East Noble Stalls But Can't Stop Loss Against Warsaw
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
ELKHART -ÊBefore Friday's Elkhart 4A Sectional boys basketball game between the Warsaw Tigers and East Noble Knights began, the mascots faced off.
The Tiger pancaked the Knight as Warsaw fans roared their approval.
The outcome on the court was the same as Warsaw (17-4) overcame East Noble's pesky style of slow-down play to beat the Knights (12-8) 46-29.
Warsaw meets 8-14 Concord in tonight's sectional championship game at 7:30 p.m. Concord advanced by beating 8-14 Elkhart Central, playing on its home floor, 58-53. The Tigers seek their first sectional title in the class system.
Senior center Zach Nelson scored 14 to lead Warsaw. Senior guard Chris Wiggins added nine points, and senior guard Ross Kesler finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Senior forward Matt Holbrook paced East Noble with eight points.
East Noble runs a ball-control, low-possession, frustrate-the-tar-out-of-you flex offense. The Knights had the ball to start the game; more than one minute ticked off the clock before they attempted their first shot.
If East Noble had a spokesman, it would be dull, monotone Ben Stein of the Clear-Eyes commercials.
When the first quarter ended, East Noble led 6-2.
"It's very difficult to play against teams like East Noble," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "The philosophy is if you keep possessions low, you will have a better chance to win.
"When possessions are like they were in this game, we had a slow start but found ourselves down only four. If this would have been a faster-paced game, we might have been down 15."
On this night, Warsaw closed out East Noble by beating the Knights at their own game.
The Tigers, holding a 32-27 lead, stalled two different times in the fourth quarter. Both times Warsaw ran one to two minutes off the clock, and both times the Tigers scored on easy, uncontested layups.
Nelson scored the first open basket on a feed from senior forward Steve Siebenmorgen to make it 34-27 with 3:57 left. Siebenmorgen scored the second layup with 2:42 left, putting the Tigers ahead 36-27.
"Warsaw's first two or three possessions of the fourth quarter forced us out of our game plan," East Noble coach Marty Johnson said. "At the five-minute mark, you're not ready to panic yet, you want to try to get them to make mistakes. But the score got away from us.
"They're better than we are."
The deficit was nine, but the way East Noble plays, it might as well have been 19. After settling on a 30-25 lead at the end of the third quarter, Warsaw outscored East Noble 16-4 in the fourth. Once the Tigers stretched the lead, East Noble didn't have the firepower to come from behind.
"With five minutes to go, we just wanted to get closer to shooting one and one free throws," Rhodes said. "We weren't planning to hold the ball; it just worked out that way."
After trailing 6-2 in the second quarter, the Warsaw's reserves helped the Tigers build a 20-14 halftime lead. With people like Jason Henthorn, Josh Buck, Paul Finnegan and Trent Martin playing major minutes in the second quarter, the Tigers outscored East Noble 18-8. Henthorn and Martin each hit one three-pointer, and Buck brought his energy and hard-nosed defense to the floor.
Now the Tigers cram for Concord. Two sophomores, 6-foot-9 center John Morningstar and 6-0 guard Jeremy Lugbill, led the Minutemen to the win over Elkhart Central, last year's sectional champion. Morningstar scored 17 and Lugbill 15.
"To be honest," Rhodes said, "Preparing for Concord is up to our assistant coaches. I've been concentrating on East Noble.
"Concord's two sophomores have raised their game, and it has raised Concord's whole level of play."
WARSAW 46
EAST NOBLE 29
Warsaw (17-4) 2 18 10 16 - 46
East Noble (12-8) 6 8 11 4 - 29
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Nelson (C) 4-6 6-8 2 0 5 14
Wiggins (G) 3-6 1-2 6 1 1 9
Kesler (G) 1-5 6-6 1 2 7 8
Siebenmorgen (F) 1-2 3-4 2 1 2 5
B. Seiss (G) 2-2 0-0 2 1 0 4
Henthorn 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 3
Buck 0-1 0-0 0 2 3 0
Finnegan 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Martin 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 3
G. Seiss 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Walmer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 13-29 16-20 13 7 22 46
East Noble FG FT A S R Pts.
Sparkman (G) 2-7 0-0 0 1 2 6
Holbrook (F) 3-4 2-2 0 0 6 8
Gabbard (F) 1-3 0-0 0 0 4 2
Beiswanger (G) 2-7 0-0 1 0 3 4
Gienger (G) 2-6 0-0 4 0 2 4
Lear 1-6 0-0 1 0 1 3
Longfellow 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Young 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2
Borger 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rathge 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 12-36 2-2 6 3 17 29
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 4-10 (Wiggins 2-5, Henthorn 1-3, Martin 1-2), East Noble 3-12 (Sparkman 2-6, Lear 1-4, Gienger 0-1, Rathge 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 10, East Noble 14. Fouled out - Sparkman. Total fouls - Warsaw 11, East Noble 17. [[In-content Ad]]
ELKHART -ÊBefore Friday's Elkhart 4A Sectional boys basketball game between the Warsaw Tigers and East Noble Knights began, the mascots faced off.
The Tiger pancaked the Knight as Warsaw fans roared their approval.
The outcome on the court was the same as Warsaw (17-4) overcame East Noble's pesky style of slow-down play to beat the Knights (12-8) 46-29.
Warsaw meets 8-14 Concord in tonight's sectional championship game at 7:30 p.m. Concord advanced by beating 8-14 Elkhart Central, playing on its home floor, 58-53. The Tigers seek their first sectional title in the class system.
Senior center Zach Nelson scored 14 to lead Warsaw. Senior guard Chris Wiggins added nine points, and senior guard Ross Kesler finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Senior forward Matt Holbrook paced East Noble with eight points.
East Noble runs a ball-control, low-possession, frustrate-the-tar-out-of-you flex offense. The Knights had the ball to start the game; more than one minute ticked off the clock before they attempted their first shot.
If East Noble had a spokesman, it would be dull, monotone Ben Stein of the Clear-Eyes commercials.
When the first quarter ended, East Noble led 6-2.
"It's very difficult to play against teams like East Noble," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "The philosophy is if you keep possessions low, you will have a better chance to win.
"When possessions are like they were in this game, we had a slow start but found ourselves down only four. If this would have been a faster-paced game, we might have been down 15."
On this night, Warsaw closed out East Noble by beating the Knights at their own game.
The Tigers, holding a 32-27 lead, stalled two different times in the fourth quarter. Both times Warsaw ran one to two minutes off the clock, and both times the Tigers scored on easy, uncontested layups.
Nelson scored the first open basket on a feed from senior forward Steve Siebenmorgen to make it 34-27 with 3:57 left. Siebenmorgen scored the second layup with 2:42 left, putting the Tigers ahead 36-27.
"Warsaw's first two or three possessions of the fourth quarter forced us out of our game plan," East Noble coach Marty Johnson said. "At the five-minute mark, you're not ready to panic yet, you want to try to get them to make mistakes. But the score got away from us.
"They're better than we are."
The deficit was nine, but the way East Noble plays, it might as well have been 19. After settling on a 30-25 lead at the end of the third quarter, Warsaw outscored East Noble 16-4 in the fourth. Once the Tigers stretched the lead, East Noble didn't have the firepower to come from behind.
"With five minutes to go, we just wanted to get closer to shooting one and one free throws," Rhodes said. "We weren't planning to hold the ball; it just worked out that way."
After trailing 6-2 in the second quarter, the Warsaw's reserves helped the Tigers build a 20-14 halftime lead. With people like Jason Henthorn, Josh Buck, Paul Finnegan and Trent Martin playing major minutes in the second quarter, the Tigers outscored East Noble 18-8. Henthorn and Martin each hit one three-pointer, and Buck brought his energy and hard-nosed defense to the floor.
Now the Tigers cram for Concord. Two sophomores, 6-foot-9 center John Morningstar and 6-0 guard Jeremy Lugbill, led the Minutemen to the win over Elkhart Central, last year's sectional champion. Morningstar scored 17 and Lugbill 15.
"To be honest," Rhodes said, "Preparing for Concord is up to our assistant coaches. I've been concentrating on East Noble.
"Concord's two sophomores have raised their game, and it has raised Concord's whole level of play."
WARSAW 46
EAST NOBLE 29
Warsaw (17-4) 2 18 10 16 - 46
East Noble (12-8) 6 8 11 4 - 29
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Nelson (C) 4-6 6-8 2 0 5 14
Wiggins (G) 3-6 1-2 6 1 1 9
Kesler (G) 1-5 6-6 1 2 7 8
Siebenmorgen (F) 1-2 3-4 2 1 2 5
B. Seiss (G) 2-2 0-0 2 1 0 4
Henthorn 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 3
Buck 0-1 0-0 0 2 3 0
Finnegan 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Martin 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 3
G. Seiss 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Walmer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 13-29 16-20 13 7 22 46
East Noble FG FT A S R Pts.
Sparkman (G) 2-7 0-0 0 1 2 6
Holbrook (F) 3-4 2-2 0 0 6 8
Gabbard (F) 1-3 0-0 0 0 4 2
Beiswanger (G) 2-7 0-0 1 0 3 4
Gienger (G) 2-6 0-0 4 0 2 4
Lear 1-6 0-0 1 0 1 3
Longfellow 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Young 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2
Borger 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rathge 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 12-36 2-2 6 3 17 29
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 4-10 (Wiggins 2-5, Henthorn 1-3, Martin 1-2), East Noble 3-12 (Sparkman 2-6, Lear 1-4, Gienger 0-1, Rathge 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 10, East Noble 14. Fouled out - Sparkman. Total fouls - Warsaw 11, East Noble 17. [[In-content Ad]]