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WARSAW – Warsaw’s dream season fell a game short of the Class 4A state championship game after a 47-44 loss to Fort Wayne South in the girls basketball semistate Saturday.
Warsaw led, 17-12, after one quarter and 29-22 at halftime before South (24-3) went on a 14-7 spurt in the third quarter to pull even, 36-36, after three.
In that third quarter, South forced 10 Warsaw turnovers.
The score seesawed in the final minutes. South took the lead for good (43-42) on a DeJoyah Johnson basket with 2:30 left before Lakyn Gulley hit two free throws with 15.1 seconds remaining for a 45-42 advantage.
Warsaw got its final points on two Nicki Grose free throws with 4.1 seconds left. The Lady Tigers fouled immediately, and Gulley hit a pair of free throws to close the scoring.
Johnson led the winners with 11 points, and Arianna Simmons added 10.
Fort Wayne South won despite shooting only 16-of-51 (31%) from the floor in the game.
Grose led Warsaw with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Jennifer Walker-Crawford added 18 points for the Tigers, who finished their season at 24-2.
Fort Wayne South will meet unbeaten Bedford North Lawrence (27-0) for the state championship next Saturday in Terre Haute.