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Vernon leads Warhawks past La Crosse

WHITEWATER — One opposing coach describes UW-Whitewater forward Kori Vernon as a matchup nightmare.

Warhawk coach Pat Miller simply calls his athletic 6-foot-6 senior efficient.

As bland as that sounds, it was the perfect description of Vernon’s effort against UW-La Crosse.

Vernon racked up 27 points on just 14 field-goal attempts, snagged 14 rebounds and committed just one turnover to push Whitewater past feisty La Crosse, 92-86, here Wednesday night.

The narrow victory enabled Whitewater (12-2, 4-1) to stay a game behind WIAC front- runners UW-Platteville and UW-Stevens Points, who also posted victories.

“Surviving is an accurate way to put it,” Miller said of the Warhawks’ victory. “But to win championships and be a good team, you have to win when you don’t play well, and collectively we didn’t play well.”

The Warhawk collective effort was saved by Vernon’s efficiency.

“The thing about Kori is that he is amazingly efficient,” Miller said. “To get 27 points on 14 shot attempts, shoot it well from the free-throw line, do a great job on the glass and have some big defensive rebounds down the stretch, and having a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, you can’t have a much more complete line than that.”

La Crosse guard Trevor Stratton’s line was almost as complete. The Eagle sophomore equaled Vernon with 27 points, including a long three-pointer that drew La Crosse to within 76-75 with 5:35 to play.

Dustin Mitchell quickly answered with four free throws to increase the Warhawk lead to 80-75 with 4:16 left.

But a vicious La Crosse scoring draught that resulted in just one basket in the next three minutes helped Whitewater gain a decisive 84-77 advantage with 1:23 left.

The Warhawks then sank eight free throws down the stretch to finish off the upset-minded Eagles.

“It was just one of those nights where the game was just back and forth,” Vernon said. “We’d get up, and they’d come down and hit a couple shots, and then we hit some shots.”

The back-and-fourth battle started from the opening tip when La Crosse answered an 8-2 Warhawk lead with seven straight points to move ahead 9-8.

The Eagles eventually even grabbed momentum after Whitewater starters Billy Kolinske and Myles McKay left the game with foul trouble.

Vernon, however, took over the scoring load with 16 first-half points that helped Whitewater hold a 43-40 halftime lead.

Whitewater opened a 50-40 lead early in the second half before the Eagles scored six straight points to remain in contention. The game was in doubt the rest of the way.

WHITEWATER 92, LA CROSSE 86

La Crosse (86)—Nereng 0-4 2-2 2, Mane 7-21 0-0 16, Stratton 8-15 9-10 27, Kincaid 0-6 0-0 0, Merklein 12-13 0-4 24, Degner 0-3 3-4 3, Chery 5-7 0-1 10, Papendieck 0-1 0-0 0, Haass 1-1 2-2 4, Rumpel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 33-72 16-23 86.

Whitewater (92)—Goodwin 6-13 4-8 20, Negri 0-2 0-0 0, McKay 7-12 8-9 23, Vernon 10-14 7-8 27, Kingsby 2-4 7-8 11, Mitchell 1-5 5-6 7, Edmunds 0-1 0-2 0, Vines 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 28-55 31-41 92.

UW-La Crosse 40 46—86

UW-Whitewater 43 49—92

Three-point goals—La Crosse 4-14 (Mane 2-8, Stratton 2-5, Nereng 0-1), Whitewater 5-14 (Goodwin 4-10, McKay 1-3, Vines 0-1). Fouled out—Merklein. Rebounds—La Crosse 33 (Merklein 9), Whitewater 42 (Vernon 14). Assists—La Crosse 9 (Mane 5), Whitewater 11 (Vernon 3). Total fouls—La Crosse 23, Whitewater 21. Technical fouls—La Crosse (Mane).

Attendance—710.