Plymouth Girls Eliminated
By Ron Haramia
Pilot Sports
SYRACUSE � Before Northern Lakes Conference action begins in earnest after Christmas vacation, the 3rd annual NLC Holiday Tournament provides a sneak peak into what the regular season may have in store.
What the Plymouth girls basketball team found out was that Wawasee does not have Shanna Zolman any more, but they have height � and lots of it.
Using their size advantage, the Lady Warriors finished with a 34-18 edge in rebounding, which led to a lot of second and third shots helping them defeat the Lady Pilgrims in first round action, 43-35.
Plymouth will play the second game of the consolation bracket doubleheader Thursday against Northridge. The game will be played at Elkhart Memorial with tip off set for 7:30 pm. NorthWood meets Memorial at 6.
�We just did not play good ball tonight,� said Plymouth head coach Dave Cox, still trying to find the right combination on the court. �We went through the motions.�
Instead of trying to defend the shooting of Miss Basketball (Zolman), this year�s edition of the Lady Warriors starts a frontline of 6-foot, 6-0, and 5-10 seniors.
To try and counter that, the Lady Pilgrims used a press with mixed results to try and capitalize on their quickness. Plymouth did force usually reliable senior point guard Crystal Fawley into five turnovers, but when the Lady Pilgrims went to the basket, the added inches of the defenders altered many shots resulting in a low shooting percentage.
�We had a lot of in-and-out baskets,� said Cox. �We had a couple of people go to the basket, but others were very reluctant. You are not going to beat many teams shooting 28 percent.�
After a tight first quarter, Morgan Uceny�s second of three 3-pointers, combined with two Austen Black free throws, put Plymouth in the lead by five (13-8). But the inside play of Wawasee�s frontliners sent the home team on a 12-2 scoring run to regain the lead (20-15) at the game�s halfway point.
�We just seemed to be a step slow and we did not get many touches or steals at that point,� commented Cox of the 10-point turnaround.
Wawasee quickly increased the lead to 11 after three possessions of the third quarter, but with an effective �4-down� man-to-man offense with weaving action by the guards, Plymouth pulled back to within five at the end of the third quarter.
Sarah Craig scored six of her nine points during that stretch.
Just 43 seconds into the fourth quarter, Plymouth got what seemed to be the break they were looking for when Wawasee�s best offensive player, Meagan Wallen (12 points, six rebounds), was called for her fourth foul and sent to the bench.
If you had told Cox that Wallen would not return at that point, he would have been a happy man. But the rest of the Lady Warriors seemed to pick up their intensity with their leader out, going on a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 11 before Wallen had put her warm ups back on.
From then on, Wawasee did just enough to hold off Plymouth.
Going to the hoop more assertively the last five minutes of the contest, the Lady Pilgrims were fouled time and time again on drives resulting in 12 free throw attempts (connecting on 7), to go with Uceny�s last trey to account for their final points.
Although Wawasee missed the front end of two one-and-one situations in the last minute, they hit 3-of-6 from the line to keep Plymouth at least seven points away.
�We need to play more consistently,� concluded a visibly frustrated Cox. �We are still looking for the right combination and the right leadership.�
Uceny took team-scoring honors with 12, to go with four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Playing almost the entire game, Black finished with 10 points (8-for-12 FTs), a team-high eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Craig chipped in 9 points.
WAWASEE 43, PLYMOUTH 35
At Syracuse (NLC Holiday Tourney 1st round)
PLYMOUTH (35): Stephanie Welch 0 0-0 0, Sarah Craig 4 1-2 9, Jessica Foust 0 0-0 0, Morgan Uceny 3 3-4 12, Laura Wendel 0 1-2 1, Brandie Berkeypile 0 0-0 0, Austen Black 1 8-12 10, Shannon Gehrke 0 0-0 0, Cassie Gantz 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 9 14-23 35.
WAWASEE (43): Stephanie Sorensen 1 0-0 2, Rachel Stichter 1 0-0 2, Rachel Canen 4 1-1 10, Mistie Hershberger 0 0-0 0, Crystal Fawley 1 1-3 3, Meagan Wallen 6 0-0 12, Jessica Leach 3 3-5 9, Jocelyn Higginbotham 1 3-5 5. TOTALS: 17 8-14 43.
Score by quarters
Plymouth 6 15 24 35
Wawasee 8 20 29 43
3-pointers: Plymouth 3 (Uceny 3), Wawasee 1 (Canen). Total fouls: Plymouth 12, Wawasee 18.
Records: Plymouth 5-5, Wawasee 6-3.
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