Tigers End The Season With Loss To Eagles
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Sure enough, Doug Ogle was right - it was different this time around.
Despite his Warsaw boys basketball team falling to No. 6 Columbia City by 23 in the second game of the season, the first-year coach said the Tigers could compete with the Eagles in Tuesday's first round of the Warsaw 4A Sectional.
With sophomore Michael Moore and senior William Knepper in the lineup this time around, the Tigers did just that, taking the Eagles to the wire before falling 45-42 in a game that defined Hoosier Hysteria.
"They just made more plays down the stretch, in the last two minutes of the game," Ogle said. "I'm proud of our guys, that's a very good team we just took to the wire. We have nothing to be ashamed of at all."
The Tigers took a 42-41 lead with 2:51 remaining in the game when senior frontliner Ryan DeGeeter made good on a shot in the lane. Six-foot-6 junior counterpart Doug Sheckler gave his Eagles a 43-42 lead when he backed Tiger senior Erik Fussle down in the lane, dipped his shoulder and went up for two.
"We're up one with a couple minutes to go when DeGeeter hits a shot in the lane," Ogle said. "At that point I thought we were gonna win. Then Sheckler dips his shoulder and moves Fussle out of the way and scores. Fussle had good position, I don't know what else you can do there."
Warsaw called a time out with 29.5 seconds left to set up the game-winning play, but with 10 seconds remaining, Sheckler made a steal, went in for a layup and was fouled hard by DeGeeter, who was called for an intentional foul.
Sheckler hit both free throws for a 45-42 Eagle lead, but Columbia City was called for a five-second violation trying to inbound the ball, giving the Tigers new life and the ball with 9.3 seconds left.
The Tigers worked around for a shot, but DeGeeter's off-balance three at the buzzer clanked off the rim.
"We didn't have any time outs left to call," Ogle said. "I thought DeGeeter's shot at the end looked good. I think Coach Benedict understood we were a different team this time."
Columbia City improves to 20-1 and will play Wawasee in Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal round. The Warriors (15-7) snuck by Carroll for a 49-46 win. Fourth-ranked DeKalb plays East Noble in Friday's bye game, with the winners meeting in Saturday's title title.
To say that Warsaw was a different team this time around would be an understatement.
In the second game of the season, a 53-30 win for Columbia City, the Tigers struggled against the Eagles' defensive pressure and turned the ball over numerous times.
Tuesday, with Moore's ball-handling, Warsaw committed just eight turnovers for the game.
How close was Warsaw to the sixth-ranked Eagles Tuesday evening? A team that dismantled them in the first meeting, the Tigers never Columbia City by more than four last night.
And even when they did trail by four, the Tigers made key plays and were right back in it.
Warsaw trailed 37-33 when Eagle Scott Moore scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but 5-foot-6 Michael Moore came back with a twine-tickling three-pointer.
Wes Gardner put the Eagles up three, 41-38, but Warsaw came right back - this time when DeGeeter took a sweet backdoor pass from classmate William Knepper, and then gave his team the 42-41 lead with his shot in the lane.
While it was Columbia City's guard tandem of Scott and Marcus Moore that hurt Warsaw last time, it was Sheckler and Ryan Boylan that did the Tigers in this time.
Sheckler finished with 13 points, while Boylan finished with 12, including two key three-pointers.
"Boylan hit some very big shots," Ogle said. "He was shooting 25 percent from the arc this year, he just made some big shots."
Gardner finished with eight points for Columbia City, while Scott Moore had seven and Marcus Moore five.
The Tigers, who went 9-2 the second half of the season to finish 14-7, were led by 13 points each from DeGeeter and Michael Moore.
Moore finished the game 5 of 6 from the field, 3 of 3 from the three-point line. Fussle scored eight points, while Todd Braddock had three, Adam Griggs and Michael Wienhorst two each and Knepper one.
NO. 6 COLUMBIA CITY 45, WARSAW 42
Warsaw (14-7) 11 15 7 9 - 42
Col. City (20-1) 10 14 11 10 - 45
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Griggs 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
* Moore 5-6 0-0 3 0 13
* Fussle 3-3 2-2 4 1 8
* Braddock 1-4 1-1 3 0 3
* DeGeeter 6-15 1-1 4 0 13
Schultz 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Knepper 0-2 1-2 3 0 1
Wienhorst 0-1 2-2 1 0 2
Totals 16-35 7-8 20 1 42
Col. City FG FT R S Pts.
* S. Moore 3-4 0-0 3 1 7
* Boylan 5-7 0-0 3 1 12
* M. Moore 2-7 0-0 4 2 5
* Gardner 3-5 2-2 3 1 8
* Sheckler 4-8 5-6 2 1 13
Briggs 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-32 7-8 15 6 45
Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-6 (Moore 3-3, DeGeeter 0-2, Schultz 0-1), Col. City 4-10 (Boylan 2-4, M. Moore 1-3, S. Moore 1-2, Briggs 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 8, Columbia City 5. Fouls - Warsaw 11, Col. City 11. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]
Sure enough, Doug Ogle was right - it was different this time around.
Despite his Warsaw boys basketball team falling to No. 6 Columbia City by 23 in the second game of the season, the first-year coach said the Tigers could compete with the Eagles in Tuesday's first round of the Warsaw 4A Sectional.
With sophomore Michael Moore and senior William Knepper in the lineup this time around, the Tigers did just that, taking the Eagles to the wire before falling 45-42 in a game that defined Hoosier Hysteria.
"They just made more plays down the stretch, in the last two minutes of the game," Ogle said. "I'm proud of our guys, that's a very good team we just took to the wire. We have nothing to be ashamed of at all."
The Tigers took a 42-41 lead with 2:51 remaining in the game when senior frontliner Ryan DeGeeter made good on a shot in the lane. Six-foot-6 junior counterpart Doug Sheckler gave his Eagles a 43-42 lead when he backed Tiger senior Erik Fussle down in the lane, dipped his shoulder and went up for two.
"We're up one with a couple minutes to go when DeGeeter hits a shot in the lane," Ogle said. "At that point I thought we were gonna win. Then Sheckler dips his shoulder and moves Fussle out of the way and scores. Fussle had good position, I don't know what else you can do there."
Warsaw called a time out with 29.5 seconds left to set up the game-winning play, but with 10 seconds remaining, Sheckler made a steal, went in for a layup and was fouled hard by DeGeeter, who was called for an intentional foul.
Sheckler hit both free throws for a 45-42 Eagle lead, but Columbia City was called for a five-second violation trying to inbound the ball, giving the Tigers new life and the ball with 9.3 seconds left.
The Tigers worked around for a shot, but DeGeeter's off-balance three at the buzzer clanked off the rim.
"We didn't have any time outs left to call," Ogle said. "I thought DeGeeter's shot at the end looked good. I think Coach Benedict understood we were a different team this time."
Columbia City improves to 20-1 and will play Wawasee in Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal round. The Warriors (15-7) snuck by Carroll for a 49-46 win. Fourth-ranked DeKalb plays East Noble in Friday's bye game, with the winners meeting in Saturday's title title.
To say that Warsaw was a different team this time around would be an understatement.
In the second game of the season, a 53-30 win for Columbia City, the Tigers struggled against the Eagles' defensive pressure and turned the ball over numerous times.
Tuesday, with Moore's ball-handling, Warsaw committed just eight turnovers for the game.
How close was Warsaw to the sixth-ranked Eagles Tuesday evening? A team that dismantled them in the first meeting, the Tigers never Columbia City by more than four last night.
And even when they did trail by four, the Tigers made key plays and were right back in it.
Warsaw trailed 37-33 when Eagle Scott Moore scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but 5-foot-6 Michael Moore came back with a twine-tickling three-pointer.
Wes Gardner put the Eagles up three, 41-38, but Warsaw came right back - this time when DeGeeter took a sweet backdoor pass from classmate William Knepper, and then gave his team the 42-41 lead with his shot in the lane.
While it was Columbia City's guard tandem of Scott and Marcus Moore that hurt Warsaw last time, it was Sheckler and Ryan Boylan that did the Tigers in this time.
Sheckler finished with 13 points, while Boylan finished with 12, including two key three-pointers.
"Boylan hit some very big shots," Ogle said. "He was shooting 25 percent from the arc this year, he just made some big shots."
Gardner finished with eight points for Columbia City, while Scott Moore had seven and Marcus Moore five.
The Tigers, who went 9-2 the second half of the season to finish 14-7, were led by 13 points each from DeGeeter and Michael Moore.
Moore finished the game 5 of 6 from the field, 3 of 3 from the three-point line. Fussle scored eight points, while Todd Braddock had three, Adam Griggs and Michael Wienhorst two each and Knepper one.
NO. 6 COLUMBIA CITY 45, WARSAW 42
Warsaw (14-7) 11 15 7 9 - 42
Col. City (20-1) 10 14 11 10 - 45
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Griggs 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
* Moore 5-6 0-0 3 0 13
* Fussle 3-3 2-2 4 1 8
* Braddock 1-4 1-1 3 0 3
* DeGeeter 6-15 1-1 4 0 13
Schultz 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Knepper 0-2 1-2 3 0 1
Wienhorst 0-1 2-2 1 0 2
Totals 16-35 7-8 20 1 42
Col. City FG FT R S Pts.
* S. Moore 3-4 0-0 3 1 7
* Boylan 5-7 0-0 3 1 12
* M. Moore 2-7 0-0 4 2 5
* Gardner 3-5 2-2 3 1 8
* Sheckler 4-8 5-6 2 1 13
Briggs 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-32 7-8 15 6 45
Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-6 (Moore 3-3, DeGeeter 0-2, Schultz 0-1), Col. City 4-10 (Boylan 2-4, M. Moore 1-3, S. Moore 1-2, Briggs 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 8, Columbia City 5. Fouls - Warsaw 11, Col. City 11. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]