COLUMBIA CITY - Undoubtedly, Warsaw's boys basketball game at Columbia City Saturday night was what coaches refer to as a teaching tool.

After falling 47-42 in overtime to the Eagles, veteran Warsaw coach Al Rhodes stood in a locker room and said he was disappointed but not discouraged.

The game was the first of the season for Warsaw, and the Tigers played like it much of the game.

"Overall I thought we played very poorly as an offensive unit, one offense," Rhodes said. "I thought our defense was solid, but we gave up a few threes to No. 15 (Ryan Boylan) that hurt us."

Six-foot-1 junior Ryan Boylan, the No. 15 Rhodes was speaking of, finished the game 3 of 5 from the arc. He finished with 11 points, including the last five of the third quarter to give Columbia City a 33-23 lead going into the fourth.

Poor offensive execution coupled with Columbia City's stingy defense allowed the Tigers just three points in the second quarter and only 11 for the entire first half. After leading 10-8 after the first quarter, the Eagles outscored Warsaw 9-3 in the second stanza for a 19-11 halftime lead.

"The biggest thing we talked about at halftime was that our offensive execution was very poor," Rhodes said. "We wanted to play with more patience and execute. I didn't think we did that in the third quarter, the point spread stayed the same."

As if they were down three laps in an auto race, the Tigers made their move in the fourth quarter.

Sparked by field goals from junior Ryan DeGeeter and senior Greg Clay and a three-pointer from senior Jerad Shaw, Warsaw started the final frame with a 7-0 run and cut the Columbia City lead to three, 33-30.

After Eagle guard Trevor Shively extended the lead to five, Warsaw knotted the game at 35 with a field goal from DeGeeter and a three-pointer from Greg Clay.

Shively hit a three of his own with 1:23 remaining in regulation, but senior Chris Clay made good on a trey to tie the game at 38.

Columbia City called a timeout with 18.7 seconds left but couldn't hit the game-winner.

"I'm proud that we battled back, but you can't beat good people playing that poorly on offense," Rhodes said. "We didn't have enough reversals of the ball and we missed too many people inside. We drove into traffic. Basically bad individual decisions."

With a field goal from Greg Clay, Warsaw led 42-41 with 2:00 remaining in overtime. But while Boylan hurt them in the third quarter, Columbia City's Bob Dye hurt the Tigers in the extra session.

The 6-4 senior forward drilled a three-pointer to cut Warsaw's lead to one, 41-40, with 2:37 left in overtime. A minute later he gave the Eagles a 43-42 lead. After teammate Marcus Moore stole the ball and layed it in, Dye hit a pair of free throws with 39.8 seconds left to account for the final score.

"We were on the road to battling back, the kids didn't quit," Rhodes said. "You just can't play that poorly on offense. It's probably better that we didn't win."

Greg Clay led Warsaw in the scoring column with 15 points, while DeGeeter finished with 10. Shaw scored eight points to go with eight rebounds.

Dye paced Columbia City, now 2-0, with 12 points, while Boylan added 11. Moore finished with nine, while Shively chipped in with eight.

Warsaw (0-1) plays at Fort Wayne South Side Tuesday.

COLUMBIA CITY 47

WARSAW 42 (OT)

Warsaw (0-1) 8 3 12 15 4 - 42

Col. City (2-0) 10 9 14 5 9 - 47

Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.

Seiss (G) 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

G. Clay (G) 6-14 2-3 3 2 15

C. Clay (F) 2-4 0-0 2 0 5

Shaw (F) 3-6 1-2 10 0 8

DeGeeter (C) 4-6 2-2 4 0 10

Walmer 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Datta 0-2 0-0 2 2 0

Fussle 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Knepper 1-2 0-0 3 0 2

Scott 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 17-36 5-7 25 4 42

Col. City FG FT R S Pts.

Dye (F) 3-6 4-4 3 2 12

Shively (G) 2-8 3-7 1 1 8

Boylan (F) 4-6 0-0 2 0 11

M. Moore (G) 3-6 3-5 4 2 9

Sheckler (C) 1-4 0-1 1 0 2

S. Moore 1-1 0-0 0 0 3

Buchanan 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Heuer 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Gardner 1-1 0-0 1 1 2

Myers 0-1 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 15-33 10-17 12 8 47

Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-10 (G. Clay 1-4, C. Clay 1-2, Shaw 1-2, DeGeeter 0-1, Walmer 0-1), Col. City 7-16 (Boylan 3-4, Dye 2-4, Shively 1-5, S. Moore 1-1, M. Moore 0-2). Fouls - Warsaw 17, Col. City 13. Fouled out - none.

JV - Warsaw 27, Columbia City 26

Warsaw scoring - Adam Griggs 12, Todd Braddock 6, Dan Gensinger 3, Riley Fuller 2, Michael Weinhorst 2, Greg Allison 2

Wawasee Edged By Angola In Home Opener

By Rick Blue, Times-Union Sports Correspondent

SYRACUSE -ÊAfter opening with a win against Fairfield, Wawasee stepped up its competition Saturday evening and came so close to leaving with a 2-0 record. But it just was not meant to be.

Wawasee was afforded several opportunities, three in fact, but could not cash in as the Warriors fell to Class 3A 13th-ranked Angola 70-66.

"I think it was some inexperience of being in a crunchtime situation for the first time," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "We just don't take care of the ball during the right times. You've got to give Angola credit for going into a halfcourt trap, which gave us a lot of trouble."

The last 2:03 of the game saw numerous mistakes, missed free throws and very little scoring.

With 1:11 remaining and the score 68-66 in favor of Angola, Hornet forward Rick Gessaman was fouled and then missed the front end of a one-and-one situation.

Just 25 seconds later, Angola guard Stacy Martin was in an identical situation and the result was identical as well, but Gessaman tipped the rebound back to Martin who again was fouled and again missed the one-and-one attempt.

"It looks like we don't practice those very often," Angola coach Greg Holmes said. "Free throws are just a matter of focus. We played hard, but sometimes our mental focus was not there tonight."

Fortunately for Angola, by turning up the defensive pressure, Wawasee turned the ball over after each missed free throw miscue. In fact, Wawasee committed six turnovers in all during the fourth quarter.

After an Angola turnover of its own, it was Wawasee's turn to "brick" a couple of free throws of its own with just 11.1 seconds remaining.

Wawasee freshman guard Kory Lantz stepped to the line with a chance to tie the game but missed the first of two free throws and then missed the second and not purposely.

"We're going to try and make a bucket any time we can," Mishler said of the second missed free throw.

But it was the hustle of Angola's Taylor Watkins who garnered the miss, passed to Martin who in turn threw to Gessaman for the only score during the last 2:03 of the game.

Wawasee was led by a balanced scoring attack with Clint Custer and Ben Knisely each scoring 14.

Angola's Chase Verba led all scorers with 23. Kyle Dygert and Tyler Poor scored 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Wawasee took it to Angola on the boards as it outrebounded the Hornets 26-13 led by Custer's nine.

Angola took a 44-35 lead into the start of the third quarter, but saw it erased as Wawasee took the lead 49-48 on a three by Stephen Conrad at the 3:57 mark.

The next seven minutes saw 10 different lead changes until Dygert gave the Hornets the lead for good with a lay-in to make it 60-59.

"What gave me a problem was our sloppy play in the third quarter," Holmes said. "I've got to give (our) kids credit. They came back and fought back. This is a good Wawasee team. They were a physical team and played us hard."

Both teams shot well from the field as Angola shot at a 60 percent clip and Wawasee (1-1) shot 51 percent. But neither team can brag about the free throw shooting as Angola shot just 50 percent and Wawasee didn't fare much better at 55 percent.

Wawasee will continue stepping up its competition as it will travel to Waterloo to face the fifth-ranked DeKalb Barons Friday.

ANGOLA 70, WAWASEE 66

Wawasee 19 16 20 11 - 66

Angola 21 23 12 14 - 70

Wawasee -ÊKo. Lantz 1-4 0-2 3, Beasley 2-3 0-0 4, Ky. Lantz 5-8 0-0 13, Custer 5-10 3-4 14, Knisely 6-10 2-2 14, Conrad 4-8 1-2 12, Trobaugh 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 6-11 66.

Angola -ÊMartin 3-7 0-2 7, Watkins 1-2 0-0 2, Dygert 6-10 1-1 14, Ch. Verba 11-17 0-0 23, Gessaman 1-1 1-3 3, Poor 4-6 1-2 10, Bolinger 2-3 0-0 5, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Hartman 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 30-50 5-10 70.

Fouls: Wawasee 14, Angola 14. Rebounds Wawasee 26 (Custer 9), Angola 13 (Verba 6). Three-point shots: Wawasee 8-17 (Ko. Lantz 1-3, Beasley 0-1, Ky. Lantz 3-5, Custer 1-2, Conrad 3-5, Stichter 0-1), Angola 5-13 (Martin 1-4, Dygert 1-4, Ch. Verba 1-1, Poor 1-2, Bolinger 1-1, Hartman 0-1).

Warriors Fare Well At Wawasee Wrestling Classic

By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent

SYRACUSE -ÊThe Wawasee coaches all had shirts that read "Six Minutes of Madness," but on this day that was an understatement as Kevin Taylor and his Wawasee wrestling team opened the season Saturday by hosting 17th annual Wawasee Wrestling Classic.

The Warriors played host to five teams in a format calling for each team to wrestle every other team.

It all began at 9:00 a.m. and by the time the last two wrestlers finished it was almost 5:00 p.m. and almost everyone had wrestled five matches in a grueling test in the first meet of the season.

"I knew coming in that Columbia City and Portage would be the teams to contend with," said Taylor after the match.

His prediction was right on track as Portage finished with an unblemished record of 5-0 for the day.

Right behind Portage was Columbia City with a 4-1 record.

Taylor's Warriors finished 3-2, with losses to Portage and Columbia City. Next came Fort Wayne Dwenger at 2-3, Lakeland finished at 1-4, and West Noble was 0-5.

"Overall there was a lot more good than bad," said Taylor.

Portage came into the meet with a No. 2 preseason state ranking, but it had it's hands full with the Warriors in round one, barely squeezing out a 33-27 win.

The only other Warrior loss came to one of the area's strongest programs, Columbia City. The Warriors lost to the Eagles in round five, 42-27.

"We didn't match up well with Columbia City and the final score showed that," said Taylor. "I mean we had some of our tougher kids up against their toughest."

In the other three rounds the Warriors beat F.W. Dwenger 44-27, West Noble 78-6, and Lakeland 77-6.

There were some excellent individual performances on the day and many of those came from the Warriors. Overall 11 wrestlers finished the day with perfect 5-0 records and four of those were wearing Warrior green.

Eric Vallejo at 112 pounds, Mike Hanlin at 140, Josh Roa at 145 and Grant Gibson at 152, were all undefeated for the day.

Portage and Columbia City both had three undefeated wrestlers and Fort Wayne Dwenger had one.

While Taylor had four wrestlers finish undefeated for the day it was another young man who drew the most praise from Taylor.

Trevor Brown wrestled at 160 for the Warriors, a weight that probably isn't natural for him, but like many wrestlers before him it became an issue of too many people at the same weight. With last year's state finalist Josh Roa at 145 and Grant Gibson at 152, it looked as though Brown could provide the most help for the Warriors at 160.

"Trevor did an excellent job. He stepped up this year to 160 and he gave 110 percent today in every match," said Taylor. Brown finished the day 4-1.

Roa, who finished eighth at last year's state finals, had an especially tough path, including a match with a young man from Portage who was also a state qualifier last year.

"I was a bit nervous about Josh's match with Portage," said Taylor. "That kid is tough."

Roa's win in that match, along with his other four wins, earned him the honor of "Outstanding Wrestler" as voted on by the six coaches.

"I was really pleased with today's effort," said Taylor, "If we stay healthy and continue to work hard ... who knows what might happen."

Manchester Basketball Teams Remain Undefeated

Times-Union Staff Report

NORTH MANCHESTER - The Manchester boys and girls basketball teams improved to 2-0 and 5-0, respectively, with wins over county-rival Wabash Saturday night in a varsity doubleheader.

The girls opened the night with a 49-40 win over the Apaches. The Squires took a 31-21 lead into halftime and held on to a lead through the third and fourth quarters to get the win.

Heather Terflinger stepped up for the Squires, scoring 29 points and grabbing three steals. Ann Harms had eight rebounds and six points for Manchester.

In the second part of the doubleheader, the Manchester boys basketball team picked up a 50-44 win over Wabash. The Squires were down 23-22 at the half but fought back to get the victory.

Barry Hicks and Dustin Simcoe both scored in double figures for Manchester. Hicks scored 14 points while dishing out three assists and pulling down four rebounds. Along with scoring 12 points, Simcoe pulled down 10 rebounds and grabbed two steals.

The Manchester girls team is 5-0 on the season and will play at Lewis Cass Tuesday. The boys improve to 2-0 overall and play host to Bishop Dwenger Friday.

Girls

MANCHESTER 49, WABASH 40

Wabash 14 7 5 14 - 40

Manchester 15 16 10 8 - 49

Manchester -ÊPatrick 1 0-0 2, Terflinger 9 10-14 29, Roser 0 1-2 1, Keffaber 2 1-2 5, Fox 2 0-0 4, Harms 3 0-4 6, Farmer 0 0-0 0, Rager 1 2-4 4. Totals - 17 14-26 49.

Wabash -ÊSchuler 1 0-0 3, Lester 2 0-2 4, Dyer 1 2-2 4, Harness 2 0-0 4, Lambert 2 2-3 6, Miller 0 0-0 0, Dawes 4 0-4 10, Dawes 3 0-1 8, Burger 0 1-2 1. Totals -Ê15 5-14 40.

Three-point goals -ÊManchester 1 (Terflinger), Wabash 5 (Dawes 2, Dawes 2, Schuler 1). Fouls -ÊManchester 15, Wabash 19. Fouled out -Ênone.

Boys

MANCHESTER 50, WABASH 44

Wabash 12 11 9 13 - 44

Manchester 17 4 15 13 - 50

Manchester -ÊHicks 3-10 2-2 14, A. Sorg 0-2 5-6 5, Carandante 1-5 0-0 2, Stoops 3-8 3-3 9, Simcoe 2-4 8-10 12, Westendorf 4-5 0-0 8, Harper 0-3 0-0 0. Totals -Ê13-37 18-21 50.

Wabash -ÊKeefer 0-1 2-2 8, Smith 2-4 0-5 4, Ferry 1-1 1-3 3, Siders 0-0 0-0 0, Landis 5-9 3-4 16, Coldren 1-1 2-2 7, Driscoll 2-4 1-4 5, Oswalt 0-0 1-2 1, Sundheimer 0-0 0-0 0, Stensland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -Ê13-20 10-22 44.

Three-point goals -ÊManchester 2-4 (Hicks 2-2, Stoops 0-1, Simcoe 0-1), Wabash 4-13 (Keefer 2-4, Landis 1-5, Coldren 1-4). Rebounds - Manchester 26 (Simcoe 10), Wabash 20 (Coldren 5). Assists -ÊManchester 12 (A. Sorg 7), Wabash 5. Steals -ÊManchester 5 (Simcoe 2), Wabash 11. Fouls -ÊManchester 22, Wabash 16. Fouled out -ÊWestendorf.

Viking Girls Win Tournament

Times-Union Staff Report

AKRON - Led by a pair of double-figure scoring efforts from sophomore Rebekah Parker, Tippecanoe Valley's varsity girls basketball team won the championship of its own Thanksgiving Classic Saturday.

The talented sophomore scored a game-high 14 points in Valley's 40-26 semifinal win over John Glenn and came back and scored a game-high 15 points as the Vikings beat Fort Wayne Elmhurst 61-35 in the championship game.

With the two wins, Valley improves to 5-1 on the season.

Senior Tabitha Pratt added eight points in the seminfinal game and 10 in the championship, while Kathy Prater scored six in the first game and seven in the title tilt.

The Vikings will host Three Rivers Conference foe Oak Hill Saturday.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 61, FW ELMHURST 35 (championship)

Elmhurst 11 2 10 12 - 35

Valley 15 17 17 12 - 61

Valley - Pratt 2 6-8 10, Rosenstiel 2 0-0 4, Prater 3 1-2 7, Clauson 0 3-4 3, Denny 2 0-0 4, Green 2 1-4 5, Zehr 1 0-0 2, Parker 7 0-0 15, Shafer 3 0-0 7, Anglin 1 0-0 2, Weaver 0 0-4 0, Kramer 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 11-22 61.

Three-point goals - Elmhurst 2 (Kennedy 2), Valley 2 (Parker 1, Shafer 1). Rebounds - Elmhurst 20, Valley 31 (Parker 8, Pratt 5, Clauson 5). Turnovers - Elmhurst 24, Valley 16. Fouls - Elmhurst 20, Valley 16. Fouled out - Hodgin.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 40, JOHN GLENN 26

Glenn 7 8 2 9 - 26

Valley 20 7 9 4 - 40

Valley - Pratt 2 3-4 8, Rosenstiel 0 0-0 0, Prater 3 0-0 6, Clauson 2 0-1 4, Denny 1 0-0 3, Green 0 0-0 0, Zehr 0 0-0 0, Parker 6 2-2 14, Shafer 2 0-0 5, Anglin 0 0-0 0, Weaver 0 0-0 0, Kramer 0 0-0 0. Totals - 16 5-7 40.

Three-point goals - Glenn 1 (Gierlowski), Valley 3 (Pratt 1, Denny 1, Shafer 1). Rebounds - Glenn 14, Valley 20 (Clauson 5). Turnovers - Glenn 21, Valley 16. Fouls - Glenn 5, Valley 12. Fouled out - none.

*The remainder of the high school roundup will appear in Tuesday's paper. [[In-content Ad]]