For the first time this season Waldron could not come up with the winning formula.
In the championship game of the American Family Insurance Holiday Tournament at Waldron, Tri-West staved off previously-unbeaten and top-ranked Waldron, 46-41.
Kenna Kirby steadied the Bruins midway through the first quarter Tuesday night when the Mohawks raced out to an 11-2 lead and then finished off Class A’s No. 1 team with a strong fourth-quarter performance to earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
Kirby, a Marian University commit, finished with 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Adrie Thompson matched her with 16 points and added six rebounds and three blocked shots to push the Bruins’ record to 10-5 this season.
The loss dropped the Mohawks to 13-1 and will cost them their No. 1 ranking.
“We either win or we learn and we learned a lot there,” said Waldron head coach Anthony Thomas. “We had our chances there, some 50-50 balls we didn’t get on, Bella (Larrison) was in foul trouble most of the first half, and we lost (Kirby) in a couple of rotations and she hit a couple of 3s early which she was not supposed to do, so you start breaking it down, those little things against a good team means you are going to get beat.”
Larrison scored five points early in the first quarter and Megan Bogemann hit a 3-pointer to get Waldron up 11-2. But Larrison’s second foul before the mid-point of the first quarter sent her to the bench until late in the second quarter.
Kenna Kirby was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Kirby splashed her first of two first-quarter 3s with 3:24 left to cut the lead to 11-5 and her second 3 from the top of the key made it 11-10.
Waldron scored the final four points of the first quarter to hold on to a 15-10 lead and used a 6-2 run over the final 2:39 of the second quarter to take a 21-17 lead into halftime.
The Mohawks were in trouble, though.
Tri-West focused on tracking Bogemann around the 3-point arc and the sharpshooter took just one first-half three-point shot. She entered the tournament averaging seven attempts per game.
Fighting an illness, Nichole Garner was held scoreless in the first half and took just four shots.
Then Larrison quickly collected her third and fourth fouls midway through the third quarter.
The Bruins (10-5) turned a 25-19 deficit into a 29-25 lead with a 10-0 run sparked by Kirby.
Waldron never recovered.
“We just didn’t make enough plays when we needed to but I felt like opportunities were there,” said Thomas. “I think this (loss) will help us out tremendously.”
Tri-West led 31-28 after three quarters and extended it to 34-28 with a Thompson 3 from the corner to start the fourth.
Larrison hit a pair of free throws with 5:38 left to cut the lead to 35-34 before Kirby took over.
The senior guard, who tore her ACL in May, scored in the lane to push the lead back to three, spun into the lane and scored again with 1:29 left for a 4-point lead and hit two free throws 28 seconds later to make it 42-36.
Larrison led Waldron with 11 points and four assists.
Bogemann finished with eight points – five coming in the game’s final 26 seconds. She attempted an uncharacteristic three 3-pointers in the loss.
Garner only attempted one shot in the final three quarters and finished scoreless.
The All-Tournament Team included (from left): Tri-West's Becca VanSlyke and Adrie Thompson, Waldron's Megan Bogemann and Mackenzie Shaw, and Tri-West's Kenna Kirby and Isabelle Saylor.
Thomas had discussed in recent weeks the burden of being unbeaten past the midway point of the regular season and carrying the state’s No. 1 ranking. A loss, he pondered, would not necessarily hurt the Mohawks.
Ironically, Tri-West, a 2021 Class 3A semistate qualifier, was not in the original field for the tournament. Union County bowed out in the days leading up to the tournament and Tri-West stepped in to face Blackford in the semifinals.
“I think there are a lot of positives that will come out of this loss,” said Thomas. “I’m sure the pollsters will penalize us a little bit and we will drop and that’s fine. We don’t have to carry the No. 1 burden anymore. We don’t have to carry the undefeated burden anymore. Even though the kids are very humble and level-headed, they know it’s there.”
Notes: Garner entered the game averaging 11.5 ppg … Hadlie Ross finished the championship game with nine points, 10 rebounds and two assists. … Bogemann and Mackenzie Shaw were Waldron’s selections to the All-Tournament Team along with Tri-West’s Isabelle Saylor, Adrie Thompson and Becca VanSlyke … Tri-West entered the tournament 8-5 with three of its losses to state-ranked teams in Westfield (4A No. 8), Noblesville (4A No. 3) and Lafayette Central Catholic (A No. 3) … Waldron hosts Oldenburg Academy (3-8) Thursday.
Tri-West 46, Waldron 41
TW: Saylor 3-9 1-2 8, Thompson 5-6 4-5 16, VanSlyke 1-4 0-2 2, Cotteleer 1-5 0-0 2, Kirby 6-15 2-3 16, Canada 0-1 2-3 2, Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-41 9-15 46.
WA: Had. Ross 4-8 1-2 9, Shaw 1-6 2-2 5, Bogemann 3-5 0-0 8, Garner 0-4 0-0 0, B. Larrison 4-10 3-6 11, J. Larrison 3-5 0-0 6, Fewell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-40 6-10 41.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
TW (10-5) 10 7 14 15 -- 46
WA (13-1) 15 6 7 13 -- 41
3-point field goals: TW 5-16 (Saylor 1-3, Thompson 2-3, Cotteleer 0-1, Kirby 2-8), WA 3-10 (Shaw 1-2, Bogemann 2-3, Garner 0-2, B. Larrison 0-3). Rebounds: TW 22 (Saylor 3, Thompson 6, VanSlyke 8, Cotteleer 1, Kirby 3, Sullivan 1), WA 25 (Had. Ross 10, Shaw 6, Bogemann 2, B. Larrison 1, J. Larrison 5, Fewell 1). Assists: TW 10 (Saylor 2, VanSlyke 4, Kirby 3, Canada 1), WA 12 (Had. Ross 2, Shaw 1, Bogemann 1, Garner 3, B. Larrison 4, Fewell 1). Steals: TW 7 (VanSlyke 1, Cotteleer 2, Kirby 4), WA 5 (Shaw 1, Garner 2, B. Larrison 1, Fewell 1). Blocks: TW 4 (Thompson 3, VanSlyke 1), WA 1 (Bogemann 1). Total fouls: TW 12, WA 11. Turnovers: TW 12, WA 15.
