Whiteland now 2-0 after win against Falcons

INDIANAPOLIS

Whiteland’s boys basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak to Perry Meridian with Tuesday night’s 59-55 victory against the Falcons.

Led by 6-foot-7 senior Mike Valle’ and his team-high totals in points (19) and rebounds (seven), the Warriors improved to 2-0 in time for Friday night’s home game against Plainfield.

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Leading by 10 points at the half, the Warriors watched as Perry Meridian surged back to briefly take a 46-44 lead with 5:59 remaining in the fourth quarter on a bucket by 6-5 senior forward Nate Mills.

Whiteland responded with a 7-0 run of its own on sophomore Carter Crowe’s old-fashioned 3-point sequence, Jacob Leistner scoring in close off a Valle’ feed and Valle’ tipping in his own miss.

Coach Matt Wadsworth’s squad then used free throws down the stretch to keep the Falcons at a safe distance.

In the final 30.7 seconds, junior guard Riley Higdon delivered a pair of charities; sophomore guard Noah Hale went 4 for 6 down the stretch from the stripe.

“I’m really proud of the way we started,” said Wadsworth, alluding to Whiteland’s 36-26 halftime advantage. “We came out and went right at them.

“Sometimes a zone defense tends to freeze teams, and we were aggressive from the beginning cutting into gaps and picking our shots instead of settling. And then crashing the boards.”

Perry Meridian (1-2) held its last lead of the opening half at 18-16 on Mills’ 3-point play down low at the 7:17 mark of the second stanza.

Whiteland had gone back in front, 22-21, when the Warriors scored six straight on baskets from, in order, Leistner, sophomore sixth man Brennan Neal and Valle’.

Neal would finish with 14 points, followed by senior forward Aaron Gross with 11. Leistner and Gross crashed the glass for six and five boards, respectively.

Perry Meridian opened the third quarter with an 8-0 scoring flurry to pull within two and keep things interesting the rest of the way.

“Their defensive intensity picked up, and there were times we had three sophomores on court. And it looked like we had three sophomores on the court,” Wadsworth said.

“To our team’s credit, we overcame foul trouble tonight. We overcame some turnovers. We overcame trailing late in the game. I think it’s a great way to keep building on Game 1.”

Sophomore guard Semaj Danley II topped all Falcons scorers with 16. Mills chipped in 15 and led in rebounds with seven.