshen win Friday, came off the bench and scored 18. Kevin Smith rebounded from a poor showing Friday with 15. Westview’s Ron Yoder led all scorers with 26, the only Westview scorer to reach double figures. The Westview Warriors made a comeback of sorts in the fourth stanza, outscoring

scoring with 14 points. Wawasee out reboinded Whitko 49-31 and scored 39 per cent from the field and 58 per cent from the free throw line. Whitko scored only 20 per cent from the field but hit 13 of 19 from the free throw line, for 58 per cent. Tona Sellers scored 12 points, her best performance since she suffered a dislocated elbow in a game on December 18. Dee Stump and Grace Stichter each scored 10 points. All 12 Wawasee players saw action and all but two of the Lady Warriors scored. JV Wins The junior varsity team remained unbeaten after they defeated Whitko 34-10. Wawasee led 16-5 at halftime, but scored only two points in the third quarter while Whitkoscored five. The Lady Warriors caught fire in the final quarter with good

w ■BBRZMI i rb Ska?* ** $ Bn * . M 1 ■BBOW . ~ BmLM a * Bi TONA BACK IN ACTION — Tona Sellers, far right, attempts to pass the ball inside to her Wawasee teammates, as she is guarded by Robin Frantz of Whitko, 33. Sellers had her best game since her December 18th injury. Wawasee’s Maude Packer, 44, and Lisa Minnix of Whitko, 31, attempt to get a piece oi the action. (Photo by Sharon Stuckman)

Vitaniemi 7-14 3-4 3, Spunar 7-110-0 3. GOSHEN (54) — Yoder 0-1 0-1 4, Ruhling 8-17 6-2 3, Stegelmann 1-10-0 0, Geiser 813 3-4 0, Anglemyer 4-10 0-2 3, Alberry 4-10 1-15, Tredway 0-1 0-00. Wawasee 8 17 15 1900 Goshen 16 12 11 14-54 Shooting: Wawasee, 117of 52 for 51.9 per cent; Goshea, 25 of 53 for 47.1 per cent. Free throws: Wawasee. 6 of 10 for 60.0 per cent; Go:>hen. 4 of 8 for 50.0 per cent. Rebounds: Wawas?e 25 (Vitaniemi 10, Spunar 11, Walls 3, Zurcher I); Gouhen 30 (Geiser 12, Anglemyer 5, Alberry 5, Ruhling 5, Stegelmann 2. Y oder 1) Turnovers: Wawasee 23; Goshen 30.

Wawasee 23-16. But Westview could get no closer than 11 in the final eight minutes of play. WAWASEE (76) — Smith 7-10 1-4 3, Zurcher 6-9 6-7 2, Doll 0-1 0-0 0, Atwood 1-3 1-23, Walls 18 1-3 5, Vitaniemi 10-11. 3-4 A Hare 1-10-0 3, Spunar 39 0-13, Rhoades 0-10-01. WESTVIEW (56) — Hostetler 0-2 1-2 0, Wagler 0-5 0-3 3, Hart 3-5 2-2 5, Yoder 11-18 44 1, Vitali 2-8 4-41, Fisher 12 3-41,-Miller 1-3 3-5 1, Berkey 1-4 1-3 4 Wawasee Zt 18 15 16-70 Westview 10 12 11 23-56 Shooting: Wawasee. 29 of 53 fqr 54.7 per cent; Westview, 19 X 47 for 40.4 per cent. " Free throws. Wawasee, 12 of 21 for 57.1 per cent; Westview, 18 of 27 for (6.6 per cent. Rebounds: Wawasee "28 (Vitanieimi 8, Spunar A Hare A Smith 3, Zurcher 2, Atwood 2, Walls 1, Rhoades 2); Westview 13 (Vitali A Fisher 2, Hart 2, Wagler 1, Yoder 1, Miller 1, Berkey 2). Turnovers: Wawasse. 21;: Westview, 19

Wed., January 26,1983 —THE MAIL-JOURNAL

blocking, several steals and good shooting holding the Lady Wildcats scoreless, the Lady Warriors scored 16 points in the stanza. WAWASEE FG FT PF Sandy Payne 2 11 Dee Stump 5 0 0 Grace Stichter 5 0 2 Anita Swope 4 0 1 Karla Stichter 10 0 Christy Speicher 0 0 3 Tona Sellers 6 0 1 Karyl Charlton 0 0 3 Carol Walker 0 14 Cheryl Walker 2 0 0 Marcia Sorensen 2 3 2 Maude Packer 6 2 2 WHITKO FG FT PF Lisa Minnix 2 2 3 Barb Kelsey 1 4 2 Shelia Ousley 3 0 0 Laura Bowers 10 3

Tello w Jackets topped by Nappanee, defeat Fairfield

Syracuse Yellow Jacket seventh and eighth grade boys’ basketball teams suffered through losses latft week to Nappanee, but snapped back for WHS JV squad wins two over week end Doug Brookins’ debut as junior varsity basketball coach proved to be a successful one last week end, as the Wawasee JV team defeated Goshen 52-47 Friday and Westview 68-31 Saturday. The Goshen win, like the varsity contest, was against a good Goshen crew that was 7-3 going into the contest. Jim Evans scored 16, Brooks Koble 14 and Kyle Swartz 10. Swartz had six caroms followed by Evans with eight. Brookins said John Hapner played especially good defense in the fourth quarter. "Everybody played well,'’ he added. Against Westview, Koble was the high-point man, with 16, on the team that featured five boys in double figures. Evans scored 12, Swartz 12 and Greg Lawson 12 in the win. Swihart added 10 tallies. The two wins were extra special for Brookins, who said the doubleheader sweep is a key. “For us to get off with this week end is a great way to start,” said Brookins. Brookins took over for Rob Staley who left the school system to take a job as assistant principal at Fairfield High School. Brookins would not take full credit for the boys’ performance, however. “Coach Staley was the one who taught them the fundamentals,” he explained. Against Goshen, the Warriors executed the full-court press offense flawlessly. “I just got to maintain things now,” he said. “The kids are great. They had a hard week of practice . . . you can’t ask anymore. ” The Wysong-Brookins practice is a hard test for the boys, he said. “Our practices aren’t easy. We work them hard, and it paid off this week end.” The two wins upped the JV mark to 9-5 on the season.

Deb Kelsey 0 4 0 Robin Frantz 0 2 3 Missy Long 2 11 Kathy Wolfe 0 0 1 Ginny Howk 0 0 1 Frosh make it 3-game sweep Coach Galen Hershbergers freshman basketball team made it a three-game sweep against Goshen last week with the fourth win of the season. With the varsity and junior varsity wins, Goshen’s basketball program suffered a triple Wawasee sweep when the Goshen freshman lost a 57-51 count to the Warriors last week. Dave Kistler scored 23, Rod Aaron 15 and John Evans 10 as the Warriors upped their record to 4-7 on the season. The freshman will play at home Thursday (Jan. 27) against East Noble.

victories against Fairfield on Thursday, Jan. 21. Scores for the Nappanee games were 37-36 for the seventh grade and 51-44 for the eighth. At the Fairfield games the score was 2219 for the seventh grade and 59-34 for the eighth grade. Fairfield Games The Yellow Jackets surprised Fairfield as both Syracuse teams played well in the first quarter. Syracuse. seventh graders jumped ahead 14-6 at half time and then held on to win 22-19. Mike Clodfelter played in a reserve roll. Poor passing and dribbling hurt the team. Coach Tom Jones’ eighth graders pounded Fairfield as they took a 19-6 lead in the first quarter and increased it every period. Rob McKibben scored nine points in the first quarter and continued his outstanding play on defense. Every Syracuse player saw action and Wawasee Coach John Wysong’s presence seemed to inspire everyone. Jeremy Corson scored a season high 10 points and Tim Mangas took the ball to the basket for 18 points. McKibben also finished with a< season high 13 points. The Yellow Jackets won 59-34. Nappanee Games The Nappanee games were frustrating as both Syracuse teams could have won but couldn’t pull ahead in the fourth quarter. The seventh graders were nipped by one point, 37-36. by a shorter, but faster team. They were tied going into the last quarter and Nappanee scored in the last seconds. The Syracuse eighth grade team battled back from an eight point deficit to lead but Nappanee’s team height had the difference. Foul trouble hurt the Yellow Jackets as Nappanee scored 26 points in the fourth quarter to win 51-44. On Tuesday. Feb. 1, the Yellow Jackets wih begin Camelot Tourney action with home games beginning at 6:30 p.m. against Pierceton. The girls’ will playfirst, followed by the boys’ games I at 7:45 p.m.

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