For 29 minutes, Warsaw played with or even above the No. 2 (4A) team in the state. But unfortunately for the Tigers, a high school basketball game lasts 32 minutes.

Over the final three minutes of the game, the Giants turned up the heat defensively, and the Tigers withered in a 51-50 Marion win Friday at the Tiger Den.

Warsaw led 45-39 when the Giants (13-1) put on a 12-4 run to close the game and avoid the upset.

"We are a good enough team that we knew we had not played a good basketball game," Marion coach Moe Smedley said. "I told them after the game that they played poorly in every category but one, and that is they never quit.

"These kids were simply not going to lose the game," he said. "Our defense caused them to turn the ball over. They might have worn down just a tad. I thought our press was more effective late than it was early in the game. I have to believe that endurance helped us at the end."

After handling the pressure defense of the Giants for three quarters, Warsaw reverted back to its trend this year and began to turn the ball over in the fourth. After having only 11 miscues in the first three quarters, the Tigers had eight in the fourth quarter alone.

The Giants also came up big on the boards. Where Warsaw outrebounded Marion for the game, 31-26, the Giants won the glass war in the fourth with an 11-5 advantage. Many of those caroms came in the form of big offensive rebounds.

"The same 'ol bugaboo," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "Marion played at six percent error, and we're at 30 percent. We are doing so many good things, but we have to take care of the basketball better.

"We rebounded tough in the game until the last stretch," he said. "When the game was on the line, they got five shots in a row once. Right there at crunch time, against a team like this, you have to step forward a little more."

The final three minutes spoiled a tremendous defensive effort by the Tigers. Through three quarters of play, Warsaw had held the Giants to 25 points. Marion's leading scorer, 6-foot-8 sophomore Zach Randolph, was held to five points through three periods. Randolph, who averages 18 points a game, ended up with 10, including three big free throws down the stretch.

Warsaw led 47-43 with 1:38 left when Randolph, after bricking his two previous free-throw attempts, made 3 of 4 from the stripe to make the count 47-46. Andrae Betts came up with a big steal and layup and gave Marion a 48-47 lead with 50 seconds left.

Chris Hill then went to the line with 42 ticks left, but missed both his freebies and Kyle Chin and Betts hit big free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.

"The big factor is No. 10 (Betts) controlled the game at the end," Rhodes said. "He is lightning quick, and we were not able to contain him."

Betts finished with 13 points and five steals.

Marion held an early 6-5 lead when the Tigers went on a 12-2 run led by eight points from Rob Kesler to open up a 17-8 advantage. After holding onto a 22-19 halftime lead, the Tigers came out of the locker room and missed their first nine shots from the field. Marion's offense, though, wasn't exactly in high gear itself, and the Giants only led 23-22 when Jason Alspaugh scored Warsaw's first two points of the period at the four-minute mark.

Warsaw eventually put on a 6-2 run to end the quarter leading 30-25 heading into the fourth.

Despite the loss, Rhodes was able to see plenty of positives of playing with one of the top teams in the state.

"We were able to control the tempo, and in the halfcourt, we were able to defend them," Rhodes said. "Our execution in our zone offense and halfcourt defense were good "

Warsaw (9-5) is at Elkhart Memorial tonight. [[In-content Ad]]