Winamac girls basketball roundup: Lady Warriors beat Triton, improve to 4-1 in Hoosier North

Kroft scores 11, but Winamac suffers first conference loss to NM

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Kandace Kroft Marissa Iverson

WINAMAC — After playing visiting Triton Thursday, the players on the Winamac girls basketball team did not head into the locker room.

Rather they headed to an area of the bleachers to meet assistant coach Ali Kiser’s newborn daughter.

Winamac’s Hoosier North chances were also somewhat reborn as they pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Lady Trojans 45-28.

Kandace Kroft led Winamac with 19 points despite facing a box-in-one defense designed to stop her. Sadie Popejoy scored 14, including 12 in the second half.

Kroft also had nine rebounds. Marissa Iverson contributed four points and eight rebounds.

Winamac improved to 12-7 overall and 4-1 in the Hoosier North. Triton dropped to 2-16, 0-6.

North Judson is the only unbeaten team in conference play at 4-0. North Miami (5-1) also has one loss.

“We needed to stay in the conference race,” Winamac coach Tony Stesiak said. “We needed to get back in the winning column, which we did. We did not get off to a great start at all on Friday against North Miami. That first quarter doomed us, so we challenged them to have a good start, and we did.”

Reserve guard Gracie Riffle hit two 3-pointers and led Triton with eight points. Sierra Hawley had seven, and Avery Viers had a team-high 12 rebounds to go with her five points.

Hawley hit a 3-pointer that cut the margin to 36-27, but Winamac closed with a 9-1 run with all nine points coming on free throws.

For the game, Winamac made 13 of 17 from the line while Triton was 5 for 16.

Triton’s next two games will be at the Trojan Trench against Culver: The first will be their conference game on Friday, and the second will be a first-round Bi-County Tournament game on Tuesday.

After falling behind 16-5 after one quarter and losing by six to North Miami in their previous game, Winamac fell behind 5-0 again on a Viers short left baseline jumper and a Sydney King 3-pointer, but Winamac answered with a 17-3 run, and they never trailed again.

Kroft hit a 3-pointer after Kaelyn O’Connor’s quick hands led to a steal and a kickout pass. Maggie Keller added a 3, and Kroft scored on a driving banker off a give-and-go play with Popejoy on an inbounds set.

Popejoy pulled up into the gap of Triton’s 1-2-2 zone and hit a midrange jumper to make it 10-5.

Riffle hit a 3 for Triton, but Kroft fed O’Connor in the post for two, and Kroft hit a 3 as a trailer in transition off a Popejoy assist.

Kroft hit two free throws to complete the run with 5:43 left in the first half.

Meanwhile, Winamac’s zone defenses – primarily a 1-3-1 with some 2-3 sprinkled in – held Triton to one field goal in a nine-and-a-half minute span.

Keller started on top of the 1-3-1 zone, but the taller Iverson also saw time on top. The defender in the middle of the 1-3-1 had the job of keeping an eye on Viers so she would not get “comfortable,” according to Stesiak.

Stesiak also described O’Connor’s defense as “awesome.”

“That’s one of the things about the 1-3-1,” Stesiak said. “You can get that middle and that back. You can go high-low tandem with some backside help from the opposite wing, so that was big. Early on, we changed things up a little bit and put Iverson at the top. I thought she was getting too bogged down on the defensive end battling post players and on the offensive end battling post players, so we put her at the top to give her some more freedom of movement and let her be more of an athlete and use her length to discourage some passes. And that frees her up to just crash the boards without battling underneath. I thought that was effective.”

Triton went from the 1-2-2 zone to the box-in-one to start the second half, and they got within 25-20 when Viers recovered a loose ball after a Winamac block and laid it in.

But Kroft and Popejoy worked a give-and-go again on an inbounds play, and Kroft poured in a left corner triple.

King hit a free throw, but Keller found O’Connor in the post for two, and Popejoy rainbowed in a 3 off a Kroft assist to complete a 8-1 run and give Winamac a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

“What was really great is they went to a box-in-one on Kandace, and she was still a factor, and nobody else blinked an eye,” Stesiak said. “Popejoy kind of takes that personal. She knocked down some shots. Our post players got involved. Keller and Loehmer shot the ball. They just have to be threats and be willing to shoot without hesitation, and they did. We like to say everybody’s a threat. So you want to take Kandace away, she still found openings. You’ve still got to stop her in transition. I thought she played a really mature game.”

The game was originally scheduled to be played Tuesday but postponed two days due to snow.

Winamac 45, Triton 28

TRITON (28) (2-16, 0-6)

Sierra Hawley 2 2-2 7, Mylie Groves 1 0-0 3, Chloe McKinney 0 0-2 0, Avery Viers 2 1-4 5, Sydney King 1 1-4 4, Gracie Riffle 3 0-0 8, Lydia Hammond 0 0-0 0, Nadia Stetler 0 1-4 1

TEAM: 9 5-16 28

WINAMAC (45) (12-7, 4-1)

Maggie Keller 1 0-0 3, Kandace Kroft 5 5-6 19, Sadie Popejoy 3 7-9 14, Mershai Loehmer 0 0-0 0, Marissa Iverson 2 0-0 4, Kaelyn O’Connor 2 1-2 5, Elizabeth DeLaCruz 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 13 13-17 45

Three-point field goals:

Triton 5 (Riffle 2, Sierra Hawley, King, Groves),

Winamac 6 (Kroft 4, Popejoy, Keller)

Total fouls: Triton 14, Winamac 16

Fouled out: Popejoy (WIN), :39.8, fourth

Turnovers: Triton 17, Winamac 15

Score by quarters

Triton 8 7 6 7 – 28

Winamac 15 7 11 12 – 45

NM holds off Winamac

Kayden Donaldson scored 14 points, and Laney Musall added 10 for North Miami in a 42-36 Hoosier North road win over Winamac Jan. 10.

Grace Sailors hit two free throws in the fourth quarter and added six.

Kandace Kroft scored 11 points to lead Winamac. Marissa Iverson had seven, and Maggie Keller hit two treys in the second half and had six.

North Miami led 25-14 at halftime and extended the lead to 38-25 after three quarters. North Miami hung on despite registering only one field goal in the fourth quarter.

Winamac’s loss leaves North Judson as the only remaining unbeaten team in the Hoosier North. North Miami and Winamac are the only teams with one loss.

North Miami 42, Winamac 36

NORTH MIAMI (42) (10-6, 5-1)

Masters 2 0-0 4, Musall 4 0-0 10, Hampton 1 0-0 3, Sailors 1 4-6 6, Donaldson 7 0-0 14, Piercy 0 0-0 0, Kling 0 0-0 0, Pickett 2 0-0 5

TEAM: 17 4-6 42

WINAMAC (36) (11-7, 3-1)

Maggie Keller 2 0-0 6, Kandace Kroft 3 3-4 11, Sadie Popejoy 2 1-2 5, Mershai Loehmer 1 1-2 3, Marissa Iverson 2 3-4 7, Kaelyn O’Connor 2 0-0 4

TEAM: 12 8-12 36

Three-point field goals:

North Miami 4 (Musall 2, Pickett, Hampton),

Winamac 4 (Keller 2, Kroft 2)

Total fouls: North Miami 13, Winamac 10

Score by quarters

North Miami 16 9 13 4 – 42

Winamac 5 9 11 11 – 36

‘She’s on the Mount Rushmore of players I’ve coached:’

Stesiak praises Kroft after loss to Rensselaer

WINAMAC — The Winamac girls basketball team might have lost to visiting Rensselaer on Dec. 21, but that did not keep coach Tony Stesiak from raving about junior point guard Kandace Kroft.

Kroft led Winamac with 14 points and nine rebounds, but the Class 2A, No. 5 Lady Bombers jumped out to a 33-6 lead and rolled to a 58-26 win.

Kroft bore the brunt of Rensselaer’s fullcourt pressure and halfcourt man-to-man defenses.

All five Rensselaer starters range in height from 5-9 to 5-11, and the first player off the bench is 5-8.

“There’s not enough superlatives for what she does or what kind of player she is,” Stesiak said. “Rebound, defense, gets other players involved. She is making a play with a minute to go like the game’s still on the line. She’s on the Mount Rushmore of players I’ve coached already. I can’t think of praise high enough than that. The way she competes, that’s what I told the girls: They all play well and they play hard, but it sticks out for her – she takes it to another level. If we can just get a little bit more to play like her consistently, then we can take off to the next level as a team.”

Sadie Popejoy added eight points, and Marissa Iverson had four for Winamac (8-5).

Kamri Rowland led Rensselaer with 16 points, Taylor Van Meter had 15, Courtney Mathew had 13, and Carly Drone had 12.

Rensselaer went 22-2 last year before going one-and-done against West Lafayette in their 3A sectional. 

“They’re really good,” Stesiak said of the Lady Bombers. “We’re not going to play a better team all year. They’re one of the best teams in the state regardless of class. I’d put them in the top 30. I think Sagarin (ratings) probably got them fairly close anyways. It’s a group that’s played together for a couple years now, and they’re relentless with their pressure. I think they had four in double figures. They just all show up.”

Rensselaer coach Wes Radtke praised both Kroft and Stesiak.

“They play hard,” Radtke said. “He’s a heck of a coach. He’s done a lot of great things in his career coaching. And I can see it in his girls watching them play. He really challenges them. Even though they might not have the most numbers, they’re going to play hard the entire time, and as coach, that’s all he can ask for, and that’s what he’s getting out of his girls. So I enjoy coaching against him and always enjoy watching him coach. They’re going to continue to get better, and you know, who knows what might happen? We might face each other again down the road here, so who knows?”

Rensselaer 58, Winamac 26

RENSSELAER (58) (12-1)

Courtney Mathew 6 1-2 13, Taylor Van Meter 6 2-5 15, Carly Drone 4 0-0 12, Kamri Rowland 6 3-4 16, Brodie Radtke 1 0-0 2, Brooke Koebcke 0 0-0 0, Kinsley Metzger 0 0-0 0, Brynley Webb 0 0-0 0, Eva Lapsley 0 0-0 0, Reese Groom 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 23 6-11 58

WINAMAC (26) (8-5)

Maggie Keller 0 0-0 0, Kandace Kroft 4 4-8 14, Mershai Loehmer 0 0-0 0, Sadie Popejoy 2 2-2 8, Marissa Iverson 1 2-2 4, Kaelyn O’Connor 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 7 8-12 26

Three-point field goals:

Rensselaer 6 (Drone 4, Rowland, Van Meter),

Winamac 4 (Kroft 2, Popejoy 2)

Total fouls: Rensselaer 15, Winamac 11

Technical foul: Winamac bench, 4:56, third

Turnovers: Rensselaer 16, Winamac 34

Score by quarters

Rensselaer 24 12 11 11 – 58

Winamac 6 8 10 2 – 26