Second-Half Surge Pushes Warsaw Past E. Central
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
ELKHART -ÊWarsaw and Elkhart Central played a back-and-forth first half of Saturday's game, but after halftime, the Tigers fired up and outscored the Blue Blazers in the last two quarters to earn a 69-53 victory.
The Tigers played catch-up for the first five minutes of the game until a David Grossnickle steal resulted in a Steve Siebenmorgen rebound basket to give Warsaw its first lead of the game, 11-10.
Elkhart Central then went up 14-11, but by the end of the first, Warsaw had tied the score at 14.
The second quarter was much like the first as Warsaw and Elkhart Central battled for the lead.
Through the second frame, the score was tied at 16, 18, 20, 22 and 28, but Warsaw went into the lockers with a 29-28 lead after Ross Kesler nailed a free throw to give the Tigers a slim lead.
After the halftime break, Warsaw came out with a different ball handling strategy and outscored the Blue Blazers 19-12 in the third quarter to increase the Tiger lead to eight points.
"In the first half, we pulled up the dribble too soon," said Warsaw head coach Al Rhodes. "In the first half we used a spin dribble move, but in the second half we concentrated on the crossover."
The Tigers finished the third frame with a 48-40 lead, and continued to dominate in the fourth.
After Zach Nelson hit two free throws with 5:52 left in the game, Warsaw had its biggest lead of the game to that point, 56-42.
Rob and Ross Kesler were the real story of the fourth as they combined for 10 of the Tiger's fourth quarter points.
In the end, Warsaw handed Elkhart Central a 69-53 loss.
"We had three guys with three fouls to start the sesond half," said Elkhart Central coach Mike Drews. "Because of those fouls, we didn't press full court like we did in the first half."
"These were two very aggressive teams," Rhodes said. "They had several players who got into foul trouble, and we had one player foul out, so it was a very aggressive game."
Zach Nelson led the Tiger scoring with 16 points while Siebenmorgan added 14 points for Warsaw.
"We had some nice drives into the post," said Rhodes. "We did a good job of feeding (Zach) Nelson, (Steve) Siebenmorgan and (Tom) Donkers under the basket."
"A lot of players contributed to our success," said Rhodes. "We had several players come off the bench and play solid basketball for us.
"David Grossnickle played well and handled the ball extremely well for us."
"We just were not big enough to grind it out with a team like Warsaw," said Drews. "Our guys did not play the way they are capable of playing."
The Tigers, now 7-1 overall and 3-0 NLC, hosts a Hoilday Tourney Wednesday Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]
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ELKHART -ÊWarsaw and Elkhart Central played a back-and-forth first half of Saturday's game, but after halftime, the Tigers fired up and outscored the Blue Blazers in the last two quarters to earn a 69-53 victory.
The Tigers played catch-up for the first five minutes of the game until a David Grossnickle steal resulted in a Steve Siebenmorgen rebound basket to give Warsaw its first lead of the game, 11-10.
Elkhart Central then went up 14-11, but by the end of the first, Warsaw had tied the score at 14.
The second quarter was much like the first as Warsaw and Elkhart Central battled for the lead.
Through the second frame, the score was tied at 16, 18, 20, 22 and 28, but Warsaw went into the lockers with a 29-28 lead after Ross Kesler nailed a free throw to give the Tigers a slim lead.
After the halftime break, Warsaw came out with a different ball handling strategy and outscored the Blue Blazers 19-12 in the third quarter to increase the Tiger lead to eight points.
"In the first half, we pulled up the dribble too soon," said Warsaw head coach Al Rhodes. "In the first half we used a spin dribble move, but in the second half we concentrated on the crossover."
The Tigers finished the third frame with a 48-40 lead, and continued to dominate in the fourth.
After Zach Nelson hit two free throws with 5:52 left in the game, Warsaw had its biggest lead of the game to that point, 56-42.
Rob and Ross Kesler were the real story of the fourth as they combined for 10 of the Tiger's fourth quarter points.
In the end, Warsaw handed Elkhart Central a 69-53 loss.
"We had three guys with three fouls to start the sesond half," said Elkhart Central coach Mike Drews. "Because of those fouls, we didn't press full court like we did in the first half."
"These were two very aggressive teams," Rhodes said. "They had several players who got into foul trouble, and we had one player foul out, so it was a very aggressive game."
Zach Nelson led the Tiger scoring with 16 points while Siebenmorgan added 14 points for Warsaw.
"We had some nice drives into the post," said Rhodes. "We did a good job of feeding (Zach) Nelson, (Steve) Siebenmorgan and (Tom) Donkers under the basket."
"A lot of players contributed to our success," said Rhodes. "We had several players come off the bench and play solid basketball for us.
"David Grossnickle played well and handled the ball extremely well for us."
"We just were not big enough to grind it out with a team like Warsaw," said Drews. "Our guys did not play the way they are capable of playing."
The Tigers, now 7-1 overall and 3-0 NLC, hosts a Hoilday Tourney Wednesday Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]