Waterford’s Brynnlee Pottmeyer handles the ball against Caldwell Friday during Warren’s Clash at the Coliseum. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

VINCENT — With three mainstays graduating in the offseason off a state championship team, Waterford girls basketball coach Jerry Close is remaining patient in the early-going trying to identify roles for the upcoming season.

One girl he doesn’t have to worry about too much is sophomore Brynnlee Pottmeyer, who scored a game-high 13 points and was one of three Wildcats in double figures during Friday’s season-opening win over Caldwell, 40-34, on day one of the Clash of the Coliseum at Warren High School.

“We are dealing with a big learning curve – we got out of here with a win, so that’s the main thing,” Close said. “I told the girls afterwards, we have plenty of things to work on in practice.”

Camy Crock scored four points in the early going and gave Caldwell (1-1) an early 6-5 lead. Waterford buckled down the final three minutes of the first quarter and moved in front 12-6 on the strength of a 3-pointer from Elsie Malec, who finished the game with 10 points.

Caldwell crept to within 21-18 in the final minute of the second quarter. Even though Pottmeyer picked up a second foul and joined Malec on the bench for that last minute of the first half, Wildcat tacked on another 3-pointer just before intermission – this time on Cira Ponchak’s only made field goal of the game.

Waterford’s Colby Roberts makes a move with the ball as Philo’s Grant Rhodes defends during a game Friday at Warren’s Clash at the Coliseum. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Waterford managed just two third-quarter points yet maintained a 26-25 lead. The Redskins took its first lead since early in the first quarter when Mea Hendershot scored two of her nine points to put the Redskins ahead 27-26.

The lead changed hands four times in the first two minutes of the third quarter. A bucket from Ava Hurley, who finished with 11 points, and a Pottmeyer free throw put Waterford in front 31-29.

Hurley came through again in the clutch in the period with another field goal and two made free throws, and combined with Pottmeyer’s downcourt pass to Malec for the easy layup the lead widened to 37-31.

Caldwell made just one shot from the floor in the final five minutes as Waterford secured the win playing their brand of basketball.

“We have a lot of new girls out there on the court for varsity, but getting the win was a good way to start the season,” said Pottmeyer, who was named Player of the Game for Waterford. “As far as roles, it’s definitely different because me and Elsie are used to being mainly guards. We are running a lot more and having to get in the post more. I think everyone is adapting to their new roles.

Waterford’s Ava Hurley attacks the basket during a game against Caldwell Friday at Warren’s Clash at the Coliseum. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“I think a lot of people are doubting us this year because they aren’t expecting a lot from us. But we are able to come out here and start a new name for ourselves.”

The Redskins forced the Wildcats into 18 turnovers.

“We caused a lot of our own problems today,” Close said. “Caldwell put a lot of pressure on us and we didn’t handle it very well. It’s game one of a long season. We have a whole new identity out on that floor other than Elsie and Brynnley.”

Player of the Game honors for Caldwell went to Hendershot. The Redskins’ point guard Breighlee Moracco, who scored 20 points in a season-opening win over Buckeye Trail on Monday. She finished with eight against Waterford.

“We knew this would be a tough game, but we were going to hang in there and compete with them – and we did,” Caldwell first-year coach Heather Saliba said. “There were times that we could have probably pulled away a little bit and got a bit of a lead. We just didn’t have some of our shots fall and that was the biggest difference.

Caldwell’s Kyler Starr, right, handles the ball as Southern’s Jake Wickline defends Friday at Warren’s Clash at the Coliseum. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“We didn’t lose anybody from last year, but it is a whole new program. The style of play is different. It’s a really good group of girls and they will give 100% all the time. We have some lefty goals this year. Some teams may not see us as a threat, but I think the more we play, we will worry some teams.”

Warren 45, Logan 41

The Warren Warriors held off a furious fourth quarter comeback bid by Logan and downed the Lady Chieftains 45-41 in the opening day of the Clash at the Coliseum.

The Warriors led by 16 points heading to the final quarter only to see Logan come off the mat and score 26 points in the final quarter alone to make things more interesting than the Warriors had hoped.

Warren junior Aubrey Pepper fouled out with just 2:20 to play in the game but the Warriors got several key free throws down the stretch from Josie Venham to secure their second win of the season in three decisions.

Leading the way in scoring for the Warriors was freshman Danica Gates with 13 points while Delaney Gates tossed in 11.

Logan had cut the lead to three with just over two minutes to play but three crucial free throws by Venham shoved the lead back out to six and the Warriors were able to hang on for the win.

Pepper had a bit of an off night scoring as she scored just 7 points but she made her presence felt in other ways with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and three block shots.

Logan was led by Ella Hinton with 16 points and Ryann Landis with 12.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Philo 67, Waterford 44

With only a handful of practices together as one unit, the Waterford boys basketball team is working through the transition from a solid run in the postseason in football to the hardwood. You might say, those particular football/basketball players are still finding their sea legs.

On Friday in their season-opener against Philo, the Wildcats fell behind by double-digits in the early stages of the second quarter and never recovered while dropping a 67-44 defeat to the Electrics.

“It wasn’t what we were expecting, but it wasn’t surprising when you only have five or six practices together,” Waterford coach DJ Cunningham said. “Hats off to the football team for the success they had. We’re a little behind the gun, so we have some catching up to do.

“We have a good group of guys who are hungry, so they will come in ready to work hard.”

Trailing 21-9, Waterford made a surge behind a pair of buckets from Finn Pennock which closed the deficit to 21-18.

Philo returned the favor in the final three minutes of the first half and outscored the Wildcats 11-2 and four different players contributed at least one bucket – including RJ Philip, who completed an and-one as part of of his team-high 13 points. Philip was recognized as the Player of the Game for the Electrics.

Philo (1-0) put the game out of reach in the second half by outscoring the Wildcats 17-5 in the final quarter-and-a-half.

Before Philo pulled away, Waterford’s Gavin Hiener did his best to keep the game within reach and finished a game-high 19 points, which earned him Player of the Game honors. Avery Pottmeyer added nine points, while Pennick tossed in another eight points.

“Finn and Gavin are two really good ballplayers – both of them are finding their way,” Cunningham said. “Those are two football guys that just got back and for those two to have the night they had tonight they did a really good job.”

Caldwell 43, Southern 40

Caldwell was caught in an ambush from the opening tip as Southern hit its first four shots of the game and raced out to a 9-0 lead. As hot as Southern started, that’s how quickly their offense went cold for the remainder of the first half as Caldwell managed to pull off a 43-40 win.

“We have a lot of guys who are first-time varsity players this year,” Caldwell coach Clint Crane said. “Southern is probably one of the two best teams on our schedule – they are really good. So we were treating this as if we were going to have to figure out some of this on our own. I didn’t want to bail them out.

“After those first five minutes, they did a pretty good job of that. They buckled down, played harder, took care of the ball and got themselves back in the game.”

Caldwell (1-0) limited Southern (0-1) to two free throws in the second quarter and climbed back to within 21-17 by intermission. Southern’s downfall – 4-of-27 shooting (15%) to close out the final 14 minutes of the first half.

Trailing 37-32 with 4 ½ minutes left in regulation, Caldwell still had a few issues to tackle. The high-low game started to work in the Redskins favor as point guard Dylan Schott knocked down a 3-pointer and post player Dalton Egnot added a pair of buckets as part of a 7-0 run.

As he did all night, Reed Brinegar caused a few more headaches with a layup then later free throw as part of his game-high 24 points.

With 18 left on the clock, Schott knocked down one of two free throws to put Caldwell in front 42-40. After the Redskins failed to put the game away with two missed free throws, Southern’s Andre Chandler broke down the Redskin defense for what appeared to be an uncontested layup.

The ball never rolled around and off the rim. Caldwell’s Kyler Starr was fouled at 2.2 seconds with yet another chance to ice the win. One fell in, the other did not. Still with a heartbeat, Southern’s inbound on the back-end make was picked off to secure the win after all for Caldwell.

“We’ve played at this event since it began,” Crane said. “(Warren coach Blane Maddox) always matches us up with a good team, so we come down here and get something out of it. It’s just been a great experience.”

Schott, who has played the point until their starting point guard returns from injury in a few weeks, was named Caldwell’s Player of the Game after scoring 19 points.

“Dylan has a lot of experience and just works at the game,” Crane said. “He’s the leader of our younger kids. He lives in the gym. Every single night he drags several players with him into the gym.”

Warren 62, Logan 44

With pretty much a brand new team on the floor many might have expected the Warren Warriors to take a step back this season but judging from their performance in Friday night’s home and season opener the Warriors may be just fine.

The Warriors shrugged off a slow start and then pulled away to a 62-44 win.

After graduating nine seniors from last years squad the Warriors hit the floor with five brand new starters.

Warren led by just a point (7-6) after the opening quarter but increased their lead in every quarter going forward to pull away to the 18-point win.

Blake Grimes led the way for the Warriors with 16 points while Shawn Adams added 13.

Jackson Perdue just missed reaching double figures with nine points while Hudson Elzey and Caleb Tulius finished with seven and six points respectively.

Logan was led by Hudson Edwards with 18 points while Danile Bauers added eight.

After not making a single three-pointer in the first quarter and a half of the game the Warriors connected on seven the rest of the way including two each by Elzey, Adams and Perdue.

Logan was led in scoring by Hudson Edwards with 18 points while Daniel Bauers added eight.