By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
The 2013-’14 season has begun on a high note for the Whippets after a 53-46 victory over the McFarland Spartans in the team’s first game last Friday night. Whitewater won every quarter, though the contest was close throughout.
Senior Brett Harms, last season’s scoring leader with 10.3 points per game, had 8 points, including two from the three-point range. Needing more of a collective effort when it comes to scoring points, the Whippets found it at the forward position: Scott Gorsuch, Joe Michaels and Anthony Juoni each had 10 points to pace the team. Juoni came off the bench to continue putting pressure on the Spartans second unit. Junior Josh Nast chipped in with 7 points.
Whitewater head coach Dan Gnatzig said that the even distribution can only help the team going forward.
“The nice thing is that we had three in double figures and then two guys combined for 15 points, so it doesn’t look like the scoring is going to fall on any one individual,” Gnatzig said.
In the preseason, there was some worry that too much of the scoring burden would have to fall on Harms, who is the only prime scorer left from last season’s team. Some of those fears seem to be alleviated, if only for the short term, due to the even distribution that took place the first game.
“I think that taking the scoring pressure off of Harms is going to help in the long run,” Gnatzig explained. “If teams try to take him out and use their best defender on him, it’ll open up some of our other players.”
In looking at this start for the Whitewater boys, things couldn’t have started more differently for the team than last year. In 2012, the Whippets lost some players due to injury and did not net a win until six weeks had passed. This season they are controlling the tempo and hoping that their dynamic guard can mesh with and distribute the ball to a strong frontcourt attack. Of the teams top five scorers four of them were forwards, putting up 37 points. Whitewater averaged 43.6 points total last season.
Whitewater was up three after the first period and four at halftime, and the seven point victory stands in stark contrast to how McFarland dominated the Whippets last season, winning 66-48 and 60-42 while sweeping the series’ two games last year.
The Spartans finished the season last year at 12-4 in conference. This victory, no matter how tight, shows a great deal of progress for Whitewater in a short amount of time.
Gnatzig knows, however, that the season is still very young and teams are still trying to figure things out. Speaking to his own squads play, he said there is still plenty to learn.
“We are going to try to continue to get better, watch some film. it was great to win but we missed a lot of open shots and we were out of position sometimes on defense, so we are looking to improve still,” Gnatzig said.
Whitewater’s second game of the season against Monona Grove, which was slated to be played Nov. 26, has been postponed to Jan. 18.
Tough loss to Elkhorn
Whitewater lost to Elkhorn 47-32 last season as the Whippets continually looked for answers during a difficult season. With one win behind them already, the Whippets entered into their second game of this season looking to make a statement. Unfortunately, the team suffered a three-point loss due to a disastrous third quarter in which the team did not make a single field goal.
All told, the game could easily be summed up by a single stat: Whitewater made only 48 percent of its free throws (18 for 37). When asked about the third quarter, Gnatzig said the timing of the game changed.
“We got into the bonus with just over five minutes left in the quarter, and we got to the line a bit but didn’t make our shots. We also turned to a zone defense which really slowed the game down,” he said.
The 8-point swing for Elkhorn proved to be too much, as a late rally by the Whippets came up short. Scorr Gorsuch paced the team with 10 points, the only Whitewater player to make it to double figures. The taented backcourt of Brett Harms and Josh Nast has not yet hit its stride this season. Harms scored eight points including two three pointers while Nast only had a single point.
When asked about a player who often gets overlooked, Gnatzig pointed to his bench. “Caleb (Hintz) can be a sparkplug. He only had a few points but he plays solid defense. The energy level goes up when he’s in the game.”
