The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 4, Milford, Kosciusko County, 23 January 1985 — Page 8

THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., January 23,1985

8

Sports

Warriors win by 18 — , ' Koble's hot hand burns 'Skins

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor In a game of shooting streaks, Wawasee’s Brooks Koble had the hot hand when it counted. * The 6-1 senior guard hit seven of 11 field goals and six of nine charity tosses in the second and third quarters to lead the Warriors to a 69-51 win over the Goshen Redskins on Friday night. The win raised Wawasee’s Northern Lakes Conference mark to 2-2 and its overall record to 8-5. Goshen fell to 4-9 overall with the loss. Koble’s scoring blitz came none to soon for the Warriors, who had to overcome a hot Redskin start in the first two periods. The hosts canned nine of 11 field goals in the •first period and led 18-15 at the quarter break. Junior Todd Iwema led Goshen’s torrid shooting attack in the quarter with eight points on a perfect four-of-four performance from the field, he added eight more points in the second period to give him a game-high 16 at the half. But Iwema was the only Redskin to score in the second quarter and the Warriors began to roll behind Koble’s leadership. The green-clad visitors took the lead for good at 23-22 with just over two minutes gone in the second quarter/and built a 34-26 ad- ». vaptage at the half. Although Koble had a teamhigh seven points in the second quarter, he received plenty of help from his teammates. Five other Warrriors put points on the board in the stanza, including 5-11 junior Bill Hutchinson whose jumper and rebound bucket closed out the scoring in the half. “I thought the win was a good team effort,” said Wawasee coach John Wysong. “I thought we had people come in off the bench and do a great job.” Koble Show Iwema and Koble were an interesting study in contrasts in the third period. Koble picked up where he left off, slicing through the Redskins’ defense and pulling up for his patented baseline jumpers for 13 points in the quarter. Iwema, whose hot hand carried

5-0 in NIC — Swimmers breeze by Pilgrims

By TOM CHARLES The Wawasee swim team took another step closer to the Northern Lakes Conference champioship with a 106-66 win at Plymouth on Tuesday night. For coach Tim Caldwell and his swimmers, it was the fifth conference win without a setback. Home meets with Bremen (Thursday) and Warsaw (Tuesday) are the only remaining obstacles to a perfect NLC dual meet season. The Warriors are 9-3 overall. The Warriors wasted little time in pulling ahead of their hosts on Tuesday and led for most of the meet. Rob Jewson captured two firsts in the swimming events and Dave Gilson topped the field of divers to spark the Wawasee win.

Grapplers second in NLC, set sights on third sectional crown

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor As expected, the Goshen Redskins walked away with the Northern Lakes Conference wrestling tournament crown on Saturday in Goshen. f The stated-rated Redskins, who were 7-0 in" NLC dual meet action, had five individual champions and compiled a team total of 217 ,z 2 points for the crown. Wawasee, the defending tournament champions who finished the NLC dual meet season with a 6-1 mark, placed second with 169*/2 points. The Warriors had three individual champions. Rounding out the rest of the field in Saturday’s meet were Warsaw with 133*2 points, Bremen 120, Plymouth 119, Concord 117, North Wood 99*2 and Rochester 71. Goshen finished first in the overall NLC standings —a combination of tourney and dual meet results. Wawasee was second. “I thought we wrestled as well as we could,” said coach Rich Welborn. ‘‘There were some gray areas, some matches we could have won, but it wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the meet.” Despite failing in their bid for a second consecutive tourney title, the Warriors put on a good show for the large tournament crowd. Five team members made it into the championship round and three came away with wins. - ,

the Redskins through the first half, suffered through an 0-for-six slump from the field. But Iwema was not the only Redskin with shooting woes. As a club, Goshen hit only eight of 30 shots in the second half and fell behind by as many as 25 points in the final stanza. ‘‘We did a good job defensively in the second half,” noted Wysong, “especially on their better players. We used a lot of different people on Iwema.” Both teams wore a path to the free throw line in the fourth quarter. The Warriors hit 12 of 21 charity tosses in the period and Goshen converted on seven of 12 attempts. Koble added one point in the fourth quarter to finish the night with 25 points, just a shade below his season average of 25.5. The performance moved him into 10th place on the schools all-time scoring list with 663 points. Jeff Long holds the school record at 1,050 points. “Brooks was dominant in the second half,” said Wysong. “He can put the ball on the floor and he tries to find ways to score despite the attention he gets from opposing teams.” Particularly encouraging for the Warriors were the efforts of several key role players. Senior forward John Jones came off the bench to grab nine rebounds and score six points. Hutchinson also came off the bench to contribute eight points and six rebounds. Hapner also turned in fine defensive effort. Seth Swihart turned in yet another of his hustling games in the backcourt. The 5-9 senior hit 11 points, grabbed two rebounds and dished off five assists. Sophomore Tim Mangas scored seven first-half points and was credited with seven rebounds. Other Warriors in the scoring column were Dave Kistler (2), John Hapner (4) and Jon Evans (6). As a team, Wawasee was $3-of-52 from the field for an overall percentage of 44.2 The Redskins were 19-of-49 from the floor for 38.7 percent. Junior Varsity. The ’junior varsity saw its record fall to 4-9 with a 30-24 loss to the Redskins. Sophomore Ben

Steve Rozow captured the 200 freestyle in a time of 2:02:34 to give the team its first win of the meet. Jewson followed that with a 28.89 clocking in the 50 freestyle, good enough for first place in that event. Gilson recorded a score of 148.4fT to take first place in the diving. He had. finished third overall in last peek’s NLC dual meet against Concord. Jewson returned after the diving to swim a fine race in the 100 freestyle. He was clocked in 53.92 and came in ahead of the field in that race. Brent Atwood and Jon Shoemaker rounded out the individual winners for the Warriors. Atwood swam to a firstplace time of 5:46.99 in the 500 freestyle and Shoemaker’s 1:01.80 was tops in the 100

Finals First up for Wawasee on the center championship mat was Eliseo Roa. Roa, the number two seed at 105 pounds, was matched against Goshen’s Gary Gaskill, the number one seed. Gaskill, came on strong in the third period of the match to hand Roa a 9-4 loss. Jeff Dunithan was the next Warrior to take center stage. The top seed at 119 pounds, Dunithan proved he earned that distinction by stopping the second seed, Plymouth’s Todd Sullivan, 9-4. Wawasee’s Brad Traviolia earned the school’s second championship four weight classes later with an impressive win at 145 pounds. Traviolia’s 13-1 decision over Warsaw’s Joe Lowe raised his personal record to 27-0. In the next match, Ned Hunsberger battled Goshen’s Mike Wittrig down to the wire before losing a 10-7 decision. In the second round, Hunsberger had upset second seeded Chad Buchar of Concord by a 4-2 count. The final Warrior to wrestle for an individual championship was Lance Lantz. Seeded second at 167 pounds, Lantz came through with an-. 11-5 win over Goshen’s Don Biller in the finale. Biller was seeded number one in that weight class and had beaten Trance in all of their previous meetings.

Beer had 10 points to pace the Wawasee attack. The Warriors and Redskins were tied at 7-7 at the end of one quarter and Goshen had a 16-13 lead at the half. Wawasee was 10-of-37 from the field for the contest. Up This Week What lies ahead for the Warriors may be the toughest test of the season. The always-solid Whitko Wildcats bring a talented team to Wawasee on Friday night and the Warriors must then pack their bags for a contest at East Noble on Saturday night.

' JOmi ON THE ATTACK — Wawasee’s Brooks Koble drives up court against Goshen’s Mike Hildebrand during Friday’s action at Goshen. Koble scored 25 points to pace the Wawasee attack in a 69-51 win over the Redskins. (Photo by Tom Charles)

backstroke. In the meet’s final event, the 400 freestyle relay, the Wawasee foursome of Dallas McDiffit, Jewson, Shoemaker and Dave Ridings posted a winning time of 3:54.41. Concord In a classic nail-biter, the Warriors used a win in the final event of the meet to nip Concord by two points in an NLC meet on Thursday. The Warriors and Minutemen were tied at 79-79 heading into the 400 freestyle relay, but the foursome of Smith, Atwood, Jewson and Rozow pulled through with a winning time of 3:37.4 to give Wawasee an 87-85 victory. Concord’s Mike Jansen and Rob Wirt, and Wawasee’s Shoemaker were double winners in the meet. Jewson topped the

The remaining divsion champions were North Wood’s Doug Eidem, Plymouth’s Greg Kunze, Concord’s Paul Bachtel and Harold Bucher and Goshen’s Gary Gaskill, Joe Grise, Chris Bowman, Shane rogers and Mike Wittrig. “I thought that Goshen had a shot and taking seven championships and they only ended up with five,” Welborn said. “I knew we could get five kids into the finals and I’m really happy that we wrestled as well as we did. “Dunithan wrestled as well as I have seen him wrestle this year,” added Welborn. “Lantz and Traviolia both wrestled well, too.” Other Warriors who placed in the top five in their weight classes were Ron Rodeffer, fourth at 98 pounds, Mitch Price, fourth at 112 pounds. Chris Yoder, fifth at 126 pounds, Scott- Shoemaker, fifth at 185 pounds, and Steve Sturgill, third in the heavyweight class. Sectional «With the NLC tournament out of the way, e grapplers have their sights set on this Saturday’s East Noble Sectional at Kendallville. The Warriors are in search of a third consecutive sectional crown. Keeping that win streak alive won’t be an easy task, however. The host Knights received a favorable draw and Welborn looks for them to give his wrestlers a stiff

“This will be without a doubt the toughest test we’ve faced all year,” said Wysong. “They are two clubs that are always tought to play.” Despite the absence of Jeff Peters, the Wildcats are not to be taken lightly this season. Veteran coach Bill Patrick has seniors Mike Ebbinghouse and Scott Sechrist back from last year’s squad plug some young faces off the talented junior varsity of a year ago. “They are very good, but not incredibly good as they have been in past years,” said Wysong. “I

field in both the 50 freestyle (:24.5) and the 100 butterfly (:56.1). Jansen won both the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle. Wirt was king in the 200 freestyle (1:55.5) and the 100 freestyle (: 52.6). Other Wawasee winners included Nils Haugland in the 100 breaststroke and both relay teams. Without many first-place finishes, the Warriors used their depth to stay competitive in the meet. With the exception of the 50 freestyle, 500 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, the Warriors picked up second place in every individual event and tacked on five third-place finishes as well. Summary 200 Medley Relay — Wawasee (Keim, Haugland, Shoemaker, McDiffit), Concord, Wawasee.

am sure that Patrick will get as many wins out of them as is possible.” East Noble is fresh off an overtime win at North Wood and Wysong expects the Knights to be a well-drilled team under the tutelage of head coach Denny Foster. “He likes to pressure the ball both on offense —by moving it up the court — and on defense,” said Wysong. “It’s a great place to play and we haven’t beaten them there since I’ve been at Wawasee.” Both contests are slated to begin at 6:15 p.m.

1:52.9 , 200 Freestyle — Wirt (C), Jewson (W), Stauffer (C). 1:55.5 200 Medley — Jansen (C), Atwood (W), Haugland (W). 2:11.6 50 Freestyle — Shoemaker (W), Cornetet (C), Powell (C). :24.5 Diving — Grossman (C), Maze (W), Gilson (W). 197.1 100 Butterfly — Shoemaker (W), Smith (W), Johnston (C). :56.1 100 Freestyle — Wirt (C), Jewson (W), Rozow (W). :52.6 500 Freestyle — Jansen (C), Ham (C), Atwood (W). 5:19.4 100 Backstroke — Stauffer (C), Keim (W), Ridings (W). 100 Breaststroke — Haugland (W), Heiny (C), Raguth (C), 1:08.6 400 Freestyle Relay — Wawasee (Smith, Atwood, Jewson, Rozow), Concord, Concord. 3:37.4

challenge. “We’ve got our job cut out for us,” Welborn noted. “We haven’t had great depth all year and we are going to need good performances from everybody in order to win.” Os particular importance to the Warriors will be their efforts in the lower weight classes. The Knights figure to score heavily from 98 to 126 pounds and if the Warriors can stop them there, it will be a big step towards the championship trophy. “We’ve been working all year towards this meet,” said Welborn. “This is when the real season starts. I think we are right on track — we should wrestle well on Saturday.” Wawasee has four number one seeds in the sectional; Traviolia at 145, Hunsberger at 155, Lance Lantz at 167 and Sturgill at heavyweight. Seeded second on the team are Roa at 105, Price at 112, Dunithan at 119, Josh Lantz at 132, Jack McDaniel at 438 and Shoemaker at 185. Seeded third are Yoder at 126 and Rodeffer at 96. The team takes a 12-2 record into the sectional —a new school record for the most number of wins in one season. “This is what all our preparation during the season was for for,” Welborn said. “This team has been able to come through when there was pressure to perform. It is obvious that we’re improving.”

Lady Warriors, Vikings meet in sectional opener

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor Wawasee’s third-ranked Lady Warriors will open their quest for a fifth consecutive Warsaw Sectional title against the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. Warsaw will clash with Triton in Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. opener. The winners will return to battle for the championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. With an umblemished, 15-0, record at this point in -the season, the Lady Warriors are the odds on favorite to walk away with the championship trophy on Saturday night. Wawasee has met and defeated both Tippe Valley (72-29) and Warsaw (74-53) during the regular season. Neither Triton nor Tippe Valley figure to be much of a threat in the first round contests. The Trojans, without Lorea Feldman, rank as a dark horse at best. Valley fields a young team and has yet to show the consistency and poise it takes to win in post-season play. The Tigers, on the other hand, have plenty of motivation to knock off their county rivals. In last year’s opening round, the Lady Warriors rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final two minutes to nip Warsaw 56-52. The of that loss should make the Tigers hungry for a championship rematch. Perfect Record If history is any indication of the course this year’s sectional will take, however, Wawasee appears to be in

Lady Warriors rip two foes, await showdown at Bremen

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor Most teams have their dry spells. But few coaches have to endure the type of drought that Plymouth’s Russ Teall did on Tuesday night. The Pilgrims’ mentor could only sit on the bench and watch as his team failed to put the ball in the hoop for an 11:14 stretch in the second and third quarters en route to dropping a 61-23 decision to Wawasee’s third-ranked Lady Warriors at Plymouth. With the win, Wawasee climbed to 15-0 overall and 6-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference. The Lady Warriors will wind up their conference schedule on Thursday at Bremen. Patient The Pilgrims opened Tuesday’s contest with a deliberate style of play. While not resorting to the four-corner offense employed by Whitko, the Pilgrims were content to work the ball around Wawasee’s 1-2-2 zone until they found a wide open shot. The strategy worked early as Roxanne Gibson and Angie Hunter hit two buckets to give their team a 4-0 lead. The Lady Warriors answered back with seven straight points, but Gibson hit a jumper at the end of the quarter to pull Plymouth within one, 7-6. Enter Sandy Payne. The 5-6 senior guard blasted out of the gates in the second quarter, hitting three consecutive layups in the opening two minutes to give Wawasee a 13-6 lead. All told, Payne had 12 points in the period and was perfect from both the field and charity stripe. While Payne found her range in the quarter, the Pilgrims couldn’t

Mkl ; NLC CHAMPS — Lance Lantz, left, Jeff Dunithan and Brad Traviolia captured individual titles in the recent Northern Lakes Conference wrestling meet. Lantz was first at 167, Dunithan at 119 and Traviolia at 145. (Photo by Jo Sturgis)

WARSAW 6:30 J0n.31 ” TRITON 7’30 WAWASEE Feb 2 8:00 Jan.3l TIPPE VALLEY

good shape. Since Brannock took over the girls’ program, the Lady Warriors have not lost a sectional contest. In 1981 the Lady Warriors topped Tippe Valley 47-33 for the championship. In 1982 Wawasee again beat Valley, this time by a 67-35 count. In 1983 Brannock and crew came out on the long end of a 37-27 battle with Warsaw. Last year the Lady Warriors turned back Lorea Feldman and her Triton teammates by the score of 55-46. Balance As was the case last year, a balanced attack has kept the Lady Warriors rolling along in the regular season. Leading the way in the scoring column is senior Anita Swope with a 12.07 average, but she is followed closely by Michelle. Harter (11.47), Christy Speicher (11.00), Sandy Payne (9.87) and Lori Galloway (8.00). Solid performances from

hit a thing. Hunter canned a charity toss at the 4:09 mark to make the score 13-7, but that was the last time Plymouth could light up the scoreboard until Chris Peterson hit a jumper with :55 left in the third quarter. During that 11:14 dry spell, Plymouth turned the ball over 17 times and Wawasee responded with 27 consecutive points. Particularly impressive during the run was the play of senior guard Anita Swope who stole eight passes and set up several fast breaks. ■ <»■ jSH vL vL // KARLA STICHTER Balanced Effort With his team enjoying a 42-14 edge at the end of the third quarter,' Brannock emptied his bench and played his second five most of the fourth period. Under j. the direction of junior Becca Stiver, who displayed some impressive moves to the hoop, the

Speicher, Galloway and Harter have made the team tough to beat inside the paint. Speicher and Galloway lead • the team with 96 rebounds, - and Harter has 90. “We are just going to take it one game at a time,” said Brannock in reference to the sectional draw. “I can guarantee that Valley is going to be a lot tougher to play this time around. Nothing would surprise me from them.” In the meantime, Wawasee must finish out the regular season with an NLC contest at Bremen on Thursday night and a non-conference home encounter with West Noble on Saturday night. Ticket Sales Sectional tickets are priced at $4.00 for a season ticket and will go on sale to the general public at Friday’s home boys’ basketball game against Whitko, according to WHS athletic director Hal Traviolia.

Lady Warriors continued to expand their lead right up to the final buzzer. Stiver finished the contest with six points, all of them in the fourth quarter. Another reserve who played a fine game was senior Karla Stichter. Used at both guard and forward this season. Stichter demonstrated that she can rustle the nets as well as hit the boards. She was two-for-two from both the field and charity stripe and grabbed five rebounds in a fine, balanced effort. “Overall, I was impressed with the play of the reserves as a group,” said Wawasee coach Dale Brannock. “Stichter, in particular, executed everything she was asked to do. “I thought that the kids did a good job. not to lose their composure. They didn’t panic early,” added Brannock. “We knew that they were going to hold the ball against us, and that can get kind of frustrating.” Payne wound up as the game’s high scorer with 13 points. As usual, ° several teammates were not far behind. Swope and Harter both had 10 points on the night. Swope also contributed eight steals and four assists. Harter had one steal and five assists. Christy Speicher tossed in seven points, Lori Galloway, Stichter and Stiver each finished with six. Galloway had nine rebounds, Speicher and Stichter each had five. As a team, the Lady Warriors were 23-of-47 from the field, 48.9 percent, and 15-for-25 from the line, 60 percent. The junior varsity won its contest, 39-23. (Continued on next page)