Wheeling overpowers Warren to take crown

Bianca Szafarowicz has been watching teammates unfurl congratulatory signs for fellow Wheeling basketball players since her freshman year on varsity.

Saturday night at Warren, the senior guard finally had her own banner day, so to speak.

She surpassed 1,000 career points in Wheeling's 53-26 win over Warren, snapping the Blue Devils' five-game winning streak and helping the Wildcats capture the championship of the Blue Devil Classic for the third year in a row.

Following the game, Szafarowicz's teammates presented to her a decorated sign. She had that to tote along with a trophy for being named to the all-tournament team along with fellow Wildcats Janelle Cannon and Stephanie Kuzmanic.

"I accomplished my goal," Szafarowicz said. "I wanted to get a thousand points by my senior year."

Signs, truth be told, are a good sign for Wheeling.

"As many kids as you can get in that club is nice ," coach Shelly Wiegel said, "because it's gone with a lot of wins, too."

Szafarowicz entered the game with 995 points. She drained a 3-pointer in the first quarter, as Wheeling (14-2, 5-0 in the tournament) scored the first 11 points. Szafarowicz recorded her milestone point early in the second quarter on a layup.

"We wanted to make sure we played a good game and came out with a win so it didn't get overshadowed," Wiegel said. "She's worked hard all four years. It's nice that she met that milestone and that it came in a tournament win."

Cannon, who went over 1,000 career points earlier this season, gave Warren all kinds of fits. The University of Minnesota-bound point guard rang up 23 points, 9 steals, 6 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Cannon's acrobatic scoop put the Wildcats up 18-2 after one quarter. Four Wheeling starters sank at least one shot in the opening eight minutes.

"I didn't know we played that well," Szafarowicz said. "I knew we were on fire, but we were all just playing."

Kellie Kuzmanic got Wheeling rolling by sinking a 3-pointer and then a long two.

"The key to our fast start really was Kellie Kuzmanic because (opponents) key on Janelle, Steph (Kuzmanic) and Bianca," Wiegel said. "Kellie came out and had 5 quick points, and I felt that kind of made (Warren) take a step back. That's the best we've started - and against a very good Warren team."

Kellie Kuzmanic and Szafarowicz finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Szafarowicz also had 7 rebounds and 6 steals.

"I love Bianca as a teammate," Kellie Kuzmanic said. "She's always motivated. She always wants to play hard, and she always hustles out there."

Warren (7-9, 4-1) shot 1 of 11 from the floor in the first quarter with 6 turnovers.

All-tournament picks Alexis Leneau and Jessica Prince each had 6 points, with Prince also grabbing 8 rebounds.

"We just weren't mentally ready to play," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "I got the sense when I walked into our pregame (meeting) that we were a little different. I don't know if the kids didn't believe they could win or if it was their nervousness about playing in a championship game for the first time against another high-quality opponent."