GOSHEN — A first-period shutout made it easy Tuesday night for Goshen’s Lady Redskins in the opening round of a Class 4A basketball sectional at McCuen Gym on the Concord High School campus.

Goshen’s relentless pressure defense led to a 20-0 score after eight minutes and the Redskins rocketed to a 63-36 victory over the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers who had won a regular-season clash between the two.

Twelve GHS girls saw action with nine scoring. Deja Felder, 5-5 junior, was the top statistical performer with 15 points, seven assists and five steals.

In the tournament opener, Warsaw held off upset-minded Elkhart Memorial 49-37.

Semifinals are Friday with 20-1 Warsaw meeting 6-17 Concord in the opener at 6 p.m., followed by 14-7 Goshen and 18-4 Northridge at about 7:45. The title contest is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday.

“I was happy with our intensity,” said Redskin coach Lenny Krebs. “That’s what was lacking the first time we played Central. We came out ready to play and stopped Central’s players who hurt us in the other game.”

Back-to-back 3-pointers by senior Aimee Swihart and one by Felder helped trigger Goshen’s amazing start. The Blazers were scoreless until junior Ally Delks hit a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the second quarter.

The Redskins led 33-7 at halftime and 53-18 after three periods. Central enjoyed an 18-10 scoring edge in the fourth quarter when Krebs emptied his bench.

“I was especially pleased with our defense in the first half,” said Krebs. “We forced a lot of turnovers with Swihart and Felder doing a nice job in our press, along with some players off the bench.”

As might be expected, with such a huge margin early, the contest got a bit sloppy. It featured 58 turnovers, 32 missed free throws and 80 rebounds.

Krebs wasn’t happy with all the turnovers, nor with a 48-32 Central rebound advantage which included 22 on the offensive boards.

“We have to fix our blocking out problem, especially before playing Northridge on Friday,” said Krebs. “Northridge has had our number recently. They are nice ball club which is well-coached. They are difficult to defend and play great defense. But, our kids are happy to have the opportunity.”

Swihart added 12 points and freshman Olivia Love 10 for Goshen. Sophomore Kayci Troyer was the leading rebounder with six and Love grabbed five. Swihart had two assists and three steals and junior Christina Gipson five steals.

Central, bowing out at 2-20, got 10 points from senior Tia Garnett and 10 rebounds from senior Tiara Bonds.

Warsaw gained its winning margin in the opener with a 17-7 scoring edge in the third quarter. Senior Jennifer Walker Crawford led the Tigers with 18 points while junior Khadijah Moore netted 15 for Memorial which finishes 13-8.



Goshen 63, Central 36

GOSHEN — Deja Felder 5-13 4-5 15, Aimee Swihart 4-8 2-3 12, Olivia Love 3-3 4-8 10, Christina Gipson 1-4 2-4 4, Kayci Troyer 4-5 0-0 8, Leslie Vanlandingham 1-1 0-0 2, Yadira Cabrales 3-9 0-0 6, Desiray Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Jessica Destefano 0-1 1-4 1, Alyssa Hershberger 1-1 3-5 5, Brianna Yoder 0-2 0-2 0, Macie Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49 16-31 63

CENTRAL — Ally Delks 1-1 0-0 3, Datriona Bonds 2-5 2-6 6, Khyana Sanders 0-8 4-6 4, Tia Garnett 4-13 0-2 10, Kelly Ronan 2-3 0-0 4, Tiara Bonds 1-7 0-4 2, Latoria House 0-5 3-6 3, Jenai White 0-1 1-2 1, Amanda Dibley 1-3 1-2 3, Katie Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Gabi Yoder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-46 11-28 36

Goshen    20    13    20    10 — 63

Central    0    7    11    18 — 36

3-point shooting: Goshen 3-8 (Swihart 2-2, Felder 1-2, Cabrales 0-3, B. Yoder 0-1), Central 3-12 (Garnett 2-7, Delks 1-1, D. Bonds 0-2, T. Bonds 0-2)

Rebounds: Central 48 (T. Bonds 10, House 9), Goshen 32 (Troyer 6, Love 5, Vanlandingham 4)

Assists: (Goshen) Felder 7, Swihart 2.

Steals: (Goshen) Gipson 5, Felder 5, Swihart 3.

Fouls (fouled out): Central 25 (Delks, D. Bonds, Garnett), Goshen 22

Turnovers: Central 37, Goshen 21

Officials: Tom Hinz, John Wright, Russ Melcher.



Warsaw 49, Memorial 37

WARSAW — Melanie Holladay 0-3 0-0 0, Eryn Leek 1-2 0-0 2, Jennifer Walker Crawford 5-10 8-11 18, Lindsay Baker 2-5 4-6 10, Nikki Grose 5-10 1-3 11, Sarah Ray 0-1 0-0 0, Brooklyn Harrison 3-6 0-0 8, Pam Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-37 13-20 49

MEMORIAL — Paige Newvine 2-5 0-0 5, Victoria Kyle 1-6 1-2 3, Monica Jones 3-10 0-0 6, Alyssa Wagner 2-4 2-2 6, Khadijah Moore 5-6 4-4 15, Jenai Peoples 0-2 0-0 0, Mechayla Thompson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 14-34 7-8 37

Warsaw    8    10    17    14 — 49

Memorial    8    8    7    14 — 37

3-point shooting: Warsaw 4-11 (Harrison 2-3, Baker 2-5, Holladay 0-1, Leek 0-1, Crawford 0-1), Memorial 2-7 (Moore 1-1, Newvine 1-1, Kyle 0-1, Peoples 0-1, Jones 0-3)

Rebounds: Warsaw 23 (Grose 10), Memorial 22 (Moore 11)

Fouls: Memorial 19, Warsaw 10

Turnovers: Memorial 11, Warsaw 6

Officials: John Walczewski, Bruce Wirick, Scott DeCocker Geist.