Tigers End 2-Game Losing Streak
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
As far as Al Rhodes was concerned, Jim Miller's timing was perfect.
After Northridge's boys basketball team drilled Warsaw 75-56 the night before, Miller arrived Saturday for a visit with Rhodes. Miller coached Rhodes when he played basketball for Penn, and Rhodes served as an assistant coach under Miller for four years at Warsaw.
"With me, after the tough loss (Friday) night, I was rejuvenated by seeing coach," Rhodes said.
Rhodes watched his Tigers (5-2) bounce back at home in Saturday's 56-40 win over Elkhart Central (1-4), last year's Class 4A state runners-up.
The Tigers, a team ranked No. 6 in the state in Class 4A, entered the Central game on a two-game losing streak. Following the 19-point loss, Rhodes said he would use Saturday morning to reassess his team.
"This win tonight was extremely important from a confidence standpoint," Rhodes said.
About the only thing resembling last year's Elkhart Central team were the uniforms. Gone were guards Anthony Kyle and James Scott, the two guards who drove Warsaw batty in last year's Elkhart Sectional championship game, won by Central 53-51.
And the Tigers did not resemble the team Rhodes envisioned at the start of the season. Senior guard Chris Wiggins, a starter who sprained his ankle two Saturdays ago, sat out. At the 3:32 mark of the first quarter, starting 6-foot-6 senior forward Steve Siebenmorgen joined him on the sideline after a scary collision.
Central sophomore guard Brad Pompey, driving to the basket, collided with Siebenmorgen, who was called for the foul. Siebenmorgen fell and banged his head on the floor, and shortly after, his legs and arms began shaking. When he stopped shaking, trainers helped him off the floor and to the bench, where he held his head with his hands.
The dazed Siebenmorgen stayed in his seat on the bench until halftime, when two people helped him change his shoes so he could leave for a CAT scan.
Reached at home Monday, Rhodes said, "He has a second-degree concussion. He will be out a week from the time his headaches stop."
Wiggins and Siebenmorgen entered the weekend as Warsaw's top scorers with 12.6 and 11.8 points per game respectively. Even without them, after leading 26-23 at halftime, Warsaw pulled away in the second half for a 16-point win.
"Considering we were without Wiggins and Siebenmorgen," Rhodes said, "I thought it was an excellent performance."
Wiggins played in Friday's 19-point loss at Northridge and did not re-injure himself. Asked why he did not play against Central, Rhodes said, "It was a coaching decision on Chris. He's not hurting himself any worse when he plays. We played him against Northridge because we knew Northridge would play zone, so we were hoping that would open outside shooting for him. We decided not to play him tonight to let him heal for the (Dec. 28-29) Holiday Tournament."
Starting senior guard Ross Kesler, who had been injured earlier in the season, scored 16, grabbed seven rebounds and nabbed three steals to lead Warsaw. Senior center Zach Nelson added 16, and sophomore point guard Brad Seiss scored a varsity career-high 10 points.
With just over two minutes left in the game, Central had scored only 12 points in the second half as Warsaw built a 50-35 lead.
The Tigers did two things to extend their lead: They went to a zone defense in the second half that stopped Elkhart Central from driving the lane and hitting runners. They rebounded better on the defensive end.
The Blue Blazers stayed close in the first half by hitting second-chance baskets following offensive rebounds. After Warsaw took that option away and kept the Blue Blazers from driving through the paint, the offense crashed.
The Blazers had no perimeter shooting threats and never solved Warsaw's zone defense so they could get the ball to senior center Antwan Cassell, Central's leading scorer with 14 points.
Offensively, with two starters out, the sophomore Seiss grabbed the Tigers by the scruff of the neck and pointed them in the right direction. Seiss scored all 10 in the second half and did what point guards are supposed to do, drive to the basket and break down defenses. Seiss attempted 10 free throws in the half.
Central coach Mike Drews did not know Seiss' name but he remembered his number.
"Number 11 did a nice job of gaining confidence, driving at us hard and getting to the free-throw line," he said.
The sophomore who previously had looked like he was feeling his way around the court found his way on the court this night.
"Brad Seiss played his most take-charge game," Rhodes said. "He was very assertive, and his dribble-penetration created several free-throw situations."
Nelson scored eight in the second half as he and Seiss combined for 18 of Warsaw's 30 second-half points.
The Tigers hit 14 of 18 free throws in the second half, including 10 of 10 in the fourth quarter. After leading 38-31 at the end of three quarters, Warsaw outscored Central 18-9 in the final quarter.
"I'm disappointed," Drews said. "I felt like we backed off in the fourth quarter and made some silly mistakes. We did not have defensive balance, and they just threw over us."
No. 6 (4A) WARSAW 56
ELKHART CENTRAL 40
E. Central (1-4) 12 11 8 9 - 40
Warsaw (5-2) 10 16 12 18 - 56
E. Central FG FT A S R Pts.
Cassell (C) 7-10 0-0 0 1 9 14
Pompey (G) 1-8 1-2 0 1 3 4
Robinson (G) 2-7 0-0 0 2 1 4
Johnson (F) 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Edwards (F) 0-2 2-4 0 0 5 2
Sheppard 4-8 0-0 0 2 1 8
VanNorman 0-0 4-6 0 0 2 4
Gawthrop 1-2 0-0 0 0 3 2
VanDyke 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Duddy 0-1 0-1 0 0 1 0
Walker 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 16-41 7-13 0 6 25 40
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Kesler (G) 6-7 4-8 2 3 7 16
Nelson (C) 5-9 6-7 0 0 4 16
B. Seiss (G) 1-2 8-11 2 3 2 10
Finnegan (G) 0-4 0-0 2 0 5 0
Sbnmorgn (F) 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Buck 3-6 1-2 0 3 3 7
Martin 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 3
G. Seiss 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Rhodes 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 2
Henthorn 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 18-34 19-28 7 9 23 56
Three-point goals - Elkhart Central 1-4 (Pompey 1-1, Sheppard 0-2, Duddy 0-1), Warsaw 1-3 (Martin 1-2, Rhodes 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 10, Elkhart Central 15. Total fouls - Elkhart Central 23, Warsaw 16. Fouled out -ÊRobinson, Finnegan.
JV - WARSAW 56, ELKHART CENTRAL 37
Warsaw (7-0) scoring - Greg Clay 22, Chris Clay 13, Jerad Shaw 6, Brian Johnson 6, Suraj Datta 3, David Fawley 2, Nick Bolesky 2.
Elkhart Central (2-3) scoring - Jerimy Robinson 8, Larrone Johnson 8, Cameron Macon 6, Kenny Donaldson 6, Pat Collins 2, Nick Eppers 2, Spencer McSorely 2, Matt Glynn 2.
*Warsaw's JV consecutive-wins streak has reached 23 games. [[In-content Ad]]
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As far as Al Rhodes was concerned, Jim Miller's timing was perfect.
After Northridge's boys basketball team drilled Warsaw 75-56 the night before, Miller arrived Saturday for a visit with Rhodes. Miller coached Rhodes when he played basketball for Penn, and Rhodes served as an assistant coach under Miller for four years at Warsaw.
"With me, after the tough loss (Friday) night, I was rejuvenated by seeing coach," Rhodes said.
Rhodes watched his Tigers (5-2) bounce back at home in Saturday's 56-40 win over Elkhart Central (1-4), last year's Class 4A state runners-up.
The Tigers, a team ranked No. 6 in the state in Class 4A, entered the Central game on a two-game losing streak. Following the 19-point loss, Rhodes said he would use Saturday morning to reassess his team.
"This win tonight was extremely important from a confidence standpoint," Rhodes said.
About the only thing resembling last year's Elkhart Central team were the uniforms. Gone were guards Anthony Kyle and James Scott, the two guards who drove Warsaw batty in last year's Elkhart Sectional championship game, won by Central 53-51.
And the Tigers did not resemble the team Rhodes envisioned at the start of the season. Senior guard Chris Wiggins, a starter who sprained his ankle two Saturdays ago, sat out. At the 3:32 mark of the first quarter, starting 6-foot-6 senior forward Steve Siebenmorgen joined him on the sideline after a scary collision.
Central sophomore guard Brad Pompey, driving to the basket, collided with Siebenmorgen, who was called for the foul. Siebenmorgen fell and banged his head on the floor, and shortly after, his legs and arms began shaking. When he stopped shaking, trainers helped him off the floor and to the bench, where he held his head with his hands.
The dazed Siebenmorgen stayed in his seat on the bench until halftime, when two people helped him change his shoes so he could leave for a CAT scan.
Reached at home Monday, Rhodes said, "He has a second-degree concussion. He will be out a week from the time his headaches stop."
Wiggins and Siebenmorgen entered the weekend as Warsaw's top scorers with 12.6 and 11.8 points per game respectively. Even without them, after leading 26-23 at halftime, Warsaw pulled away in the second half for a 16-point win.
"Considering we were without Wiggins and Siebenmorgen," Rhodes said, "I thought it was an excellent performance."
Wiggins played in Friday's 19-point loss at Northridge and did not re-injure himself. Asked why he did not play against Central, Rhodes said, "It was a coaching decision on Chris. He's not hurting himself any worse when he plays. We played him against Northridge because we knew Northridge would play zone, so we were hoping that would open outside shooting for him. We decided not to play him tonight to let him heal for the (Dec. 28-29) Holiday Tournament."
Starting senior guard Ross Kesler, who had been injured earlier in the season, scored 16, grabbed seven rebounds and nabbed three steals to lead Warsaw. Senior center Zach Nelson added 16, and sophomore point guard Brad Seiss scored a varsity career-high 10 points.
With just over two minutes left in the game, Central had scored only 12 points in the second half as Warsaw built a 50-35 lead.
The Tigers did two things to extend their lead: They went to a zone defense in the second half that stopped Elkhart Central from driving the lane and hitting runners. They rebounded better on the defensive end.
The Blue Blazers stayed close in the first half by hitting second-chance baskets following offensive rebounds. After Warsaw took that option away and kept the Blue Blazers from driving through the paint, the offense crashed.
The Blazers had no perimeter shooting threats and never solved Warsaw's zone defense so they could get the ball to senior center Antwan Cassell, Central's leading scorer with 14 points.
Offensively, with two starters out, the sophomore Seiss grabbed the Tigers by the scruff of the neck and pointed them in the right direction. Seiss scored all 10 in the second half and did what point guards are supposed to do, drive to the basket and break down defenses. Seiss attempted 10 free throws in the half.
Central coach Mike Drews did not know Seiss' name but he remembered his number.
"Number 11 did a nice job of gaining confidence, driving at us hard and getting to the free-throw line," he said.
The sophomore who previously had looked like he was feeling his way around the court found his way on the court this night.
"Brad Seiss played his most take-charge game," Rhodes said. "He was very assertive, and his dribble-penetration created several free-throw situations."
Nelson scored eight in the second half as he and Seiss combined for 18 of Warsaw's 30 second-half points.
The Tigers hit 14 of 18 free throws in the second half, including 10 of 10 in the fourth quarter. After leading 38-31 at the end of three quarters, Warsaw outscored Central 18-9 in the final quarter.
"I'm disappointed," Drews said. "I felt like we backed off in the fourth quarter and made some silly mistakes. We did not have defensive balance, and they just threw over us."
No. 6 (4A) WARSAW 56
ELKHART CENTRAL 40
E. Central (1-4) 12 11 8 9 - 40
Warsaw (5-2) 10 16 12 18 - 56
E. Central FG FT A S R Pts.
Cassell (C) 7-10 0-0 0 1 9 14
Pompey (G) 1-8 1-2 0 1 3 4
Robinson (G) 2-7 0-0 0 2 1 4
Johnson (F) 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Edwards (F) 0-2 2-4 0 0 5 2
Sheppard 4-8 0-0 0 2 1 8
VanNorman 0-0 4-6 0 0 2 4
Gawthrop 1-2 0-0 0 0 3 2
VanDyke 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Duddy 0-1 0-1 0 0 1 0
Walker 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 16-41 7-13 0 6 25 40
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Kesler (G) 6-7 4-8 2 3 7 16
Nelson (C) 5-9 6-7 0 0 4 16
B. Seiss (G) 1-2 8-11 2 3 2 10
Finnegan (G) 0-4 0-0 2 0 5 0
Sbnmorgn (F) 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Buck 3-6 1-2 0 3 3 7
Martin 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 3
G. Seiss 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Rhodes 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 2
Henthorn 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 18-34 19-28 7 9 23 56
Three-point goals - Elkhart Central 1-4 (Pompey 1-1, Sheppard 0-2, Duddy 0-1), Warsaw 1-3 (Martin 1-2, Rhodes 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 10, Elkhart Central 15. Total fouls - Elkhart Central 23, Warsaw 16. Fouled out -ÊRobinson, Finnegan.
JV - WARSAW 56, ELKHART CENTRAL 37
Warsaw (7-0) scoring - Greg Clay 22, Chris Clay 13, Jerad Shaw 6, Brian Johnson 6, Suraj Datta 3, David Fawley 2, Nick Bolesky 2.
Elkhart Central (2-3) scoring - Jerimy Robinson 8, Larrone Johnson 8, Cameron Macon 6, Kenny Donaldson 6, Pat Collins 2, Nick Eppers 2, Spencer McSorely 2, Matt Glynn 2.
*Warsaw's JV consecutive-wins streak has reached 23 games. [[In-content Ad]]