Pilgrims 'Wise' To Tigers' Way
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH - Jack Edison is the master of the understatement.
After watching his Plymouth Pilgrims dismantle Warsaw 87-66, hold the hot-shooting Tigers to 22 of 47 shooting and force them into 24 turnovers, he just thought Warsaw had an off night.
"It wasn't really anything we did," Edison said. "They just missed some shots they normally hit. They had some open shots, and they wouldn't drop. Then we got the lead at the start and it stayed there."
With the win, Plymouth ended Warsaw's seven-game winning streak and handed the Tigers their first Northern Lakes Conference loss of the season. Warsaw can still gain a share of the NLC title with a win over NorthWood Feb. 12, but Plymouth can get the other piece of the pie with wins over Concord and Goshen.
Coming into this game, Warsaw was playing its best basketball of the season, especially on the offensive end of the floor after scoring 100 points the game before against Elkhart Memorial. But the Pilgrims took them out of their pace early on, and Warsaw unraveled from there.
"You have to credit Plymouth for solid defense," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "A lot of our problems that we have had over the course of the year cropped back up, unnecessary travels and poor ballhandling and passing.
"We have been doing better, but their defense is at a level that we haven't seen or can't simulate in practice, and that caught up with us tonight," he said.
And every time the Tigers got even remotely close, Plymouth's Nick Wise held the dagger that went through Warsaw's hearts. Wise scored 30 points on the night and seemed to have an answer for every Warsaw run.
Warsaw cut a double-digit lead down to 55-51 to start the fourth quarter when the Pilgrims went on a 12-2 run led by eight points from Wise.
The Tigers were playing catchup the rest of the way, and the Pilgrims made the final margin look bad with free throws.
"We fought with them for quite a while," Rhodes said. "We had the ball down by six and we had a chance there, and we missed an outside shot and had nobody anywhere close to trying to get a rebound. The game went sour from that point on."
Rhodes credited Plymouth's work on the offensive boards as a key component of the game. The Pilgrims only outrebounded Warsaw 28-24, but it seemed like every time they needed the big putback, they got it.
"They just really took us apart on the boards," Rhodes said. "That really set the tone for the game when they are getting offensive rebounds and putbacks, and when we are just getting zero or one shot."
Edison agreed.
"There are areas in a game of this magnitude that pick you up," Edison said. "Warsaw is an outstanding rebounding team, and I thought we had at least stayed even with them.
"It doesn't take too much," he said. "You get a couple of offensive rebounds early in the game, and it gives your shooters more confidence."
Warsaw's Tom Krizmanich answered Wise's 30 points with 28 of his own, but Plymouth's next leading scorer was Brian Wray's 23 points, while Warsaw got nine from P.J. Wiley and Andy Plank.
"Nick had a tremendous game," Rhodes said. "But you look at, and with Krizmanich scoring 28, that evens things out a little. We weren't able to produce any other consistent offense.
"Nick was very consistent, and he has been on a roll lately," he said. "His last three games have been tremendous. I said before the game I didn't know if we could stop him, and apparently I was right."
In his last three games, Wise has scored 31, 41, and 30 points.
Plymouth took control of the early, behind 10 first-quarter points from Wise. The Pilgrims led 23-19 after the first quarter and 40-34 at halftime. At that point, the Tigers had 12 turnovers to just five for the Pilgrims.
"You just don't beat good teams turning the ball over 40 percent of the time," Rhodes said.
Plymouth came out in the third quarter and scored six straight points, all by Wise, to open up a 46-34 lead.
Warsaw (14-3, 4-1) hosts NorthWood Feb. 12 in a makeup game from Jan. 17. Plymouth (13-2, 3-1) hosts Concord today at 1:30 p.m.. and then hosts Goshen Feb. 14.
"The conference race is more than one game," Rhodes said. "At this point, we have one conference game, and we win that game we are conference champions, and we probably sharing with somebody." [[In-content Ad]]
PLYMOUTH - Jack Edison is the master of the understatement.
After watching his Plymouth Pilgrims dismantle Warsaw 87-66, hold the hot-shooting Tigers to 22 of 47 shooting and force them into 24 turnovers, he just thought Warsaw had an off night.
"It wasn't really anything we did," Edison said. "They just missed some shots they normally hit. They had some open shots, and they wouldn't drop. Then we got the lead at the start and it stayed there."
With the win, Plymouth ended Warsaw's seven-game winning streak and handed the Tigers their first Northern Lakes Conference loss of the season. Warsaw can still gain a share of the NLC title with a win over NorthWood Feb. 12, but Plymouth can get the other piece of the pie with wins over Concord and Goshen.
Coming into this game, Warsaw was playing its best basketball of the season, especially on the offensive end of the floor after scoring 100 points the game before against Elkhart Memorial. But the Pilgrims took them out of their pace early on, and Warsaw unraveled from there.
"You have to credit Plymouth for solid defense," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "A lot of our problems that we have had over the course of the year cropped back up, unnecessary travels and poor ballhandling and passing.
"We have been doing better, but their defense is at a level that we haven't seen or can't simulate in practice, and that caught up with us tonight," he said.
And every time the Tigers got even remotely close, Plymouth's Nick Wise held the dagger that went through Warsaw's hearts. Wise scored 30 points on the night and seemed to have an answer for every Warsaw run.
Warsaw cut a double-digit lead down to 55-51 to start the fourth quarter when the Pilgrims went on a 12-2 run led by eight points from Wise.
The Tigers were playing catchup the rest of the way, and the Pilgrims made the final margin look bad with free throws.
"We fought with them for quite a while," Rhodes said. "We had the ball down by six and we had a chance there, and we missed an outside shot and had nobody anywhere close to trying to get a rebound. The game went sour from that point on."
Rhodes credited Plymouth's work on the offensive boards as a key component of the game. The Pilgrims only outrebounded Warsaw 28-24, but it seemed like every time they needed the big putback, they got it.
"They just really took us apart on the boards," Rhodes said. "That really set the tone for the game when they are getting offensive rebounds and putbacks, and when we are just getting zero or one shot."
Edison agreed.
"There are areas in a game of this magnitude that pick you up," Edison said. "Warsaw is an outstanding rebounding team, and I thought we had at least stayed even with them.
"It doesn't take too much," he said. "You get a couple of offensive rebounds early in the game, and it gives your shooters more confidence."
Warsaw's Tom Krizmanich answered Wise's 30 points with 28 of his own, but Plymouth's next leading scorer was Brian Wray's 23 points, while Warsaw got nine from P.J. Wiley and Andy Plank.
"Nick had a tremendous game," Rhodes said. "But you look at, and with Krizmanich scoring 28, that evens things out a little. We weren't able to produce any other consistent offense.
"Nick was very consistent, and he has been on a roll lately," he said. "His last three games have been tremendous. I said before the game I didn't know if we could stop him, and apparently I was right."
In his last three games, Wise has scored 31, 41, and 30 points.
Plymouth took control of the early, behind 10 first-quarter points from Wise. The Pilgrims led 23-19 after the first quarter and 40-34 at halftime. At that point, the Tigers had 12 turnovers to just five for the Pilgrims.
"You just don't beat good teams turning the ball over 40 percent of the time," Rhodes said.
Plymouth came out in the third quarter and scored six straight points, all by Wise, to open up a 46-34 lead.
Warsaw (14-3, 4-1) hosts NorthWood Feb. 12 in a makeup game from Jan. 17. Plymouth (13-2, 3-1) hosts Concord today at 1:30 p.m.. and then hosts Goshen Feb. 14.
"The conference race is more than one game," Rhodes said. "At this point, we have one conference game, and we win that game we are conference champions, and we probably sharing with somebody." [[In-content Ad]]