The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 8, Milford, Kosciusko County, 20 February 1985 — Page 13

S p.o rts

Down Dwenger 52-43 Lady Warriors gain berth in state finals

By MARK WEINSTEIN Sports Editor Last year, Wawasee’s Lady Warriors were trounced at the Fort Wayne Semi-state by Fort Wayne Snider. Because of that, the Lady Warriors felt they had something to prove this time around. And that is exactly what they did. In the first game of the “sweet sixteen” round, Wawasee erased Kokomo from post-season action 54-47 before dethroning Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in the championship contest, 52-43. Dwenger advanced into the championship game with a thrilling come-from-behind 58-56 overtime victory over Bremen, a Northern Lakes Conference member. In that contest, Bremen blew a three point lead with seven seconds in regulation. Off To State With the double wins, the Lady Warriors advance into this weekend’s state finals at Market Square Arena against Austin, 24-3; in the 11 a.m. contest. In the championship contest, the Lady Warriors started out hot, scoring the first six points of the game. But the hometown Saints showed what their team was made of with a steady diet of comeback attempts. .. Characterized as a come-from-behind team, Dwenger scrapped and clawed its way throughout both contests. The Saints, trailing at every break, finally caught the third ranked Lady Warriors early in the third quarter. But it was a short-lived lead. With Wawasee leading by three points, 24-21, at the start of the third quarter, Bishop Dwenger netted eight straight points, while

Poor execution haunts Warriors

By MARK WEINSTEIN Sports Editor Elkhart Central used a balanced scoring attack and an impressive defense to whip Wawasee 73-53 in a nonconference game in Elkhart last Saturday evening. The loss drops Wawasee’s record to 12-7 on the season and sends the Warriors into a crucial home contest against the Bremen Lions this Friday evening. -

..... El .1 \ 4 ~ *\ wjS K i H "<l FJI REVERSE LAYUP — Wawasee’s Seth Swihart slashes between Westview’s Kenlin Kropf and Jeff Miller to score two more points in last weeks contest. Westview, despite the Swihart fielder, went on to trip Wawasee in overtime. (Photo by Richard Rhodes)

holding the Lady Warriors scoreless for the first 4*2 minutes. A Cindy Vorndran field goal with 6:52 in the period provided Dwenger with its first lead of the game and a Amy Creigh jumper extended the lead to five, 29-24, with 3:50 remaining in the period. But that is when Wawasee began to take charge in the contest. Michelle Harter answered Creigh’s bucket with two of her own seconds later to bring Wawasee closer to the Saints. Then, trailing by a single point, Sandy Payne and Anita Swope went to work. Payne, after a traveling call against the Saints, canned a short jumper in the paint to give the Lady Warriors the lead for good, 30-29. Seconds later, Swope came up with a steal near halfcourt and promptly raced downcourt for the score and a three point lead. After Bishop Dwenger failed to score on its next possession, Sheila Kleinrichert brought Wawasee fans to their feet with an incredible shot. Working for the shot, Kleinrichert took the ball from Payne in the middle of paint. With Dwenger applying extensive pressure, Kleinrichert, while falling to the Coliseum floor, canned a short jumper. The shot gave the Lady Warriors a five point lead. Payne capped off Wawasee’s 12-0 scoring spurt with a steal of Dwenger’s inbounds pass under Wawasee’s basket. She dished the ball to Swope, who easily scored. “That was probably the turning point in the game,” said an elated Wawasee coach Dale Brannock.

“I feel that the game with Bremen will be the most important game that we will play this season.” said Wysong. “It’s important because of the upcoming sectional and for our own evaluation.” For Wysong, he was not pleased with his teams performances over the weekend. First, the Warriors dropped a heart-breaking overtime loss to Westview and then did not execute the way the mentor had hoped for in the con-

“We knew we had to get going, and the kids did the job.” From that point, the Lady Warriors were clearly in charge of the contest. Bishop Dwenger tried to get back into the contest by fouling, but the Lady Warriors converted their shots at the charity stripe. The Lady Warriors nailed down 10-of-13 charity tosses in the final quarter to ice the win. Incidentally, the only points Wawasee was able to come up with in the final period were from the line. “We’ did enough to win,” said Brannock. “The key to this team is that they do not quit. Teamwork is very important to us, I can’t stress that enough.” Unsung Heroes Although Swope scored 21 points in the championship affair, Wawasee’s victory was also shared by Kleinrichert and Harter. Both players turned in sparkling performances at critical moments in the game. With Wawasee losing its lead in the third quarter, Harter was the player that began the Lady Warriors’ winning surge. She connected on a couple of clutch 18-foot jumpers to bring the Syracuse team back within a point. Still, it was the play of Kleinrichert that allowed the Lady Warriors to stay in the game. Lori Galloway, the junior who has played like an all-star throughout the tournament, was forced to sit on the bench throughout most of the game because of foul trouble. She collected her third foul late in the first quarter, and Kleinrichert took over. “She filled the bill well,” said Brannock. “Sheila knows her role, and she did a nice job when

vincing loss at Elkhart. “I thought we were moving in a positive direction until our game with Elkhart Central,” said Wysong. “We just have to dig down deep inside and become more intense and begin executing.” Against the Blue Blazers, the hosts jumped out to a quick 19-14 lead after the first period and they never looked back. Still, Wawasee did not quit. The Warriors came within three points, on two separate oc-

we needed her.” Still, with Harter and Kleinrichert filling the void, Wawasee benefited from Swope’s play. Not only did the guard become Wawasee’s all-time leading scorer in semi-state action, but she directed the team flawlessly. Swope scored 17 points in the morning contest against Kokomo to lead Wawasee into the title game. “She had something to prove from last year, and I think she proved it,” said Brannock of Swope’s play. “She just had a super tournament. * ’ Besides Swope’s scoring, Harter finished the championship

Wawasee wrestlers primed for state meet

By CHRIS CAULEY Over the last two years, Wawasee High School wrestlers Brad Traviolia and Lance Lantz have a combined record of 115-14-1. And, believe it or not, they are only juniors! Traviolia, a 145-pounder, will take a 37-0 record to the state finals this Saturday at New Castle. Lantz, who wrestles at 167 pounds, is 31-3-1 entering the weekend. The state meet was to have been held last weekend at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, but bad weather and road conditions forced a postponement. Market Square is being used this weekend for the girls’ basketball

casions, early in the second quarter but the second half was a different story. Elkhart Central, relying on a high-efficient inside game, along with a potent outside shooting touch, blitzed the Warriors in the third and fourth periods. The hosts blew open a tight 10-point lead late in the third period to 20 points as the final buzzer sounded. “I’m impressed with their balance,” said Wysong. “I’m imtheir post men especially. There’s no one you can sluf off on, and there’s no one you can take it to defensively. They are one of the best teams that we have seen this year.” Despite trying to hang in the contest, Wawasee failed. Not even Brooks Koble’s 26 points kept the Warriors in at the end. The only other Warrior to reach double digits was John Hapner. He finished with a season-high 11 points. “The team played hard, that’s for sure, but we got down early and we could not take controFof the things we had wanted to,” said Wysong. “You just have to go with the tempo and sometimes learn their game.” _ _ For the game, Elkhart Central canned 63 percent of its shots from the field and 83 percent of its shots from the charity stripe. On the other side, Wawasee was able to can just 43 percent of its fielders while from the line, Wawasee connected on nine-of-15 for 60 percent. Westview Wins The night before, the Warriors held the lead throughout most of the conest, only to see Westview snatch the game at the end. With Wawasee leading by seven points with less than one minute remaining. Westview began its winning surge. Four times Wawasee had chances of putting the game on ice, but missed free throws spelled doom for the Warriors. Brooks Koble started the Westview scoring floodgate to open as he failed to connect on the front end of a one-and-one opportunity late in the game. But it got worse. Before it was all over, Seth Swihart, Wawasee’s best foul shooter, missed three other chances to ice the game. Although the game went into overtime, it was actually decided before the end of regulation. Trailing by one point with seven seconds left in regulation. Westview elected to foul a Wawasee player with the clock not in operation. To Westview’s delight, both charity tosses were misfired and Kenlin Kropf sank a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer to send the game into the extra session. “That was a hard game to lose,” admitted Wysong. “Both teams were not sharp, but it was our game to win. It’s just one of those things." The Warriors, 12-7, now prepare for their final hone game of the season. Wawasee will host Bremen Friday night beginning around 7:30 p.m.

game with 10 points and Payne concluded with nine. Whip Kokomo In the semi-finals, Wawasee took an early 15-6 first period lead and Kokomo could never catch up as the Lady Warriors easily gained die victory. “I am very pleased with the way the kids played,” said Brannock. “They came to play and they did the job. We hit a cold spell for awhile, and that let Kokomo back into the game, but thafs alright.” Experience Wawasee’s experience proved to be the difference in the morning session. Throughout the first three quarters, Kokomo seemed

finals — Wawasee fans know all about that — so the state wrestling meet was moved to New Castle. Last week’s weather meant that state qualifiers had an extra week to practice or rest. The latter is something that Traviolia could have used last year when he qualified for state at 132 pounds, but pulled a muscle in his hip at semi-state. He was not able to compete at Indianapolis. But Traviolia and Lantz would just as soon have wrestled last weekend. “It’s another week of watching the weight,” explained Traviolia, referring to the age-old wrestlers’ curse. “We were pretty much psyched up last week,” added Lantz. “I think it’s how you approach it mentally,” Coach Rich Welborn said of the delay. “For people who didn’t have an opportunity to get in last week and wrestle, it’s an advantage.” Traviolia will wrestle Brett Abell of Southridge in Saturday’s first round beginning at 9 a.m. Other top contenders in the 145-pound class include Mike Kern (34-1) of Perry Meridian, Paul Richey (20-0) of LaPorte, Mike Langley < 32-0) of Tipton and Brian Buffington (who Traviolia defeated by 6-1 at the Mishawaka Invitational) of Calumet. Kern was ranked No. 1 at 145 late in the season, but that was before he suffered his lone defeat. Traviolia is ranked No. 2. “I figured I’d be picked to go there (state meet) this year,” Traviolia said, “but I had to prove myself on the mat.” Lantz was ranked 11th in the state at 167 pounds, but two of his wins came against the fifthranked wrestler in his weight class, Mick Friedt of Bellmont. The second of those two wins came in the championship match of the semi-state. Lantz will wrestle Mark Hill (25-2) of Knox in his first-round match. Other top contenders in the 167-pound division include Jaime Madrigal (30-0) of East Chicago Washington, Brendon Smith (32-1) of Bloomington North, Chris Graves (26-2) of Beech Grove, Friedt (29-2-1) of Bellmont, Chris Maxwell (36-0) of Roncalli and Don Biller (29-4) of Goshen. Lantz has won two of three matches with Biller this season. The road to a state championship is longer than ever this year. In preceding years the state meet started on Friday night and concluded on Saturday. This year, because of the new IHSAA rules

h!WI STATE-BOUND WRESTLERS — Brad Traviolia, at left, and Lance Lantz will represent Wawasee High School at the State Wrestling Meet this Saturday at New Castle. Traviolia, who has a perfect 37-0 record at 145 pounds, has qualified for the state meet as both a sophomore and a junior. Lantz, 31-3-1 at 167 pounds, is also a junior at Wawasee. (Photo by Chris Cauley)

to be in awe of the Fort Wayne Coliseum. By the fourth quarter rolled around, the contest had already been decided, and any comeback effort by the Lady Wildkats was too late. “The Kokomo kids are awfully nice people and I think they were just frightened of this palace,” said Brannock. “I don’t think our kids were frightened — they have a little more experience.” Besides Swopes’ 17 points, she also received plenty of additional help from her teammates. Lori Galloway continued to play inspired ball as she netted 12 points. Christy Speicher poured in 12 for the Lady Warriors while Harter chipped in with nine.

regarding school absenteeism, the entire tournament takes place on Saturday. To go straight through the winners’ bracket, a wrestler would have to win four matches on Saturday instead of three, and a wrestler in the losing bracket could wrestle as many as five matches. “The competition is going to be there,” said Lantz. “There’ll be some intense finals.” “There won’t be any bad wrestlers down there,” added Traviolia. “They’ve all proven themselves. Just about any match could go either way.” Lantz and Traviolia have been preparing for the state meet by wrestling each other for the past week in the Wawasee wrestling room. They’re rather accustomed to< doing things together, though, by now. Both played football in the fall. Lantz was a tight end and defensive end for the Warriors, and Traviolia played quarterback and free safety. On offense, they hooked up for three touchdown passes. Though either would make an excellent addition to any Warrior team in a spring sport, neither will. Both will be wrestling in AAU tournaments starting in April. And both Lantz and Traviolia feel that their strong suit in wrestling is takedowns. “I would say that basically they’re free-style wrestlers,” said Coach Welborn. “Consequently, they’re both better on their feet.” Traviolia already holds several Wawasee wrestling records, including most wins and most pins, most takedowns and most nearfalls in a season. Lantz is right behind him in several categories. While Traviolia is perhaps the better known of the two in wrestling circles, it’s hard to ignore Lantz. After all, how can you not notice someone named Lance Lantz? “I get kidded about it sometimes,” Lantz said. “But people do remember it more than some names.” Since both wrestlers are only juniors, there is not as much urgency to win this year as there would be a year from now. However, cautioned their coach, “You better take the opportunity while you have it because what happens if you don’t get there next year? “I think on any given Saturday anybody can beat anybody down there,” Welborn added. “It just depends on who’s mentally right that day.”

Wed., February 20,1985 — THE MAIL-JOURN AL

HL » SUB -— — - * B ®HHB ” JRHB* ■w * ’ , & J MV • . JMSbyELj* SWOPE SCORES — Anita Swope scores two of her game-high 21 points in Wawasee’s Semistate championship victory over Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger. The Lady Warriors defeated Kokomo in the first game, and then turned back the Saints 52-43. (Photo by Chris Cauley);

Defending champs favored at state

By CHRIS CAULEY Even though the Wawasee Lady Warriors are the highestranked team of any of this weekend’s Final Four, they won’t be the favorites to win the coveted state championship. The favorite, if there is one, is Crown Point. Though the Lady Bulldogs were rated only 10th in the final coaches’ poll this year, they are the defending state champs. In fact, this year marks the third year in a row that Crown Point has advanced to the Final Four. That gives the Bulldogs something that the other coaches wish their teams had: Final Four experience. Even Dale Brannock, whose Lady Warriors are ranked seven notches higher than Crown Point, would pick the Bulldogs — if he had to. “That (a team’s ranking) doesn’t mean anything,” Brannock said. “Crown Point’s been there three years in a row. That experience makes all the difference in the world, in my opinion.” However, at 22-1 the Lady Warriors do own the best record of any Final Four team. Wawasee’s only defeat was by one point to NLC foe Bremen. The other three teams know each other a good deal better than they know Wawasee: Austin and Crown Point have played each other twice (Crown Point won the first, 55-49, Austin the second, 56-55), and Rushville has played • one Final Four team, beating Crown Point, 47-42, in the Hall of Fame Classic. The Rushville Lady Lions enter the weekend ranked fourth in the state, and they’ve won 26 of 28 games; the Austin Lady Eagles, —24-3, are ranked 11th; and Crown Point, 23-4, is ranked 10th, as said. While the coaches who vote in the state poll have evidently heard of the Lady Warriors, there may be some people asking, “Wawasee Who?” “If I had to pick a favorite, Crown Point would be* it,” said Dale Brannock. “Austin, because of their size (521 students), would be the sentimental favorite. We’re the mystery team. I’m happy with that.” “I think it’s wide open,” said Cinda Brown, Rushville coach. “I think Crown Point has an edge over the rest of us because they’ve been there three years in a row. That’s just phenomenal. The advantage we have is that we’ve beaten them once.” The first game Saturday will feature teams that like to get the ball up and down the floor. And both Wawasee and Austin have the guards to do it. The Lady Warriors’ backcourt features Anita Swope, the team’s career scoring leader, and Sandy Payne, the team’s career leader in assists. Austin’s backcourt features Jodie Whitaker and Tina Reece. Coach Rick Rigel says that both players are legitimate Miss Basketball candidates. Whitaker, a 5-7 senior, led the state in scoring this season with

766 points, an average of 28.2 per « game. She is also the career scor- * ing leader in Indiana girls’ * basketball with 2.072 points enter- • ing this weekend. She scored 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds * in Austin’s 65-64, double overtime* win over Evansville Bosse in the* Seymour Semi-State. Reece, a 56 percent field goal* shooter, scored 539 points this* season, an average of 21.6 agame. As a team, the Lady’ Eagles are shooting 48 percent' from the floor. “We’re a jump-shooting, fastbreak team,” Rigel said, “and if jump-shooting teams get hot, they can fill it up in a hurry. When we get hot, we do.” However, Wawasee may own an edge with its inside game, led by Christy Speicher. Lori Galloway and Michelle Harter. Underneath, Austin has Julie Whitaker, Jodie’s younger sister, at center. The 5-8 sophomore averages 8 points and 5 rebounds. The forwards are 5-7 senior Leisa White (9.4 ppg, 5 rebounds pg) and Leisa Robinson, a 5-8 senior averaging 4 points and 3 rebounds. White plays more on the wing, so that Austin has more of a three-guard offense. “We’re not really strong inside,” Rigel said. "We’re not very big and we don’t have a lot of experience inside.” The Warriors, meanwhile, have to worry about Whitaker and Reece, the Eagles’ pair of prolific scorers. Coaches have various theories about how to beat a team with players like Whitaker and Reece. One theory is that you try to bottle up the scorer, another theory holds that you let the scorer(s) get his-her points but that you shut down everyone else. < “I don’t think you can truly do that — let someone get their points and try to stop everyone else,” said Dale Brannock, “because they (Whitaker and Reece) score enough between them to beat you.” “They’re very well balanced and they’re strong inside, they press well with their guards, and their guards can get it down the court,” Rick Rigel said of Wawasee. “They’ll give us a lot of problems inside, so we ll just try and match up with them at the guard position. ” “We know basically what Austin does, we know their personnel pretty well,” Dale Brannock said of the Warriors’ firstgame opponents. “We know what Whitaker can do, we know that Reece can score, too. We’re going to have to try to limit them.” Austin’s only losses this season were to Crown Point, Warren Central (the top-ranked team in the state most of the season) and Corydon. The Eagles will ride into Indianapolis on a 16-game winning streak. The second game Saturday, starting at 12:30 p.m., will send Rushville against Crown Point. As noted, Rushville defeated Crown Point by five during the regular season. “We’re very similar in that we both like to go inside, but if you (Continued on next page)

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