ELKHART - What a difference a week makes.

In the seven days since Warsaw beat Elkhart Central in double overtime, a lot has changed. The scene moved from the Tiger Den to North Side gym, the Tigers lost their main man in the middle in Luke Reed and ultimately the Blazers came up with the biggest change of them all - a reversal of fortune in the Elkhart Boys Basketball 3A Sectional semifinals with a 63-48 win over the Tigers.

"We came here to win the basketball game," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "I think with a little more composure, we were a good enough team to do that. Obviously with Luke being a senior leader, top rebounder, our second-leading scorer and a force in the middle, that is definitely a factor. In the Concord game (Tuesday) or tonight, we did not tuck our head and say you can't win without him. We tried to win, but we just didn't play basketball well enough."

After falling behind by 10 points early in the game, Warsaw made two valiant comebacks in the second half. Warsaw pulled to within 33-30 in the third quarter on a 10-0 run. Elkhart Central answered with a 10-0 run of its own and led 43-32 to start the fourth.

The Tigers opened the fourth period with a 9-0 run to cut the margin to 43-41 with 5:20 left in the game. Warsaw never could quite get over the hump, and the Blazers ran off seven quick points to open a 50-41 margin.

Free throws, usually a Warsaw friend, spelled doom for the Tigers as Elkhart Central made 11 of 15 free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.

"I am proud that we made two very strong comebacks and didn't fold up our tents," Rhodes said. "Once we couldn't catch them at the end of the second comeback, they did a good job of hitting their free throws. They were able to maintain their lead at that point."

Elkhart Central coach Dean Foster knew that a good start was imperative to beat the Tigers. Without Reed's 12 points and nine rebounds in the lineup, Warsaw would be a different team and Foster knew that.

"At the start, we said they were a wounded beast, and they may come out with a lot of emotion," Foster said. "We told them they had to meet it head on, and take it to them and don't back off. They had lost one of their stars, and they were going to give it an extra effort to try to make up for that.

"The kids really responded," he said. "Matt Dowell and James Scott hit a couple of threes, and that really set the tone for our kids. We were able to get the lead on them and maintain it through the first half."

Scott scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first half, including 3 of 4 from beyond the three-point arc. Overall, Elkhart Central was 12 of 23 from the field, while Warsaw struggled to find the range at 6 of 16 in the first half.

"They hit their first two shots and started quickly well that way," Rhodes said. "We didn't move well and cover our areas. You have to credit Elkhart Central, their half-court defense was very good.

"We outplayed them in the second half, but we ended up in the first half with a 0.5 points per possession, which was our lowest of the season and 32 percent error," he said. "You can't come in to a sectional semifinal and play and execute that poorly on offense."

The second half was a battle of runs as Warsaw had its 10-0 and 9-0 streaks, while Elkhart Central answered both of those with 10-0 and 7-0 runs of its own.

"The turning point was when they came after us in the third quarter, and then the final three minutes or so, it turned back our way," Foster said.

Zach Nelson paced the Tigers with 18 points and six boards. Senior Andy Plank, in his final game for Warsaw, added 10 points.

Elkhart Central (12-9) plays Goshen tonight at 7:30 p.m. for the sectional championship.

Warsaw, with seniors Plank, Reed, Jason Alspaugh, Lucas Schroeder and Chris Hill, ended the first season of multi-class basketball with a 15-8 mark. [[In-content Ad]]