Coming into this season, the thought was no returning starters for the Tigers, no chance for any kind success. It was going to be a rebuilding year for Warsaw.

This edition of the Tigers proved that wrong and wrapped up at least a tie for the NLC title with an 81-67 win over NorthWood Wednesday at the Tiger Den.

Warsaw can win the title outright if Goshen beats Plymouth on Friday.

"I am very proud of this group of seniors," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "We had a tough night at Plymouth. But looking at the overall picture coming into the season, for this group to end up conference champions is certainly quite an accomplishment, and something we are very proud of. A lot of teams had more players back, and we had no starters returning. This is a team that has had to fight for everything it gets. We are not pretty sometimes."

With the win, Warsaw extended its home-court winning streak to 20 games, including all 12 games this year.

It wasn't easy for the Tigers against a scrappy Panther squad. Heading into the contest, Warsaw was the decided favorite, but NorthWood would not go away. The Tigers led the whole game, but never by very much. Warsaw never led by more than 12 points or less than five points until the fourth quarter.

Leading 56-47 heading into the fourth, Warsaw went on a 16-6 run and finally grabbed control of the game.

"We got our first unit back together (after foul trouble), and we had better defensive intensity," Rhodes said. "We didn't give up easy shots, and we were able to get some fastbreaks on rebound and steal situations.

"They (NorthWood) have been behind in a lot of games, and they always stay tough," he said. "Coach (Dan) Gunn keeps them battling, and they are scrappy on defense."

For the third time in four games, the Tigers' shooting was on fire. Warsaw hit on 27 of 34 (79 percent) from the field and 24 of 31 at the free throw line. The Tigers' undoing, though, was turnovers, which Warsaw ended up with 25 of.

"We had them spread out and took advantage of their overplay a couple of times, and did a nice job of cutting to the basket and making some passes from the high post," Gunn said. "We kept good pressure on the ball and didn't give them layups."

NorthWood shot well itself from the field (22 of 41, 54 percent), but hit only 16 of 32 from the free throw line.

"We did some things right, but you are not going to beat a team like Warsaw shooting so pitifully poor from the free throw line," Gunn said. "That just broke our back. In the first half, we might have even been ahead if we had hit our free throws with any regularity."

Andy Plank led the Tigers with 18 points, while Tom Krizmanich had 16. It marks the first time in seven games that Krizmanich hasn't scored at least 20 points in a game.

Warsaw's second-leading scorer, Tyler Charlton, was saddled with foul trouble and ended up with only four points, nine points below his average. But Jason Alspaugh (13 points), Chris Hill (12 points) and Luke Reed (10 points, 8 rebounds) stepped up in his absence for the Tigers.

"Charlton is a guy you have to watch," Gunn said. "He is the kind of guy you don't want to get started, and Plank is the same way. And Krizmanich is going to score his points. They did a nice job of passing the ball, they are very unselfish, and that makes them a good basketball team. To win here is tough, anybody can tell you that. Our kids came over and competed."

Bobby Brown led the Panthers with 19 points.

Warsaw (15-3, 5-1) hosts Gary Wirt Friday. NorthWood is now 7-10 overall and 1-4 in the NLC. [[In-content Ad]]