Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st, 2011
Midwest Girls High School Championships

Last weekend, Warsaw attended the Midwest Girls High School Championships for the first time since 2005. The Warsaw girls team competed in the festival bracket of the championship competing against 16 other teams from all over the Midwest. Warsaw played three teams over the two days.

Warsaw 5 - DHSA B team 5 DHSA won a penalty kick off in extra time 3 penalties to 1

They started their campaign against a very good opponent Divine Holy Savoir Angels from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"The DHSA A team has won multiple national titles and is currently ranked number 1 in the country", said coach Trevor Cracknell. "Their B team would give most of Indiana's teams a tough game."

DSHA scored one try midway through the first half. However, Warsaw fought back strongly making many telling tackles and running hard with the ball in hand. At the half, DHSA held a 5 point lead, which was soon leveled just minutes into the second half by Brooke Netherland (Junior) as a result of a hard charging tackle breaking run.

Both teams had chances to score with Warsaw forcing DHSA players out of play in the try zone on two occasions to prevent them from scoring. The game ended in a draw with DHSA winning in a tie-breaking penalty kick off.

"The girls played as a team for the first time making many hard tackles, hitting rucks and running hard when in position of the ball", said coach Cracknell. "It was a hard way to lose. However, the girls feel we were the winners by the way they played and I agree."

Warsaw 25 - Berkley Nil

Warsaw then took on Berkley A Team from the north side of Detroit, Michigan. Warsaw continued where they had left off earlier in the day and started making hard tackles and running hard at the Berkley defense. Brooke Netherland (Junior) scored early in the first half followed later in the half by a Try by Liz Marroquin (Freshman).

The second half was the same as the first with Warsaw in the ascendancy with Brooke Netherland adding two more tries to her weekend tally before Sidney Hernandez (8th Grade Lakeview) added to her season total late in the second half.

"We out played Berkley from the first whistle to the last", said Coach Trevor Cracknell. "The Berkley team really were never allowed to get in the game. Rugby is all about going forward both in defense and attack. If you can keep going forward your going to win. Again it was a team effort that the girls should be very proud of."

Warsaw 30 - Kettle Moraine B team 10

Sunday was an early wet start for the Warsaw team against Kettle Moraine's B team. Kettle Moraine is also a very good team from Wisconsin and their B team challenged Warsaw. This definitely showed at the start of the game in the wet conditions.

Warsaw took the lead with a try from Brooke Netherland followed by tries from Shelby Creekmore (Freshman) and Allyson Walls (Freshman). Kettle Moraine also scored a try making the half time score 15 to 5. Warsaw started the second half strong with two quick tries from Brooke Netherland followed later in the half by a try from Katy Cobb (Junior). Kettle Moraine scored late in the half after a long period of pressure bringing the game to a close.

"Again we out-played Kettle Moraine for most of the game", said coach Cracknell. "The wet conditions made handling the ball dificult but once we came to grips with the elements we again worked hard as a team to beat a good opponent."

"Brooke Netherland who score six tries over the weekend would be most peoples' choice as the weekend's MVP and in many ways she deserves that accolade", said the coach. "However, I would like to mention two young ladies who really, for me, were examples of what this young team achieved over the weekend. Tori Drubert and Beatriz Morales, both freshman, were outstanding. They both made tackles that stopped the other teams from scoring at critical times. They stepped up this weekend fighting hard at the tackle breakdown to retain or gain possession of the ball. They may not have contributed directly to the score line but were shining examples of how this team worked together to beat good opposition and how it is maturing."

Warsaw's next game is away to Brownsburg on Sunday May 8th.

Posted In: Girl's Sports > Rugby