The Wildcats brought home their second trophy of the season while the Ladycats claimed their third in as many events at the Osceola Tournament on Saturday night.
The Warsaw boy's second place finish came after a 62-51 loss at the hands of the state-ranked Wheatland Mules. The girl's were defeated by the host Lady Indians by a 49-35 final in the championship tilt.
The tourney got underway for both teams on Monday night. In the earlier game, the Ladycats jumped out to an 11-2 first quarter lead over Climax Springs. The Lady Cougars clawed their way back into the contest in the second quarter, but the Ladycats found a spurt at the end of the period to hold a 21-12 halftime lead.
A 17-8 surge in the third quarter extended Warsaw's lead to 38-20 before a lopsided 22-4 margin in the fourth put things well out of reach for the 60-24 final.
Tanna Howe led Warsaw with 15 points while Jenna Gerken had 14 and Keira Mostaffa tossed in 12.
WARSAW (60): K. Mostaffa, 12; I. Schwartz, 0; M. Slavens, 4; R. Henderson, 0; M. Reimund, 4; T. Howe, 15; S. Miller, 8; J. Bilderback, 0; H. Velker, 0; A. Yoder, 3; J. Gerken, 14.
CLIMAX SPRINGS (24): J. Rodenbaugh, 8; A. Morgan, 4; M. Arnett, 1; K. Durham, 0; D. Blanche, 2; D. Butterfield, 9.
In Monday's nightcap, the Warsaw boy's led Appleton City, 23-18 at the end of the first, but then a sloppy 4-0 second period margin for the Wildcats gave them hold on a 27-18 halftime lead.
An 11-8 advantage for Warsaw in the third stretched their lead to 38-26 after three before they eventually held on for the 46-39 first round win.
Luke Henderson paced Warsaw with 17 points, 12 of those coming in the first half whle Logan Gemes tallied 13 in the win.
WARSAW (46): S. Poyser, 9; G. Ferguson, 0; R. Fajen, 0; L. Henderson, 17; B. Henderson, 0; B. Slavens, 0; L. Gemes, 0; C. Davis, 0; J. Newell, 0; L. Gemes, 13; T. Downing, 5; N. Siebert, 2.
APPLETON CITY (39): Z. Loney, 3; C. Campbell, 0; D. Powell, 21; B. Litton, 0; R. Williams, 6; G. Strope, 0; W. Farmer, 7; M. Smith, 2; E. Loney, 0; C. Harkrader, 0; T. Stuchtemeyer, 0.
Back on Thursday for semifinal matchups, both squads advanced to championship games with wins.
In the earlier game, the Ladycats got 10 first quarter points from Tanna Howe and led Wheatland 12-10 before seeing that lead slip away when they trailed 22-19 at the break.
A 17-12 third quarter margin for Warsaw built them a narrow 36-34 lead. The game bounced back-and-forth in the final frame and with things close late, Howe went down with a knee injury after a collision at the basket. With the Ladycats floor leader on the bench being evaluated, and with the Warsaw bench already slim due to illness and other injuries, they converted key free throws down the stretch to secure a 54-47 win.
Howe paced Warsaw with 20 points while Jenna Gerken had 12 and Keira Mostaffa threw in 11.
WARSAW (54): K. Mostaffa, 11; I. Schwartz, 0; M. Slavens, 4; R. Henderson, 5; M. Reimund, 2; T. Howe, 20; S. Miller, 0; J. Bilderback, 0; H. Velker, 0; A. Yoder, 0; J. Gerken, 12.
WHEATLAND (47): E. Rodriguez-Johnson, 0; C. Crouch, 12; K. Murphy, 111; A. Sawyer, 0; M. Pearson, 7; E. Almond, 0; S. Walker, 0; K. Blation, 17.
Later that same evening, the Wildcats avenged an earlier regular season loss to Osceola with a 68-46 drubbing of the home team.
Warsaw led 21-11 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. An 11-9 margin in the second made it 32-20 at the half with the Wildcats in control.
A high-scoring third quarter stretched the Warsaw lead to 54-36 before knocking down 6 of 7 free throws late to help secure the 68-46 win.
Logan Gemes knocked down 24 in the Wildcats win while Garrett Ferguson came in with 18 and Shawn Poyser racked up 15.
WARSAW (68): S. Poyser, 15; G. Ferguson, 18; R. Fajen, 0; L. Henderson, 0; B. Henderson, 0; B. Slavens, 0; L. Gemes, 0; C. Davis, 0; J. Newell, 0; L. Gemes, 24; T. Downing, 3; N. Siebert, 8.
OSCEOLA (46): K. Gordon, 0; Z. Murguia, 0; H. Short, 0; D. Barker, 0; B. Kennedy, 2; W. Murray, 5; K. Brewer, 0; B. Murray, 0; D. Bloom, 19; P. Listerud, 9; K. Crabb, 0; S. Wohlers, 11.
On Saturday, the Ladycats fell behind early and could never recover in a 49-35 loss.
Warsaw trailed 19-9 at the first quarter buzzer and saw that deficit grow to 32-16 at the intermission.
A narrow 8-5 margin in the third narrowed the gap at 37-24 but the early damage was too much to overcome in the 49-35 loss.
In Howe's absence, Sara Miller tallied 10 points after being out the previous game due to sickness. Mady Reimund also stepped up with 10 points to match Miller's output.
WARSAW (35): K. Mostaffa, 5; I. Schwartz, 0; M. Slavens, 0; R. Henderson, 5; M. Reimund, 10; T. Howe, 0; S. Miller, 10; J. Bilderback, 0; H. Velker, 0; A. Yoder, 0; J. Gerken, 5.
OSCEOLA (49): R. Snider, 2; B. Belisle, 4; L. Shoemaker, 9; R. Cameron, 0; L. Uchtman, 10; G. Colby, 16; S. Hendrickson, 0; B. Rollins, 0; L. Crowder, 7; B. Hamby, 0; T. Wood, 1.
In the final game of the week, the Wildcats fell behind early to Wheatland and trailed 15-9 but used a 15-14 second quarter advantage to inch within striking distance, trailing just 29-24 at the half.
A 14-5 margin for the Mules to start the second half extended their lead to 43-29 and they matched the Wildcats high offensive output in the fourth to take the tourney title, 62-51.
Logan Gemes dropped 24 in the loss while Shane Poyser was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 10.
WARSAW (51): S. Poyser, 10; Garrett Ferguson, 2; R. Fajen, 0; L. Henderson, 5; B. Henderson, 0; B. Slavens, 0; L. Gemes, 0; C. Davis, 0; J. Newell, 0; L. Gemes, 24; T. Downing, 2; N. Siebert, 6.
WHEATLAND (62): D. Johnson, 4; A. Murphy, 22; L. Gautieri, 0; B. Sawyer, 2; N. Sawyer, 26; D. Jones, 6; T. Shaddox, 2.
