Whiteland girls, boys basketball defeated at Mooresville

MOORESVILLE

Win or lose, the Whiteland girls team was guaranteed a top-three finish in the final conference standings for the first time in four years.

A share of the Mid-State title would have been preferred. Mooresville, however, had plans of its own, which was to run the table against league opponents. The host Pioneers accomplished that Friday night with a 56-41 victory over the Warriors.

The game was the first half of a girls/boys doubleheader that concluded with Mooresville taking the boys contest, 58-53.

Despite the loss, starting guard Emma Piercy, the lone senior in the Warriors’ starting lineup and one of only two on the team, liked the fact her team was in the thick of the conference race.

Now 12-10 overall, Whiteland finished 5-2 against Mid-State opposition.

“It was really nice to see my team improve from the beginning of the year and past seasons,” Piercy said. “To become more consistent. These girls, they have a bright future in front of them.

“I would say our offense really improved the most since last season. We move the ball more, and we now have true bigs to feed.”

Whiteland was ahead, 18-15, after Piercy made a layup with 3:16 remaining in the second quarter.

The Pioneers responded with an 11-0 scoring run to surge ahead and take a 26-20 lead at halftime. Mooresville then gradually pulled away over the third quarter.

“We’re working on being more mentally tough, and I thought we played them pretty well in the first half for the most part,” Warriors coach Kellie Kirkhoff said. “Once they went on their 11-0 run, we kind of shut down a little bit.

“We lost all the confidence we had been building with the success that we had in the first half, and it definitely got the best of us.”

The Warriors made only 13 of 45 field goal attempts (28.9%) and turned the basketball over 25 times.

Sophomore guard Addison Emberton led Whiteland with 14 points, a total that included 9 of 13 shooting from the free throw line. Piercy added 10 points and freshman center Carly VonDielingen had eight along with two blocks and a game-high 12 rebounds.

In the boys game, Whiteland, down by 15 points at halftime, put together a furious second-half rally to nearly pick up its first conference win of the season.

The Warriors had it down to a two-point spread on three occasions in the final quarter. They had a good look at a tie, trailing 56-53, when Wiatt McLaughlin’s 3-point try from the top of the key was strong off the back of the rim.

It was McLaughlin, a junior, leading the way for Whiteland (6-12, 0-5), hustling and second-efforting his way to 20 points, nine rebounds and even a two-handed slam dunk early in the third on which he was assessed a technical foul.

Senior Austin Willoughby added 11 points, while junior guard Jazz Banwait had nine. Senior forward Brayden Roy scored four points, but hit double figures in boards with 11.

The Warrior boys labored mightily from the free throw line, connecting on only four of their 15 opportunities.

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Mike Beas
Mike Beas is the Daily Journal's veteran sports reporter. He has been to more than 200 Indiana high schools, including 1990s visits to Zionsville to profile current Boston Celtics GM Brad Stevens, Gary Roosevelt to play eventual Purdue All-American Glenn Robinson in HORSE (didn’t end well) and Seeger to visit the old gym in which Stephanie White, later the coach of the Indiana Fever, honed her skills in pickup games involving her dad and his friends. He can be reached at [email protected].