Tigers Balanced In Win Over Zebras
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
"We had to have balance tonight," Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said. "We had to. It wasn't going to be one guy. Nic Moore is averaging 24 points a game, if you take out the Huntington game when he played one minute. You take out 24 points of offense, it's not going to come from one person."[[In-content Ad]]And it didn't, it came from four guys.
Senior Andy Conrad led the Tigers (4-1) with 13 points, followed by 10 each from senior Zack Linky and sophomore Lucas Grose, as well as another eight from senior Justin Clemens.
The majority of Warsaw's points came after inexperienced guards found a way to break Rochester's half-court trap, finding Clemens at the free-throw line. From there, Clemens would simply turn and pass the ball to an open player on the block.
"He was the quarterback in the middle of the floor," Ogle said of Clemens, who quarterbacked the Warsaw football team. "We'd get it to him and he was hitting Jalen Roscoe up the court, Andy Conrad and other people. Tonight, he got to settle back into his quarterback role playing in the middle of the trap."
Settling back into his quarterbacking ways, Clemens helped the Tigers finish with a 20-of-30 shooting night, dishing out four assists, while Conrad, Linky and Grose each had three.
Getting 80 percent of their baskets off assists, Warsaw finished the game shooting 67 percent from the floor.
"They were able to use their size and throw over it sometimes," Rochester coach Rob Malchow said of Warsaw breaking through the trapping defense for easy buckets. "They're well-coached and they move the ball well. They did what they needed to do to make the defense look pretty bad at times."
And if it hadn't been for Moore's injury, Malchow said he may not have used the traps as much.
"We had no anticipation of doing that much half-court trapping had Nic played," Malchow said. "We were well aware of what Nic's capable of, but when he didn't play, we knew that would put the ball in the hands of people that maybe don't have it as much as when he's on the floor. We wanted to exploit that."
The ball was put into the hands of sophomore Jordyn Coon, who did a good job of running the offense before fouling out with 7:12 to play in the fourth quarter, and Warsaw up 37-31.
Without a true point guard on the floor, Linky and Grose stepped up, handling the traps and actually increasing the lead in the process.
Playing an increased role, Grose got his 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while also leading the team with six rebounds, and Linky posted two steals to go with his three assists and 10 points.
While Warsaw was working the ball around, Rochester relied on the scoring of junior Evan Hoff and senior Colt Meadows, who scored 17 and 11 points, respectively.
Despite getting their points, Hoff reached his game-high on 7-of-17 shooting and Meadows needed 12 shot attempts to reach his 11 points.
"They didn't get the three-point looks they've been getting in their first three games," Ogle said of the Zebras, who finished the game hitting 5 of 18 three-pointers. "I thought we played pretty smart."
Early in the game, Warsaw was playing very smart and scoring at will to take a 17-4 lead following a Linky three-pointer with 2:50 to play in the first quarter.
"We got off to a great start, which we needed to do," Ogle said. "We haven't been playing with a lot confidence, so the start really boosted our confidence."
That confidence began to fade a bit when the Tigers went scoreless over the next seven minutes, allowing the Zebras to climb within 18-15 at the 4:13 mark in the second quarter.
However, once Warsaw found its scoring touch again, the Tigers closed the half on an 8-4 run, extending the halftime lead to 26-19, keeping Rochester at bay the rest of the night.
"Without Nic Moore, our guys were really ready," Ogle said. "I was proud of our poise."
Ogle anticipates having Moore back for Warsaw's Northern Lakes Conference opener Friday at the Tiger Den against the Wawasee Warriors.
Wawasee currently sits at 3-0 on the season, averaging 106 points a game.
"We're looking forward to that game," Ogle said. "We have a lot of respect for Wawasee. Their style of play is challenging to get ready for. I think we will be ready."
WARSAW 49, ROCHESTER 38
W 17 9 11 12 - 49
R 12 7 9 10 - 38
Warsaw - Andy Conrad 5-10 3-4 13, Justin Clemens 3-5 2-2 8, Jordyn Coon 2-2 0-0 4, Zack Linky 3-5 2-2 10, Lucas Grose 5-6 0-0 10, Joey Sparkman 0-0 0-0 0, Brock Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Jalen Roscoe 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 20-30 7-8 49.
Rochester - Marc Bowers 1-1 0-0 2, Evan Hoff 7-17 0-0 17, Colt Meadows 4-12 1-2 11, Collin Harris 1-3 0-1 2, Nathan Sewell 2-2 0-0 4, Cameron Screeton 1-2 0-0 2, Cahner Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 1-3 38.
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-5 (Linky 2), Rochester 5-18 (Hoff 3, Meadows 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Warsaw 12 (Coon), Rochester 13; Turnovers - Warsaw 15, Rochester 18; Rebounds - Warsaw 19 (Grose 6), Rochester 13 (Meadows 4); Assists - Warsaw 16 (Clemens 4, Conrad 3, Linky 3, Grose 3), Rochester 5 (Meadows 3); Steals - Warsaw 7 (Clemens 3), Rochester 7 (Meadows 3); Blocks - Warsaw 0, Rochester 1; Records: Warsaw 4-1, Rochester 2-2
JV - Warsaw 35, Rochester 28
Warsaw - Clay Anderson 12, Jay Holloday 6, Travis Thomas 6, Brock Anson 5, Jordan Wray 4, Rhett Kessler 2
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"We had to have balance tonight," Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said. "We had to. It wasn't going to be one guy. Nic Moore is averaging 24 points a game, if you take out the Huntington game when he played one minute. You take out 24 points of offense, it's not going to come from one person."[[In-content Ad]]And it didn't, it came from four guys.
Senior Andy Conrad led the Tigers (4-1) with 13 points, followed by 10 each from senior Zack Linky and sophomore Lucas Grose, as well as another eight from senior Justin Clemens.
The majority of Warsaw's points came after inexperienced guards found a way to break Rochester's half-court trap, finding Clemens at the free-throw line. From there, Clemens would simply turn and pass the ball to an open player on the block.
"He was the quarterback in the middle of the floor," Ogle said of Clemens, who quarterbacked the Warsaw football team. "We'd get it to him and he was hitting Jalen Roscoe up the court, Andy Conrad and other people. Tonight, he got to settle back into his quarterback role playing in the middle of the trap."
Settling back into his quarterbacking ways, Clemens helped the Tigers finish with a 20-of-30 shooting night, dishing out four assists, while Conrad, Linky and Grose each had three.
Getting 80 percent of their baskets off assists, Warsaw finished the game shooting 67 percent from the floor.
"They were able to use their size and throw over it sometimes," Rochester coach Rob Malchow said of Warsaw breaking through the trapping defense for easy buckets. "They're well-coached and they move the ball well. They did what they needed to do to make the defense look pretty bad at times."
And if it hadn't been for Moore's injury, Malchow said he may not have used the traps as much.
"We had no anticipation of doing that much half-court trapping had Nic played," Malchow said. "We were well aware of what Nic's capable of, but when he didn't play, we knew that would put the ball in the hands of people that maybe don't have it as much as when he's on the floor. We wanted to exploit that."
The ball was put into the hands of sophomore Jordyn Coon, who did a good job of running the offense before fouling out with 7:12 to play in the fourth quarter, and Warsaw up 37-31.
Without a true point guard on the floor, Linky and Grose stepped up, handling the traps and actually increasing the lead in the process.
Playing an increased role, Grose got his 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while also leading the team with six rebounds, and Linky posted two steals to go with his three assists and 10 points.
While Warsaw was working the ball around, Rochester relied on the scoring of junior Evan Hoff and senior Colt Meadows, who scored 17 and 11 points, respectively.
Despite getting their points, Hoff reached his game-high on 7-of-17 shooting and Meadows needed 12 shot attempts to reach his 11 points.
"They didn't get the three-point looks they've been getting in their first three games," Ogle said of the Zebras, who finished the game hitting 5 of 18 three-pointers. "I thought we played pretty smart."
Early in the game, Warsaw was playing very smart and scoring at will to take a 17-4 lead following a Linky three-pointer with 2:50 to play in the first quarter.
"We got off to a great start, which we needed to do," Ogle said. "We haven't been playing with a lot confidence, so the start really boosted our confidence."
That confidence began to fade a bit when the Tigers went scoreless over the next seven minutes, allowing the Zebras to climb within 18-15 at the 4:13 mark in the second quarter.
However, once Warsaw found its scoring touch again, the Tigers closed the half on an 8-4 run, extending the halftime lead to 26-19, keeping Rochester at bay the rest of the night.
"Without Nic Moore, our guys were really ready," Ogle said. "I was proud of our poise."
Ogle anticipates having Moore back for Warsaw's Northern Lakes Conference opener Friday at the Tiger Den against the Wawasee Warriors.
Wawasee currently sits at 3-0 on the season, averaging 106 points a game.
"We're looking forward to that game," Ogle said. "We have a lot of respect for Wawasee. Their style of play is challenging to get ready for. I think we will be ready."
WARSAW 49, ROCHESTER 38
W 17 9 11 12 - 49
R 12 7 9 10 - 38
Warsaw - Andy Conrad 5-10 3-4 13, Justin Clemens 3-5 2-2 8, Jordyn Coon 2-2 0-0 4, Zack Linky 3-5 2-2 10, Lucas Grose 5-6 0-0 10, Joey Sparkman 0-0 0-0 0, Brock Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Jalen Roscoe 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 20-30 7-8 49.
Rochester - Marc Bowers 1-1 0-0 2, Evan Hoff 7-17 0-0 17, Colt Meadows 4-12 1-2 11, Collin Harris 1-3 0-1 2, Nathan Sewell 2-2 0-0 4, Cameron Screeton 1-2 0-0 2, Cahner Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 1-3 38.
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-5 (Linky 2), Rochester 5-18 (Hoff 3, Meadows 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Warsaw 12 (Coon), Rochester 13; Turnovers - Warsaw 15, Rochester 18; Rebounds - Warsaw 19 (Grose 6), Rochester 13 (Meadows 4); Assists - Warsaw 16 (Clemens 4, Conrad 3, Linky 3, Grose 3), Rochester 5 (Meadows 3); Steals - Warsaw 7 (Clemens 3), Rochester 7 (Meadows 3); Blocks - Warsaw 0, Rochester 1; Records: Warsaw 4-1, Rochester 2-2
JV - Warsaw 35, Rochester 28
Warsaw - Clay Anderson 12, Jay Holloday 6, Travis Thomas 6, Brock Anson 5, Jordan Wray 4, Rhett Kessler 2
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