The Mail-Journal, Volume 29, Number 42, Milford, Kosciusko County, 28 November 1990 — Page 8

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., November 28,1990

Sports

Warriors get outmuscled in 80-66 loss to Cavemen

IBy SCOTT DAVIDSON Sports Writer After steamrolling Fairfield in its season opener, the Wawasee boys’ basketball team went up against the Cavemen of Mishawaka on Friday and got clubbed, 80-66, to fall to 1-1. “Our free throw shooting and turnovers along with their execution on offense were the differences in the bailgame,” said Coach Gary Goshert after the team's first loss of the season. After the host Cavemen grabbed a 2-0 lead on a pair of free throws by 6-foot-6 senior center Chad DeVault, the Warriors tied the score for the only time of the evening as senior Dennis Garland connected for a field goal. From there, it was all downhill for the Warriors, as a 3-point bomb by guard Chris Brothers made the score 5-2 and ignited an 19-11 run by the host Cavemen. With DeVault scoring 12 of his game-high total of 22 points in the first stanza, the Cavemen led 21-17 at the end of the first quarter. Fortunately for the Warriors, the 6-6 inside force for the Cavemen got into early foul trouble and went to the bench with almost two minutes remaining in the opening stanza. “Their inside people in the post just shot over us and I hope we learned a lesson. Our inside defense and our blocking out on the boards are two areas that we just didn't do a good job with tonight,” said Goshert. With DeVault on the beniih to start the second quarter, Mishawaka showed its bench strength, as a 10-0 scoring surge in the first three minutes of the period gave the hosts a comfortable 31-17 lead and control of the contest. “Chad got us going in the first quarter and then we saw that we could survive, as Aaron (O’Dell) came in and played very well inside,” remarked Mishawaka Coach Bill Davidson. O’Dell, a 6-5 junior, knocked in nine of his 13 points in the crucial second stanza to help the Cavemen grab a 48-34 lead and control at halftime. “You have to give Mishawaka

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EYE-TO-EYE — Wawasee’s Jason Mickley finds himself toe-to-toe with Rodney Shields of Mishawaka while trying to protect the basketball during the Warriors' 80-66 loss fast Friday. Mickley, a starting guard, will fry-tojhelp the Warriors improve upon their 1-1 record this weekend. Wawasee will face fifth-ranked Concord in a Northern Lakes Conference match-up on the road Friday evening before hosting DeKalb Saturday evening. (Photo by Scott Davidson)

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credit because its big people are good players inside and our interior defense just couldn’t handle them,” said Goshert. Coupled with a total of 13 turnovers in the first half, the Warriors really hurt themselves with just an 8-17 effort from the free throw line in digging a huge hole in the first half. “In a game like this, where your defense isn’t doing the job, you have to stay in the game by hitting free throws and we just didn’t help ourselves in that area,” stated Goshert. The Warriors came out in the third quarter and improved their effort on both ends of the floor, although they were never able to cut into the Cavemen lead with much success. Wawasee cut the margin to 13 points on several occasions, including 59-46 late in the stanza, before the hosts extended the margin to 64-48 at the end of the third quarter as DeVault scored off a tip-in of a missed free throw. Wawasee refused to throw in the towel, however, as an 8-2 run, keyed by 3-point shots by Jason Mickley and Jake Lambert, cut the Cavemen lead to 66-56 with 5:19 left in the contest. After Davidson called for a timeout with his team still holding a 10 point lead, the Warriors closed to within eight (68-60) on a pair of free throws by Aaron Sincroft with 4:26 left. From there, however, the Cavemen used a four-corner, ball-control offense to milk the clock away and coast to the 80-66 victory in their season opener. “With our inside game, I think we can play with just about anyone inside and I was a little disappointed that we got away from that, somewhat, after the first quarter,” commented Davidson. “We needed to use the clock a little more late in the &me, but give Wawasee credit because their poise started to come late in the game and they came after us, ” he added. Mickley paced the offensive attack for the Warriors with 21 points, including three hoops from beyond the 3-point stripe. Garland knocked in 15 points while pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds. Ferverda turned in

another strong effort off the bench, as the 6-2 sophomore scored 10 points and hauled down five rebounds. DeVault muscled inside the Warriors for a game-high effort of 22 points, while also cleaning the glass for 14 rebounds. O’Dell and Larry Peak each scored 13 points, while Rodney Shields netted 10, Shawn DeNeve scored nine and Brothers had eight points for the balanced Mishawaka attack. With a 1-1 mark, Goshert must now prepare his troops for their first Northern Lakes Conference battle of the season. And what a battle it will be, as the Warriors face fifth-ranked Concord on Friday evening at McCuen Gym. A preview of the WarriorsMinutemen clash, along with a look at the team’s matchup with DeKalb Saturday evening, is included in this edition of the MailJournal. JV Squad Also Falls Calling it part of the “learning

Frosh eagers improve

IBy SCOTT DAVIDSON Sports Writer Using a strong first half effort to build a 23-9 halftime lead, the Wawasee freshman boys’ basketball team improved to 2-0 after posting a 34-26 win over Manchester Monday evening. “Overall, I was pleased with our effort because we improved from our first game (a 38-28 win over Columbia City) and all 10 of the players played well and contributed to the win,” said Coach Chuck Evans. The frosh squad jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and used a strong defensive effort to surge to a 10-4 lead at the end of the opening stanza. “I was really pleased with our play in the first half because they were a good team with some individual talent and we picked our game up with our intensity on defense. Our defense to start the game was important because it set our offense and enabled us to get control of the game,” Evans said. The Warriors built their lead to 23-9 at halftime and 30-15 at the end of the third period before the visiting Squires closed the gap in the final six minutes of the contest. “We had control of the game the entire way, but we lost some of our intensity and concentration in the fourth quarter and let them back in the ballgame,” said Evans. “We stopped attacking on offense and missed a lot of shortrange shots, but it’s still a learning process for the players and the key is to keep working and improving.”

BBF' ' , jjMBHBHEfIB| :j w A~xt I 7 ’ £• ■ v-->' i** g 1 ~ i I. Sw $ f MP r ' I •« ,£■ UP THE COURT — Wawasee freshman Eric Speicher dribbles the ball upcourt past a Manchester defender during first half action of the team’s 34-26 victory Monday. The Warriors will put their unbeaten streak (2-0) on the line tomorrow (Thursday), with a conference contest at North Wood. (Photo by Scott Davidson)

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.process,” Kem Zolman, Wawasee junior varsity coach, saw his squad also drop to 1-1 on the season, after a 63-49 loss to the Cavemen. “It’s tough to try and come back after you get behind on the road and you have to give them credit because they came out and took it to us,” said Zolman. The Warriors quickly fell behind, 9-2, before Zolman called for a timeout to regroup his squad. After battling to within a point at the end of the first quarter, 13-12, the host Cavemen used a 17-8 burst in the second stanza to quickly build a 30-20 lead at half time. After cutting the Mishawaka lead to 43-35 at the end of the third quarter, Wawasee was able to cut the margin to six points (48-42) before the hosts put the game away at the free throw line in the final three minutes. "We played well in the third quarter when we came out and

For the game, the Warriors connected on 14-of-40 (35 percent) from the field and 6-12 (50 percent) from the charity stripe. “We missed a lot of layups, which hurt us, but we did show some improvement from the free throw line where we’re using a new shooting technique,” explained Evans. Orlando Vallejo paced the winning frosh attack with 10 points, while Kevin Pletcher netted eight and Joey Salazar chipped in with six. Matt Beer and Dan Duncan each scored four points for the winners while Ben Brunner added two to round out the scoring. With a two-game winning streak, the freshman squad will look to go to 3-0 on the season with its first conference contest of the season at North Wood at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow. “It will be a big game because it’s the first NLC (Northern Lakes Conference) test of the season and North Wood has a big team,” commented Evans. After facing North Wood on the road, the Warriors will return to action next Monday (December 3) when they host Jimtown at 6:30 p.m. B Team Posts Win The freshman B team improved to 1-1 Monday, with a 20-17 win over Manchester. Brunner and teammate Rick Matthew paced the attack for the Warriors as each popped in eight points. Mike Keim tallied four points to round out the scoring for Wawasee.

got aggressive. They were in another league with the size Advantage they had on us and I just hope that we learn from this game and improve from here,” said Zolman. Matt McClintick, for the second straight game, provided the scoring punch for the Warriors. The 6-1 sophomore knocked in seven field goals to go with nine free throws for a game-high effort of 23 points. Mason Robbins gave the JV squad a boost from the bench, with nine points, while teammates Mike Garland and Matt Wilkinson evenly divided 10 points. The Warriors were hurt by the 3-point shot, as the Cavemen knocked home five treys to just one for Wawasee. Ryan Watson canned 22 points for the Cavemen while 6-6 teammate Floyd Culp scored 14 points. Brent O’Keefe nailed three 3-point bombs to score nine points for the hosts. WAWASEE (M> FG FT TP Haab 2-3 5 10 9 Mickley 8-17 2-2 21 Lambert 2-2 1-1 6 D.Garland 6 14 3-7 15 Newcomer 1-2 0-0 2 Ferverda 5-10 0-1 10 Tran 0-1 1-3 1 Sincroft 0-1 2-3 2 Totals 24-50 14-28 66 Three Point Shots: 4-9 (Mickley 3-7, Lambert 1-1, Ferverda 0-1) Rebounds: 33 (Garland 12, Haab6, Ferverda 5) Fouls (fouledout): 22 (none). Turnovers: 16 MISHAWAKA (80) FG FT TP Brothers 3-5 1-2 8 Peak 4-11 5-8 13 Shields 4-9 0-1 10 DeVault 9-13 4-4 22 DeNeve 4 4 1-4 9 Derrickson 0-2 0-0 0 Betzer 0-1 0-0 0 O'Dell 58 3-3 13 Goodnight 16 2-2 5 Totals 30-60 16-24 80 Three Point Shots: 4-15 (Shields 2-5, Brothers 1-1, Goodnight 15, Peak 0-3, Betzer 0-1) Rebounds: 39 (DeVault 14, O'Dell 10) Fouls (fouledout): 24 (none). Turnovers: 15. Score By Quarters Wawasee 17 17 14 18 66 Mishawaka 21 27 16 16 80

Wawasee squad set to face No. 5 Concord and DeKalb

I By SCOTT DAVIDSON Sports Writer Talk about a challenge. After turning in a sub-par effort in an 80-66 loss to Mishawaka last Friday, the Wawasee boys’ basketball team must now play a pair of back-to-back games this weekend for the first time in the 1990-91 campaign. For starters, Wawasee will

Ifflß fl nMWnJ 1 |Er tlx ■ ■E ’ BBSs r T : TURNED AROUND — Senior Jason Mickley of Wawasee looks for help after finding his path to the basket blocked by 6-foot-6 center Chad DeVauit of Mishawaka. Mickley didn’t find his path to the hoop blocked often last Friday during the Warriors’ 80-66 loss to the Cavemen. The 6-0 guard hit for a team-high 21 points, including three baskets from 3-point range. Trailing Mickley on the play for the 1-1 Warriors is junior guard Aaron Sincroft. (Photo by Scott Davidson)

trek to McCuen Gym on Friday evening to battle Northern Lakes Conference foe and fifth-ranked Concord in what promises to be one of the team’s toughest contests of the season. On Saturday, the Warriors will return home to face DeKalb in a non-conference match-up. Action is set to begin each evening at 6:15 p.m., with the tip-off of the junior varsity game. “Although Concord is a little different team from last season, I still think they’ll prove that they’re one of the top teams in the state,” said Wawasee Coach Gary Goshert. The Minutemen, 1-0 on the season after a 74-41 thrashing of Lakeland in their season opener November 21, came into the Warrior Gym last season and put a 88-59 thumping on the Warriors, en route to a storybook season that ended with a three-point loss to Bedford North-Lawrence and Damon Bailey in the championship contest of the state finals in the Hoosier Dome. Concord, 28-1 a year ago, returns quite a bit of firepower from last season’s sectional, regional and semistate championship squad, including starters Jeff Massey and Mike Swanson. Massey and Swanson, both of whom have signed to play collegiately at Bowling Green next year, lead a Minutemen squad that has won 48 straight games in McCuen Gym and will be shooting for number 49 against the Warriors on Friday. “Concord probably has more quickness this season than last and they jump better on the inside. They will press all over the court with their defense and we’re going to have to be able to handle their pressure,” emphasized Goshert. In the Minutemen’s season opener before the normal capacity crowd of 3,434 in McCuen, Massey tossed in 23 points while Swanson netted 13 and forward Donny Hackworth scored 10. Expected to join Massey, Swanson and Hackworth in the starting line-up on Friday will be Johnny

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Moore at foward and Shane Bechtel at center. After watching his team struggle on the defensive end and at the free throw line (14-28) in last

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KEY SIXTH MAN — Wawasee sophomore Mike Ferverda, shown above, has been a vital part of the Wawasee varsity basketball squad this season, tallying 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the first two contests of the season. The Warriors (1-1) will be in action this weekend for a pair of games. On Friday evening, the squad faces its first conference battle of the season with a matchup at No. 5 Concord. On Saturday, Wawasee returns home for a contest against DeKalb. Both games are scheduled to begin with the junior varsity contests at 6:15 p.m. (Photo by Scott Davidson) week’s loss to the Cavemen, Goshert knows that there is still a lot of improvement to be made. “I still have a lot of concern with our play on defense. We’re going to have to improve on the defensive end of the court to become a good team this season,” he added. ’’We’re going to have to be very alert on defense against Concord because they like to screen and pick and then use back cuts to get easy baskets in their set offense. We also are going to have to do a better job of blocking out on the boards so we can rebound with them,” the coach said. Host DeKalb Saturday Calling his squad yery “green,” as in inexperienced, second-year coach Gary Merrell will bring his DeKalb Barons into Warrior Gym on Saturday evening to square off with Wawasee. “Although DeKalb will present a different style than Concord, they’re a well-coached team that

will present some different challenges to us,” said Goshert of the Barons. Merrell, who guided the Barons to an 11-12 mark last season, including a 74-60 loss at home to Wawasee, has some good size to count on in the frontcourt, despite his team’s youth. “We basically are playing this season with what was last year’s JV team,” said Merrell. “We have some good young kids, but right now we’re just a very inexperienced team.” The Barons, who fell to Fort Wayne Northrop, 65-56, in their season opener on November 21, use a rotation of eight players in their line-up according to Merrell. “We have eight kids who play a lot and we like to get the ball up the court quickly and score if we have the chance,” the coach said. DeKalb, 0-1 heading into a contest on Friday evening against Garrett, will bring some heighth into Warrior Gym, boasting inside players that include a trio of juniors in Doug Kelley (6-foot-9), Tim Holwerda (6-4) and Matt Bechdol (6-3). “We do have good size, but Kelley is really thin and not an experienced player. We are a very scrappy team, however, and will try to get the ball inside,” said Merrell. In addition the the three juniors on the inside, the Barons will count on seniors Tracy Joseph (6-2), Jeff Kessler (6-0) and Brian Wright (6-2), as well as junior Brian Thomas (5-7) and sophomore Chad Ginder (5-10), to carry the load on Saturday. Kessler came off the bench in the club’s season opener to connect for a team-high 21 points from the guard position. “DeKalb will present probems for us on the inside with their big 6-9 kid and they also like to push the ball up the court on the break. They obviously won’t have the quickness that we’ll face on Friday at Concord, but they have a couple of good perimeter shooters and it will be a challenge for us,” said Goshert. Merrell, who scouted the Warriors during their season opening win against Fairfield, sees rebounding and turnovers as key components for his team to succeed on Saturday. “We need to reduce our errors (turnovers) and we also have to be decent on the boards because, even though we do have some size, rebounding will be a key to the game,” said Merrell. “Wawasee has three good seniors, with an experienced point guard in Haab, which is an asset that we don’t have this season. They also have some good young kids, so we're expecting a tough contest,” the coach concluded.