Whiteland’s girls basketball senior night wasn’t complete until all six of the Warriors’ 12th-grade players entered the scoring column.
It’s why Madelyn Napier’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:16 remaining in the game produced Thursday night’s loudest cheer.
Whiteland’s 66-31 victory over visiting Shelbyville included 52 points by the seniors. Guard Megan Harlow led the way with 17, while forward Taylor Mirowski added 10.
The win improved the Warriors to 14-7 with Saturday morning’s Mid-State Conference showdown with Franklin next on the schedule. Whiteland enters the contest with plenty of momentum after extending its win streak against the Golden Bears to five games.
All five Warrior starters were seniors, with guard Libby Baker coming off the bench. Most importantly, all six scored.
“It was pretty important,” Harlow said. “If we all score and one doesn’t, it’s kind of a bummer. It was important for all of us to be able to share that moment with each other. Being senior night, I got jittery. My first free throw, my hands were shaking. You’re just so excited.”
Another starting forward, Taylor Klenner, finished with nine points for the Warriors, while Baker had eight. Harlow and junior center Toni Joyner led all rebounders with six apiece, with Klenner adding five.
Shelbyville’s lone leads were early — 3-2 and 7-6.
The Warriors led 12-11 late in the opening quarter when Baker’s three-point sequence after a drive down the late started a 16-0 scoring run that put Whiteland in control.
Nine of the points were by Joyner, who came off the bench to make the first bucket of the second stanza on a layup off a nice feed from senior guard Natalie Stuck. Joyner made all five free throw attempts in the quarter to put Whiteland ahead at the half, 32-15.
Coach Kyle Shipp’s squad outscored the Golden Bears in the third, 20-3, and led by as many as 37 points at 57-20 early in the fourth quarter.
“That’s kudos to the girls being ready to play. Shifting your lineup a little bit to get seniors in rotation and those types of things,” Shipp said. “They were ready to play, and that’s what this group has done time and time again.
“We host sectional, so it’s not necessarily going to be their last home game. And we play Franklin on Saturday. Tonight we really wanted to try to do a senior celebration during the week instead of a Saturday morning.”
Senior forward Olivia Knarr led Shelbyville with 12 points. The Golden Bears shot 11 of 38 from the floor (28.9 percent) and committed 16 turnovers.
