Balance Helps Tigers Stand Tall
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
In front of a near-capacity crowd at Donald S. Weeks Gymnasium, four Tigers scored in double figures as Warsaw beat the host Eagles 63-59 in a back-and-forth battle that featured 12 lead changes and eight ties.
"What great poise by our guys," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team improved to 2-0 this season with the program's seventh-straight win over Columbia City. "What an atmosphere. It was almost packed house, and there was a lot of electricity in the gym. It was a tournament-like atmosphere. Games like this definitely don't come around often anymore in 2011."
Junior Jared Bloom led Warsaw with 15 points, while senior Lucas Grose added 14 points and six rebounds, sophomore Jordan Stookey scored 13 points, senior Jordyn Coon chipped in with 10 points and senior Rhett Kesler contributed eight points in the win.
"We had four guys in double figures," said Ogle. "We had a lot of different guys contributing. That's going to be the strength of this team. We played very well. If you look at how much we improved from Game 1 to Game 2, it's remarkable."
Arguably the most remarkable performance Saturday came from Stookey, who came off the bench to score his 13 points on a 5-of-5 effort from the field, including a trio of three-pointers.
Stookey is the only sophomore on Warsaw's varsity roster, and after playing sparingly in last week's season opener at Tippecanoe Valley, he looked like a seasoned-veteran against the Eagles.
"Jordan Stookey played well," said Ogle. "He hit some big shots."
Two of Stookey's biggest shots came late in the second quarter.
The Tigers were clawing back after Columbia City had gone on an 18-2 run, and Stookey hit back-to-back treys to close the gap to three, 30-27.
Grose then hit a shot at the buzzer, cutting the deficit to one at halftime.
"They're a tough team," said Columbia City coach Chris Benedict, whose team fell to 1-1 on the season. "We knew they were a good team and that they would play hard. We did enough damage to ourselves not defending in the second quarter, and not getting ball into the paint."
Junior Drew Benedict led the Eagles in scoring with 16 points, while junior Derek Hinen and senior Drew Burnsworth scored 12 points each and junior Daniel Woll chipped in with nine points and five rebounds.
Burnsworth had the hot hand for the Eagles in the first half, making 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
But after scoring 12 points in the first 16 minutes of play, Burnsworth took just one shot in the second half and missed.
Columbia City made eight treys in the game, six in the first half.
After Warsaw closed the gap at halftime, the teams battled back and forth over the final 32 minutes, with neither team leading by more than seven points in the third or fourth quarters.
A pair of free throws by Kesler gave the Tigers a 58-51 lead with 32 seconds remaining. And while things were certainly interesting the rest of the way, with Drew Benedict hitting a three-pionter, Warsaw struggling to inbound the ball and the Eagles cutting the deficit to one, 60-59, with 15 seconds to play, Warsaw passed an early-season test.
Columbia City lost in overtime of the semistate championship game last season and returned the majority of its roster from that team, and also beneffited from former Huntington North player Austin Paul transferring to the Whitley County school.
Yet it was the Tigers, a team that many wondered good they would be this season after all-world guard Nic Moore graduated, that came out on top.
"That's a good basketball team," Ogle said of the Eagles. "Columbia City is not going to lose many games. This is a good boost for our confidence, and long as we handle it the right way and continue to work hard and get better."
Warsaw was 22 of 33 from the field overall and 13 of 21 from the charity stripe, while Columbia City was 21 of 42 from the field and 9 of 12 at the free throw line.
Kesler was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe for Warsaw, while Bloom was 5 of 5.
Through two games this season, Kesler is 18 of 18 from the free throw line – all in the fourth quarter.
After two games on the road, Warsaw hosts Homestead Friday and Huntington North Saturday.
"We hope a lot of people want to come out and support us," said Ogle.
WARSAW 63, COLUMBIA CITY 59
W 10 19 12 22 – 63
CC 17 13 13 16 – 59
Warsaw – Brock Anson 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Bloom 4-7 5-5 15, Jordyn Coon 4-5 1-2 10, Rhett Kesler 1-3 6-6 8, Lucas Grose 7-10 0-4 14, Kevin West 0-0 0-0 0, Jay Holladay 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Cone 0-0 1-2 1, Jordany Stookey 5-5 0-2 13. Totals 22-33 13-21 63.
Col. City – Drew Benedict 5-12 2-3 16, Derek Hinen 5-8 2-3 12, Jared Murphy 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Burnsworth 4-5 0-0 12, Brandon Gay 1-2 2-2 4, Matt Rethlake 1-2 0-0 2, Daniel Woll 3-9 3-4 9, Austin Paul 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 21-42 9-12 59.
Three-pointers - Warsaw 6 (Stookey 3, Bloom 2, Coon), Columbia City 8 (Benedict 4, Burnsworth 4); Rebounds – Warsaw 24 (Grose 6), Columbia City 15 (Woll 5); Turnovers – Warsaw 10, Columbia City 9; Records: Warsaw 2-0, Columbia City 1-1
JV – Columbia City 29, Warsaw 28
Warsaw – John Swanson 6, Jason Ferguson 6, Rashaan Jackson 6, Darren Walcott 4, Peyton Long 4, Zach Davies 2[[In-content Ad]]
In front of a near-capacity crowd at Donald S. Weeks Gymnasium, four Tigers scored in double figures as Warsaw beat the host Eagles 63-59 in a back-and-forth battle that featured 12 lead changes and eight ties.
"What great poise by our guys," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team improved to 2-0 this season with the program's seventh-straight win over Columbia City. "What an atmosphere. It was almost packed house, and there was a lot of electricity in the gym. It was a tournament-like atmosphere. Games like this definitely don't come around often anymore in 2011."
Junior Jared Bloom led Warsaw with 15 points, while senior Lucas Grose added 14 points and six rebounds, sophomore Jordan Stookey scored 13 points, senior Jordyn Coon chipped in with 10 points and senior Rhett Kesler contributed eight points in the win.
"We had four guys in double figures," said Ogle. "We had a lot of different guys contributing. That's going to be the strength of this team. We played very well. If you look at how much we improved from Game 1 to Game 2, it's remarkable."
Arguably the most remarkable performance Saturday came from Stookey, who came off the bench to score his 13 points on a 5-of-5 effort from the field, including a trio of three-pointers.
Stookey is the only sophomore on Warsaw's varsity roster, and after playing sparingly in last week's season opener at Tippecanoe Valley, he looked like a seasoned-veteran against the Eagles.
"Jordan Stookey played well," said Ogle. "He hit some big shots."
Two of Stookey's biggest shots came late in the second quarter.
The Tigers were clawing back after Columbia City had gone on an 18-2 run, and Stookey hit back-to-back treys to close the gap to three, 30-27.
Grose then hit a shot at the buzzer, cutting the deficit to one at halftime.
"They're a tough team," said Columbia City coach Chris Benedict, whose team fell to 1-1 on the season. "We knew they were a good team and that they would play hard. We did enough damage to ourselves not defending in the second quarter, and not getting ball into the paint."
Junior Drew Benedict led the Eagles in scoring with 16 points, while junior Derek Hinen and senior Drew Burnsworth scored 12 points each and junior Daniel Woll chipped in with nine points and five rebounds.
Burnsworth had the hot hand for the Eagles in the first half, making 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
But after scoring 12 points in the first 16 minutes of play, Burnsworth took just one shot in the second half and missed.
Columbia City made eight treys in the game, six in the first half.
After Warsaw closed the gap at halftime, the teams battled back and forth over the final 32 minutes, with neither team leading by more than seven points in the third or fourth quarters.
A pair of free throws by Kesler gave the Tigers a 58-51 lead with 32 seconds remaining. And while things were certainly interesting the rest of the way, with Drew Benedict hitting a three-pionter, Warsaw struggling to inbound the ball and the Eagles cutting the deficit to one, 60-59, with 15 seconds to play, Warsaw passed an early-season test.
Columbia City lost in overtime of the semistate championship game last season and returned the majority of its roster from that team, and also beneffited from former Huntington North player Austin Paul transferring to the Whitley County school.
Yet it was the Tigers, a team that many wondered good they would be this season after all-world guard Nic Moore graduated, that came out on top.
"That's a good basketball team," Ogle said of the Eagles. "Columbia City is not going to lose many games. This is a good boost for our confidence, and long as we handle it the right way and continue to work hard and get better."
Warsaw was 22 of 33 from the field overall and 13 of 21 from the charity stripe, while Columbia City was 21 of 42 from the field and 9 of 12 at the free throw line.
Kesler was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe for Warsaw, while Bloom was 5 of 5.
Through two games this season, Kesler is 18 of 18 from the free throw line – all in the fourth quarter.
After two games on the road, Warsaw hosts Homestead Friday and Huntington North Saturday.
"We hope a lot of people want to come out and support us," said Ogle.
WARSAW 63, COLUMBIA CITY 59
W 10 19 12 22 – 63
CC 17 13 13 16 – 59
Warsaw – Brock Anson 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Bloom 4-7 5-5 15, Jordyn Coon 4-5 1-2 10, Rhett Kesler 1-3 6-6 8, Lucas Grose 7-10 0-4 14, Kevin West 0-0 0-0 0, Jay Holladay 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Cone 0-0 1-2 1, Jordany Stookey 5-5 0-2 13. Totals 22-33 13-21 63.
Col. City – Drew Benedict 5-12 2-3 16, Derek Hinen 5-8 2-3 12, Jared Murphy 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Burnsworth 4-5 0-0 12, Brandon Gay 1-2 2-2 4, Matt Rethlake 1-2 0-0 2, Daniel Woll 3-9 3-4 9, Austin Paul 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 21-42 9-12 59.
Three-pointers - Warsaw 6 (Stookey 3, Bloom 2, Coon), Columbia City 8 (Benedict 4, Burnsworth 4); Rebounds – Warsaw 24 (Grose 6), Columbia City 15 (Woll 5); Turnovers – Warsaw 10, Columbia City 9; Records: Warsaw 2-0, Columbia City 1-1
JV – Columbia City 29, Warsaw 28
Warsaw – John Swanson 6, Jason Ferguson 6, Rashaan Jackson 6, Darren Walcott 4, Peyton Long 4, Zach Davies 2[[In-content Ad]]
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