DUNLAP - Dorothy (of Wizard of Oz fame) once said that there's no place like home. But the Warsaw girls basketball team might have found the next best thing.

Playing in their first sectional ever away from Warsaw, the Tigers remained unbeaten in Concord's McCuen Gym in the Will Wienhorst era with a 59-38 win over the Minutemen in the first round of the Class 4A No. 5 girls basketball sectional Tuesday.

Wienhorst is now a perfect 14-0 against Concord.

"Since I have been at Warsaw, we have not lost on this floor," Wienhorst said. "We play pretty good basketball. We felt if we weren't playing at home, we might as well play at Concord."

Warsaw did it with the defense and depth. The Tigers' trapping, halfcourt pressure defense helped force 25 Concord turnovers, and Warsaw got 25 points from its non-starters as 11 of the 12 Tiger players scored at least two points each.

"Our bench did a nice job tonight," Wienhorst said. "They played a lot of minutes. They gave us a good pickup because we had people who got a chance to rest."

Wienhorst started a lineup for the first time this season in Jessica Zaugg, Sherri Ross, Tiffany Ross, Katie Elliott and Sam Wideman, but he went to his bench early and often and the intensity rarely fell off.

Jackie Edwards, a starter for much of the season, led the bench brigade with seven points and six rebounds, all in the first half.

"Jackie came to play tonight," Wienhorst said. "Putting her at the sixth person gives us a big lift off the bench. It makes our rotation so much better. She could start for anybody in this sectional, but this is better for our team."

Tiffany Ross led Warsaw with 12 points, the lone Tiger in double figures.

Warsaw led early only 6-5 against a team it handled earlier this year 57-38 before pulling out to a 12-7 lead entering the second quarter where the Tigers ran away and hid. The Tiger defense just wouldn't let the Minutemen get anything going in the frame and expanded the margin to 27-10.

The margin reached 20-plus points in the second half, and the Tigers never looked back.

Besides the 25 turnovers, Warsaw forced Concord into only 14-of-40 shooting. The miscues helped the Tigers get off 14 more shots (21 of 54) from the field.

"A lot of times, we would want them to break down and not us," Wienhorst said. "If they have people who aren't handling the passes, they have more a chance to break down, they did, and they turned the ball over. We took them out of their halfcourt offense. I don't know how many times they actually got into their offense, but it wasn't many.

"It was quite physical tonight," he said. "It was a good game for us in that respect. The last few games have been very physical for us. It takes its toll if you are not used to it. I think we are a very physical team, and that is what we are going to try to do."

Warsaw (13-8) now faces Elkhart Central (12-8) Friday at 7:30 p.m. after the Blazers picked up the bye and got to watch the Tigers beat Concord. Elkhart Memorial and Goshen will play at 6 p.m. in the first game.

"They (Elkhart Central) have the advantage of having to play only two games to win a sectional and to scout us again in person," Wienhorst said. "But we have the advantage of having a game under our belts on this floor." [[In-content Ad]]