Warriors Fall Short Against Cass

With the season beginning to wined down, the Winamac Warriors played host to Lewis Cass in boys basketball action on Thursday night. It would be a homecoming of sorts for Cass coach Kyle Johnson as well as his son Tyson, who both put many years into the program at Winamac, prior to Coach Johnson becoming the Head Coach for the Kings.

As anticipated, things got off to an intense start, with both teams locked in on the defensive end of the floor. Winamac’s leading scorer, Will Larkin, would put together another big scoring night, as he has throughout the season, attacking the basket off the dribble, as well as knocking down jumpers from the outside. Larkin would be guarded most of the night by former teammate Tyson Johnson, who transferred to Cass along with his dad. By the end of the second quarter, Larkin would have 15 of his game-high 32 points, to help lead the Warriors to a 3-point lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

The second half would see much of the same results as the first, with Larkin carrying the scoring load for the Warriors, but Cass forward Austin Holt would come alive in the scoring column. The 6’2 Senior would end up scoring 14 of his team-high 20 points in the second half to help the Kings take the lead, as well as keep it. The scoring explosion for Winamac’s Will Larkin would continue, as he relentlessly attacked the basket, knocked down jumpers, and hit at the free-throw line. Once again, the Senior guard would account for the bulk of the scoring in the half, putting up 17 points in the final two quarters. Larkin would also be a force on the defensive end of the floor as he had a game-high 3 steals in the effort.

In the end, it would be the balanced scoring attack of Lewis Cass that would be the biggest difference in the ballgame, and ultimately lead to their 62-51 win over Winamac. The duo of Keegan Lytle and Easton Good would put up 20 and 17 points, respectively, for Cass, while Larkin would be the only Winamac player to reach double-digits.

“I’ve got to give credit to all the guys for their effort” Winamac Head Coach Alan Huggler said following the game. “We talked about being physical and I think we matched the physicality of the game, especially early. Of course Will Larkin had 32” Huggler continued. “That was a credit to his teammates, getting him open and getting him the ball. Carson Bennett had 5 points tonight. In practice his shot is getting better. We’ve got to look for him to have more shots. Patrick Kiefer is another young man, he had a three early, and I wish we could have got another one for him. He got some rebounds, Russell Compton got some big rebounds, it was a good game”.

The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game would go to Austin Holt of Lewis Cass, who had 20 points to go along with 7 rebounds and a steal in helping lead his team to their 10th win of the year.

Winamac will be back in action on February 11th, when they travel to Logansport.

Game Statistics

Scoring

Lewis Cass(62): Gabe Eurit-8, Easton Good-17, Austin Holt-20, Isaac Chambers-4, Garrett McLeland-1, Tyson Johnson-5, Tyson Good-7

Winamac(51): Will Larkin-32, Trent Fox-2, Carson Bennett-5, Patrick Kiefer-3, Russell Compton-5, Shayden May-4

3-Point Shots Made

Cass(3): Gabe Eurit-1, Tyson Johnson-1, Tyson Good-1

Winamac(2): Will Larkin-1, Patrick Kiefer-1

Free Throws

Cass: 15-17 88%

Winamac: 17-24. 70%

Rebounding