Tigers Down But Not Out In Goshen
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
GOSHEN - Although Warsaw trailed Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen for the majority of Friday's boys basketball game, the Tigers defeated the Redskins 43-39 in a defensive showdown.
"The NLC is a defensive conference," said Al Rhodes. "And tonight's game was a good example of that."
Goshen took an early 6-0 lead, and its defensive effort kept Warsaw scoreless for more than two minutes.
The first Tiger points came on two Zach Nelson free throws with 5:42 left in the first quarter to make the score 6-2 in Goshen's favor.
Goshen allowed Warsaw to score only seven points in the next five minutes, and by the end of the first quarter Goshen held a 15-9 lead.
The second quarter began the same way the first ended, with a solid defensive effort, and the score stood at 15-9 for the first minute of play.
With 6:57 left in the second frame, Josh Keister scored a basket to put Goshen up 17-9.
Then another full minute ticked away before the ball sailed through the net again when Warsaw scored its first basket of the second quarter to make the score 17-11 with 5:35 remaining in the half.
Down 19-11, Warsaw needed a spark to get the back into the game. That spark came in the form of a three-point goal from Chris Wiggins that cut Goshen's lead from eight to five.
After a steal and a quick lay-up from Ross Kesler with 1:30 left in the second quarter, Warsaw was within one point at 23-22.
Goshen's David Rossi nailed two shots from the charity stripe with just four seconds left in the game to give the Redskins a three-point lead as they went to the locker room with a 25-22 score.
"We made a lot of mistakes in the first half," said Rhodes. "We got in foul trouble, and we got into the one-and-one early."
The third quarter began like the second did and remained scoreless for over a minute until Tom Hoogenboom scored a two-point goal to give the Redskins a 27-22 lead.
Warsaw then scored six unanswered points to take its first lead of the game, 29-27, with 5:10 left in the third frame.
The third quarter continue to see-saw back and forth, and then the fourth quarter began with a tied score, 35-35.
The fourth quarter was a defensive showdown at its best.
Nelson scored a free throw with 6:52 left in the game to put the Tigers up 36-35. With 4:19 left in the fourth frame, Goshen's Josh Kurtz stole the ball and took it down the court for a basket that was taken away due to a controversial charging call.
The score stood at 36-35 until Phil Mikel sank a three-point goal to give the Redskins a 38-36 lead with 2:53 left on the clock.
Less than 20 seconds later, Wiggins scored a crucial field goal to tie the score at 38.
With just 46 ticks on the clock, Ross Kesler stole the ball from Goshen and passed it to Greg Seiss for a quick lay-up to give Warsaw a 40-38 lead.
Nine seconds later, Rob Kesler stole the ball from Goshen again and took the ball to the hoop for a lay-up of his own to give Warsaw a 42-38 lead.
With nine seconds left in the game, David Rossi stepped to the free throw line to attempt a one-and-one bonus shot in a last-ditch effort to put the Redskins back in the game.
Rossi swished the first free throw but missed the second to make the score 39-42.
Warsaw's Steve Siebenmorgen put the final nail in the Redskin coffin as he made a free throw with seven seconds left to take the game to its final 43-39 score.
When all was said and done, just 12 total points were scored in the final quarter of play.
"We were much more patient tonight," said Goshen head coach Mike Sorrell. "Honestly, I expected to win tonight.
"I planned this game. I planned to beat them in execution. We didn't play any better than I expected, except in rebounding. That's the one area we performed better than I planned."
Although the Tigers scraped by with a win, Rhodes was not impressed with his teams performance.
"We played tough, but I don't think we played well," said Rhodes. "Goshen really did a good job. They made us play poorly.
"Despite the fact that we are 3-0, we have a long way to go."
Nelson led the Tigers with 13 points, three steals, and five rebounds while Wiggins added 10 points, and four boards.
Mikel led the Redskins with 11 points, three rebounds, and two steals, and Keister added eight points, and one rebound.
The Tigers will try to improve their record to 4-0 when they travel to Valparaiso tonight to face the 3-0 Vikings.
Warsaw 43 Goshen 39
Warsaw 9 13 13 8 - 43
Goshen 15 10 10 4 - 39
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Nelson 5-9 3-4 5 3 13
Rs. Kesler 1-1 0-1 1 1 2
Siebenmorgen 0-4 3-6 6 2 3
Rb. Kesler 1-3 0-2 1 2 2
Wiggins 4-12 0-0 4 0 10
Grossnickle 3-3 1-1 1 1 7
Seiss 2-2 0-0 1 0 4
Donkers 1-1 0-1 0 0 2
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Total 17-31 7-15 19 9 43
Goshen FG FT R S Pts.
Hoogenboom 2-4 2-2 3 0 6
Keister 3-6 0-0 1 0 8
Kincaid 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Kurtz 2-4 0-2 5 1 4
Mikel 4-12 2-3 3 2 11
Rossi 1-3 3-3 0 0 6
DeFrees 2-7 0-3 1 0 4
Bushong 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Total 14-36 7-14 13 4 39
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-5 (Wiggins 2-5), Goshen 4-9 (Keister 2-4, Mikel 1-2, Rossi 1-2). Rebounds - Warsaw 19 (Siebenmorgen 6, Nelson 5, Wiggins 4), Goshen 13 (Kurtz 5). Assists - Steals - 9 (Nelson 3, Rob Kesler 2, Siebenmorgen 2), Goshen 4 (Mikel 2). Turnovers - Warsaw 20, Goshen 14. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Goshen 18.
Officials - Stan Freeman (Kokomo), Steve Elkins (Kokomo).
JV Score - Warsaw 38, Goshen 27 [[In-content Ad]]
GOSHEN - Although Warsaw trailed Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen for the majority of Friday's boys basketball game, the Tigers defeated the Redskins 43-39 in a defensive showdown.
"The NLC is a defensive conference," said Al Rhodes. "And tonight's game was a good example of that."
Goshen took an early 6-0 lead, and its defensive effort kept Warsaw scoreless for more than two minutes.
The first Tiger points came on two Zach Nelson free throws with 5:42 left in the first quarter to make the score 6-2 in Goshen's favor.
Goshen allowed Warsaw to score only seven points in the next five minutes, and by the end of the first quarter Goshen held a 15-9 lead.
The second quarter began the same way the first ended, with a solid defensive effort, and the score stood at 15-9 for the first minute of play.
With 6:57 left in the second frame, Josh Keister scored a basket to put Goshen up 17-9.
Then another full minute ticked away before the ball sailed through the net again when Warsaw scored its first basket of the second quarter to make the score 17-11 with 5:35 remaining in the half.
Down 19-11, Warsaw needed a spark to get the back into the game. That spark came in the form of a three-point goal from Chris Wiggins that cut Goshen's lead from eight to five.
After a steal and a quick lay-up from Ross Kesler with 1:30 left in the second quarter, Warsaw was within one point at 23-22.
Goshen's David Rossi nailed two shots from the charity stripe with just four seconds left in the game to give the Redskins a three-point lead as they went to the locker room with a 25-22 score.
"We made a lot of mistakes in the first half," said Rhodes. "We got in foul trouble, and we got into the one-and-one early."
The third quarter began like the second did and remained scoreless for over a minute until Tom Hoogenboom scored a two-point goal to give the Redskins a 27-22 lead.
Warsaw then scored six unanswered points to take its first lead of the game, 29-27, with 5:10 left in the third frame.
The third quarter continue to see-saw back and forth, and then the fourth quarter began with a tied score, 35-35.
The fourth quarter was a defensive showdown at its best.
Nelson scored a free throw with 6:52 left in the game to put the Tigers up 36-35. With 4:19 left in the fourth frame, Goshen's Josh Kurtz stole the ball and took it down the court for a basket that was taken away due to a controversial charging call.
The score stood at 36-35 until Phil Mikel sank a three-point goal to give the Redskins a 38-36 lead with 2:53 left on the clock.
Less than 20 seconds later, Wiggins scored a crucial field goal to tie the score at 38.
With just 46 ticks on the clock, Ross Kesler stole the ball from Goshen and passed it to Greg Seiss for a quick lay-up to give Warsaw a 40-38 lead.
Nine seconds later, Rob Kesler stole the ball from Goshen again and took the ball to the hoop for a lay-up of his own to give Warsaw a 42-38 lead.
With nine seconds left in the game, David Rossi stepped to the free throw line to attempt a one-and-one bonus shot in a last-ditch effort to put the Redskins back in the game.
Rossi swished the first free throw but missed the second to make the score 39-42.
Warsaw's Steve Siebenmorgen put the final nail in the Redskin coffin as he made a free throw with seven seconds left to take the game to its final 43-39 score.
When all was said and done, just 12 total points were scored in the final quarter of play.
"We were much more patient tonight," said Goshen head coach Mike Sorrell. "Honestly, I expected to win tonight.
"I planned this game. I planned to beat them in execution. We didn't play any better than I expected, except in rebounding. That's the one area we performed better than I planned."
Although the Tigers scraped by with a win, Rhodes was not impressed with his teams performance.
"We played tough, but I don't think we played well," said Rhodes. "Goshen really did a good job. They made us play poorly.
"Despite the fact that we are 3-0, we have a long way to go."
Nelson led the Tigers with 13 points, three steals, and five rebounds while Wiggins added 10 points, and four boards.
Mikel led the Redskins with 11 points, three rebounds, and two steals, and Keister added eight points, and one rebound.
The Tigers will try to improve their record to 4-0 when they travel to Valparaiso tonight to face the 3-0 Vikings.
Warsaw 43 Goshen 39
Warsaw 9 13 13 8 - 43
Goshen 15 10 10 4 - 39
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Nelson 5-9 3-4 5 3 13
Rs. Kesler 1-1 0-1 1 1 2
Siebenmorgen 0-4 3-6 6 2 3
Rb. Kesler 1-3 0-2 1 2 2
Wiggins 4-12 0-0 4 0 10
Grossnickle 3-3 1-1 1 1 7
Seiss 2-2 0-0 1 0 4
Donkers 1-1 0-1 0 0 2
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Total 17-31 7-15 19 9 43
Goshen FG FT R S Pts.
Hoogenboom 2-4 2-2 3 0 6
Keister 3-6 0-0 1 0 8
Kincaid 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Kurtz 2-4 0-2 5 1 4
Mikel 4-12 2-3 3 2 11
Rossi 1-3 3-3 0 0 6
DeFrees 2-7 0-3 1 0 4
Bushong 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Total 14-36 7-14 13 4 39
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-5 (Wiggins 2-5), Goshen 4-9 (Keister 2-4, Mikel 1-2, Rossi 1-2). Rebounds - Warsaw 19 (Siebenmorgen 6, Nelson 5, Wiggins 4), Goshen 13 (Kurtz 5). Assists - Steals - 9 (Nelson 3, Rob Kesler 2, Siebenmorgen 2), Goshen 4 (Mikel 2). Turnovers - Warsaw 20, Goshen 14. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Goshen 18.
Officials - Stan Freeman (Kokomo), Steve Elkins (Kokomo).
JV Score - Warsaw 38, Goshen 27 [[In-content Ad]]