Warsaw Sinks 17 Threes In Victory Over SB Washington
December 29, 2021 at 3:21 a.m.
Warsaw Sinks 17 Threes In Victory Over SB Washington
By Connor McCann-
The game didn’t start as rosy for Warsaw as it ended, however. Coach Moore was forced to call a time out just a minute into the contest, and a minute afterwards, threw his sport coat onto his chair. It would remain off for the remainder of the game, but the message was received.
“A lot of it is about knowing your team and knowing which buttons to push, and I think I know this group fairly well,” Moore said. “I didn’t like our defensive focus coming out, used the timeout to re-center and from that point forward I thought we did a great job attacking after we got defensive stops.”
After a pregame ceremony that honored the Warsaw’s eleven Indiana All-Stars, the current batch of Tigers took on the challenge to play like all stars themselves. The first player to put his mark on the game was junior Russ Winchester, who scored nine points off of three made threes in the first four minutes of the game. Winchester would make a total of five, finishing second on the team with 17 points.
In the second quarter, it was a face that the Warsaw faithful have grown accustomed to seeing make shots this season: Jaxson Gould. Having scored 118 points in his previous four games, Gould picked up where he left off, scoring 22 more in the nightcap, 20 of those points coming in the first half, and 14 in the second quarter.
“I think the unique thing with him, and he understands this, is that he’s going to get shots,” Moore said. “His ability to get other guys involved, he understands our stuff at a high level. That’s what makes him so dangerous because if you’re going to try to take him away, he’s going to make the right basketball play. He’s special.”
As the game reached the second half and the Tiger lead continued to balloon, more and more players were able to get involved and make shots. Eleven of the team’s 14 players got into the scoring column. Judah Simfukwe scored 12. Drew Heckaman had nine. Carson Gould came off the bench to score six. But this was no hero ball. Warsaw had a season-high 24 assists.
“We did a great job sharing the basketball, and that stuff’s contagious. When guys are making shots because we’re sharing the ball, other guys get involved too,” Moore said. “You’re shooting in rhythm instead of taking these contested shots. It’s really neat to see those guys come off of the bench and contribute to that.”
The Tigers finish up a stretch of seven home games out of eight tonight against Fort Wayne Dwenger at 8 p.m. at the Tiger Den. Following the contest, the team plays four of the next five games on the road.
“I think this stretch has given us some confidence. We’ve been able to find ourselves a little bit, we’re a little battle tested hopefully, and now we get to go on the road and test ourselves,” Moore said. “Dwenger has a ton of size, we’re going to be challenged along our front line and we have to continue to find ways to battle and take away team’s strengths. We’ll recollect tomorrow and see where we’re at.”
The game didn’t start as rosy for Warsaw as it ended, however. Coach Moore was forced to call a time out just a minute into the contest, and a minute afterwards, threw his sport coat onto his chair. It would remain off for the remainder of the game, but the message was received.
“A lot of it is about knowing your team and knowing which buttons to push, and I think I know this group fairly well,” Moore said. “I didn’t like our defensive focus coming out, used the timeout to re-center and from that point forward I thought we did a great job attacking after we got defensive stops.”
After a pregame ceremony that honored the Warsaw’s eleven Indiana All-Stars, the current batch of Tigers took on the challenge to play like all stars themselves. The first player to put his mark on the game was junior Russ Winchester, who scored nine points off of three made threes in the first four minutes of the game. Winchester would make a total of five, finishing second on the team with 17 points.
In the second quarter, it was a face that the Warsaw faithful have grown accustomed to seeing make shots this season: Jaxson Gould. Having scored 118 points in his previous four games, Gould picked up where he left off, scoring 22 more in the nightcap, 20 of those points coming in the first half, and 14 in the second quarter.
“I think the unique thing with him, and he understands this, is that he’s going to get shots,” Moore said. “His ability to get other guys involved, he understands our stuff at a high level. That’s what makes him so dangerous because if you’re going to try to take him away, he’s going to make the right basketball play. He’s special.”
As the game reached the second half and the Tiger lead continued to balloon, more and more players were able to get involved and make shots. Eleven of the team’s 14 players got into the scoring column. Judah Simfukwe scored 12. Drew Heckaman had nine. Carson Gould came off the bench to score six. But this was no hero ball. Warsaw had a season-high 24 assists.
“We did a great job sharing the basketball, and that stuff’s contagious. When guys are making shots because we’re sharing the ball, other guys get involved too,” Moore said. “You’re shooting in rhythm instead of taking these contested shots. It’s really neat to see those guys come off of the bench and contribute to that.”
The Tigers finish up a stretch of seven home games out of eight tonight against Fort Wayne Dwenger at 8 p.m. at the Tiger Den. Following the contest, the team plays four of the next five games on the road.
“I think this stretch has given us some confidence. We’ve been able to find ourselves a little bit, we’re a little battle tested hopefully, and now we get to go on the road and test ourselves,” Moore said. “Dwenger has a ton of size, we’re going to be challenged along our front line and we have to continue to find ways to battle and take away team’s strengths. We’ll recollect tomorrow and see where we’re at.”
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