SYRACUSE — The IHSAA Class 3-A Sectional 21 field at NorthWood has been one of the state’s most entertaining tournaments during the past few seasons. Wawasee has provided part of that entertainment in each of the last two seasons.

In 2014, the Warriors nearly pulled a miraculous upset over Tippecanoe Valley in the opening round. That performance catapulted the team into a winning season and sectional championship game appearance in 2015.
With an entirely new cast running the floor for Steve Wiktorowski’s program this season, the Warriors have gone through a lot of growing pains. But Wawasee has been able to find its stride recently and is developing more a consistent rotation among its players.

The sudden rise of Tyler Smith has entirely changed the complexity of the team. Smith has taken on a leadership role during the past month and gives Wawasee a consistent scoring threat, especially inside. The junior has a “give me the ball” mentality and brings energy to a young group. Smith’s play coupled with the continued development of sophomore Trevon Coleman provides the Warriors with two cornerstones on an offensive unit that struggled near the beginning of the season.

“Tyler has set a tremendous example of how to compete in practice and games,” said Wawasee head coach Steve Wiktorowski. “Having missed of all of last season, our players have great respect for how far he (Tyler) has come and the tremendous no quit effort he displays on the floor every night.

“I think his efforts and improvement have really impacted players like Jairus Boyer, Cam Schlabach, Jayce Boatwright and others to raise their level of play recently.”

With so many unknowns coming into the season Wiktorowski was forced to play more than a handful of different players and a countless amount of lineups. The upside to that is now Wawasee has a bench that goes nine players deep.

Seniors Chase Rookstool, Boatwright, Stephon Miller and Parker Hatfield are all reliable and have done their part in ushering in next year’s big names. In addition to Smith and Coleman, Wawasee’s underclassmen standouts include Dalton Pearish, Cayden Wegener and Boyer.

Wawasee suffered losses to potential sectional opponents NorthWood (71-43), Fairfield (61-48), Lakeland (63-49) and Tippecanoe Valley (53-35), while picking up a win over West Noble (53-43).

“I think it plays a very large role in how our players, especially the younger ones, view their ability to compete against these players a second time,” Wiktorowski said of playing the sectional field in the regular season. “They now have a much better understanding of varsity competition and the huge difference between it and JV.

“So, I think they now know for themselves that they can actually compete with these teams instead of being talked into believing it by their coaches.”

The Warriors biggest issue, in all of those games, was offensive production. Smith, Coleman and Wegener have added some more confidence to this team offensively and that could help turn the tide in rematches with any of those teams.

“There seems to be more of a natural sense of confidence as they experience longer stretches of success, especially on offense,” remarked Wiktorowski. “They are doing so much better at maintaining their poise during difficult stretches and not allowing it to snowball and completely take them out of contention the rest of the game.”

Wawasee entered the season with a lot of question marks and little confidence, but the Warriors now stand firm with some answers as to what they’re capable of and are ready to prove everyone else wrong.

Wawasee (2-20) will meet county rival Valley once again in the postseason. The Vikings and Warriors have met in the sectional each of the past three seasons with Valley holding a 2-1 advantage in those games. The game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip.