The best part about Warsaw's 76-73 double-overtime win over Elkhart Central Friday is that the two teams could get to do it all over again a week later.

The Tigers, who face Concord Tuesday in the first game of the Elkhart Sectional, could match up with the Blazers (who drew the bye) in the second round next Friday.

"Now we are in the weird position of having to earn the right to play them again - at their place," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "As close as this game was, looking at next week, we certainly have our work cut out for us. This game gives them all the incentive in the world should we earn the right to play them again. It makes for a real challenge as we go into the sectional."

Maybe the Tigers will win and face Elkhart Central, and maybe they won't. And even if they do, the game might not come close to matching this Senior Night affair at the Tiger Den, but it certainly is interesting speculation.

"We will just have to wait and see on that," Central coach Dean Foster said. "We just want to take care of ourselves and get our frame of mind where it belongs. They (Warsaw) have to come back tomorrow and get prepared to play on Tuesday."

The Blue Blazers even got the game into overtime by rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit to notch things up at 63 at the end of regulation. Elkhart Central had a chance to win, but Matt Dowell's 10-footer in the lane came up short.

With the two teams tied at 66 in the first overtime, the Blazers again had chances to win. After Jason Riley blocked Chris Hill's layup, the Blazers had a chance with under 20 seconds left, but Pat Johnson was called for an offensive foul with three clicks left. But on the inbounds play, Johnson stole the pass and then missed a bank shot as time expired.

Warsaw took the early momentum in the second extra session and grabbed a 72-67 lead on a layup from Jason Alspaugh. It was 75-70 when the Blazers came back again and made it 75-73 when Brent Melvin nailed a three-pointer with 10 seconds left. After a Warsaw turnover, the Blazers tried to sneak the ball into the paint to Rich Gawthrop on an inbounds play with four seconds left, but HIll made the steal and his free throw provided the final margin.

"Both teams fought hard," Foster said. "It is a case where we had some opportunities to make some free throws. They also had some opportunities, and they finally took advantage in the second overtime.

"It was just a good high school basketball game," he said. "You can't fault the effort of either team tonight. Both teams really scraped. It was pretty fun until the end."

It was appropriate that on Senior Night, seniors Alspaugh (17 points) and Hill (11 points, 7 rebounds) both stepped up big for the Tigers. Luke Reed, despite picking up his second foul 1:30 into the game, scored 18 points and pulled down nine boards.

"We had to make defensive stops in the fourth and both overtimes. It was very positive for us," Rhodes said. "Against Central, it is very hard. They play very good halfcourt defense and put a lot of pressure on the ball."

Reed's six points and four rebounds sparked Warsaw to a 36-27 lead at halftime.

"We don't usually do that," Rhodes said of sending Reed back into the game with two first-half fouls. "We probably did it because it was Senior Night, and he guaranteed me he wouldn't get his third foul. He went out there and played very smart. He was big in us getting the lead in the second."

With Warsaw leading 44-36 midway through the third period, the Blazers got back into and cut the margin 48-44 on a layup from Gawthrop, who led Central with 24 points and 7 rebounds.

The Blazers tied the score at 48 early in the fourth and took the lead 57-55 on a three-pointer from Dowell. Central expanded the margin to 63-59 with two minutes left in the game when Reed got a pair of free throws and a layup to help send the game into the first overtime.

"We got more aggressive with the ball and defensively we did a better job," Foster said. "It didn't seem like they got to the offensive boards quite as much in the second half as they did in the first half when they were just killing us on the boards."

Warsaw outrebound Central 18-8 in the first half and shot a sparking 14 of 29 from the field.

"We had good intensity in the first half and played pretty well," Rhodes said. "Meanwhile, we were building up a little foul trouble in the post. That kind of caught up with us in the second half to a degree. They were getting the ball inside way too much. That got them back into the game."

It was a long, physical affair with the two teams combining for 53 personal fouls, 67 free throw attempts and 46 (23 by each team) made free throws.

Warsaw ends the regular season with a 13-7 mark, while Elkhart Central is 11-9. The last time the Tigers lost at least seven games in a regular season was the 1992-93 campaign when they were 12-9 before advancing to the semistate. [[In-content Ad]]