The Whiteland girls basketball team had been waiting for a moment like this.
Following a run of tight losses against high-quality opposition, the Warriors finally got a big win Tuesday night when Jessyca Napier’s late 3-pointer lifted them to a 46-45 triumph against No. 20 Roncalli.
"It means everything to us," Napier said of the win. "We’ve been struggling, and this helps us get through."
Whiteland (3-4) trailed 45-41 before Sidney Crowe hit a jumper with 55 seconds remaining to cut the deficit in half. Roncalli, which finished the night just 6 of 15 from the foul line, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 32.8 seconds on the clock, setting the Warriors up with a chance to win.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryNapier didn’t waste the opportunity, connecting on her third 3 of the second half with 15 seconds to go.
"I still can’t tell you what just happened," Napier said of her game winner.
The Rebels (5-2) took the lead at 42-41 when Paige Saylor, who finished with a game-high 19 points, hit a pair of foul shots at the 3:40 mark. A Lauren Fey basket with 1:35 left stretched the Roncalli lead to four, but Whiteland was unfazed.
"I think those tight losses prepared us," Warriors coach Kyle Shipp said, "and I saw a little bit more calmness down the stretch from our girls. Not reacting on a make; just knowing what to do in a key situation."
Roncalli, missing two injured frontcourt players in Katelyn McClary and Sophie Daniel, was worried about containing Whiteland center Mackenzie Blazek heading into the game, but Blazek was the least of the Rebels’ concerns early on. The 6-foot-2 junior picked up her second foul late in the first quarter and had just two points at halftime after sitting out the entire second period.
The Warriors did the bulk of their damage from the outside in the first half, scoring 12 of their 19 points from beyond the arc. Sidney Crowe scored nine of her team-best 15 points before the break for Whiteland.
Blazek was able to get on track after halftime, finishing with 13 points for the Warriors.
"This whole season’s going to kind of be like that," Shipp said. "We play really good teams, and it’s just going to come down to a play or two at the end.
"It’s fun for fans, but not much fun for coaches."
