Tigers Fall To Wildcats

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.


MICHIGAN CITY - They were viewed as the underdog, and they did wind up losing, but the Warsaw Tigers proved they were worthy of being in Saturday's Class 4A Michigan City Regional.

A team with no seniors on the roster, Warsaw took South Bend Riley, a team with four seniors in the starting lineup and two more on the bench, to the wire before falling 44-41 in Saturday morning's semifinal game.[[In-content Ad]]"We missed too many shots," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team was just 5 of 24 (21 percent) from the field in the first half. "We missed too many wide-open, 15-foot shots. I thought we played well in the first half, we just didn't shoot well."

Warsaw finished the season with a 14-9 record, while the Wildcats went on to beat defending Class 4A state champion East Chicago Central (20-4) 61-60 in Saturday night's regional championship game. Sixth-ranked East Chicago advanced to the regional final by beating Crown Point (17-7) 52-37 in the second semifinal game.

Riley will take a 22-5 record into Saturday's Lafayette Semistate against No. 8 Marion, which beat Fort Wayne Snider 73-57 and New Castle 42-40 in overtime to win the Marion Regional championship.

Trailing by five after the first quarter and by seven at halftime, the Tigers made their move against the Wildcats in the third quarter. Warsaw outscored Riley 15-4 in the third quarter and took a 31-27 advantage into the final eight minutes of the game.

"It's a disappointing loss, but I'm proud of the fact that we got in a position to win the game," said Ogle. "I told the team in the locker room I'm blessed to be their coach. We have everybody back for next year. We're looking forward to better times."

A pair of free throws by senior Justin Breveard gave Riley a 44-38 lead with 1:27 remaining.

Warsaw freshman Nic Moore cut the margin to three, 44-41, with a three-pointer with 55 ticks on the clock.

The Wildcats had a chance to add to their lead, but senior Lee Ross missed two free throws with 39 seconds to play, and Warsaw junior Chase Byerly got the rebound.

With seven seconds remaing, Warsaw junior Taylor Long missed the front end of a one-and-one. Riley grabbed the rebound on the missed free throw, and seconds later Warsaw junior Andy Conrad was whistled for his fifth foul.

Trying to ice the game with just under six seconds to play, the Wildcats came up short at the free throw line again, this time as senior Taulor Williams missed both charity tosses, giving the Tigers life again.

Warsaw dribbled down the court, staring down a chance at a last-second shot that could have put the Tigers in the regional championship game for the first time since 2000, but a turnover dashed any of those hopes and ended the Tigers' season.

"It's disappointing we lost, but I'm proud of this team," said Ogle. "We played on a much bigger stage today, and we put ourselves in position to win."

Riley was just 5 of 18 at the free throw line in its narrow win, while Warsaw was 6 of 10 at the charity stripe.

Moore led the Tigers in scoring with a game-high 19 points.

Moore's play was highlighted by a circus-like reverse layup and a stretch where he ran a Riley player down from behind, blocked the shot, got the rebound and then raced the ball the other way and shot over two much-taller defenders in the lane for two points.

Moore, who finished the game with five rebounds and a pair of assists, also delivered a beautiful alley-oop pass to junior Ryne Robinson, who skied for the dunk. Robinson's dunk, which sent Warsaw's fans as well as East Chicago's energetic cheering section into a frenzy, didn't count as an official called a foul away from the ball.

"The dunk was big a big play," said Ogle. "We could have used those two points."

Robinson finished the game with 10.

Combined, Moore and Robinson average nearly 33 points per game. Saturday the combined to score 29 of the Tigers' 41 points.

Robinson, who averages 16 points per contest, sat out the first quarter because he missed practice time this week due to what Ogle called a "school matter."

Asked how much his team was affected by Robinson missing the first eight minutes of the game, Ogle said, "I don't think it was that big of a factor."

Long chipped in with six points for Warsaw, while sophomore Justin Clemens added four points and junior Chase Byerly added two points and eight rebounds.

Larry King led Riley with 11 points and six rebounds, while Zackary Cook scored nine points and pulled down six boards.

Williams and Breavard chipped in with six points each.

S.B. RILEY 44, WARSAW 41

R 10 13 4 17 - 44

W 5 11 15 10 - 41

Riley - Breveard 2 2-2 6, Jackson 2 0-1 4, Ross 1 2-8 4, J. King 0 0-0 0, Williams 3 0-4 6, Burdette 0 0-0 0, L. King 5 1-3 11, Cook 3 0-0 9, Henson 2 0-0 4, Townsell 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-18 44.

Warsaw - Conrad 0 0-0 0, Clemens 1 2-2 4, Moore 7 4-6 19, Linky 0 0-0 0, Robinson 4 0-0 10, Holladay 0 0-0 0, Long 2 0-1 6, Byerly 1 0-1 2. Totals 15 6-10 41.

3-point goals - Riley 3 (Cook 3), Warsaw 5 (Robinson 2, Long 2, Moore). Rebounds - Riley 29 (L. King 6, Cook 6), Warsaw 31 (Byerly 8). Turnovers - Riley 9, Warsaw 10. Steals - Riley 7, Warsaw 3. Fouls - Riley 14, Warsaw 16. Fouled out - Conrad.

MICHIGAN CITY - They were viewed as the underdog, and they did wind up losing, but the Warsaw Tigers proved they were worthy of being in Saturday's Class 4A Michigan City Regional.

A team with no seniors on the roster, Warsaw took South Bend Riley, a team with four seniors in the starting lineup and two more on the bench, to the wire before falling 44-41 in Saturday morning's semifinal game.[[In-content Ad]]"We missed too many shots," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team was just 5 of 24 (21 percent) from the field in the first half. "We missed too many wide-open, 15-foot shots. I thought we played well in the first half, we just didn't shoot well."

Warsaw finished the season with a 14-9 record, while the Wildcats went on to beat defending Class 4A state champion East Chicago Central (20-4) 61-60 in Saturday night's regional championship game. Sixth-ranked East Chicago advanced to the regional final by beating Crown Point (17-7) 52-37 in the second semifinal game.

Riley will take a 22-5 record into Saturday's Lafayette Semistate against No. 8 Marion, which beat Fort Wayne Snider 73-57 and New Castle 42-40 in overtime to win the Marion Regional championship.

Trailing by five after the first quarter and by seven at halftime, the Tigers made their move against the Wildcats in the third quarter. Warsaw outscored Riley 15-4 in the third quarter and took a 31-27 advantage into the final eight minutes of the game.

"It's a disappointing loss, but I'm proud of the fact that we got in a position to win the game," said Ogle. "I told the team in the locker room I'm blessed to be their coach. We have everybody back for next year. We're looking forward to better times."

A pair of free throws by senior Justin Breveard gave Riley a 44-38 lead with 1:27 remaining.

Warsaw freshman Nic Moore cut the margin to three, 44-41, with a three-pointer with 55 ticks on the clock.

The Wildcats had a chance to add to their lead, but senior Lee Ross missed two free throws with 39 seconds to play, and Warsaw junior Chase Byerly got the rebound.

With seven seconds remaing, Warsaw junior Taylor Long missed the front end of a one-and-one. Riley grabbed the rebound on the missed free throw, and seconds later Warsaw junior Andy Conrad was whistled for his fifth foul.

Trying to ice the game with just under six seconds to play, the Wildcats came up short at the free throw line again, this time as senior Taulor Williams missed both charity tosses, giving the Tigers life again.

Warsaw dribbled down the court, staring down a chance at a last-second shot that could have put the Tigers in the regional championship game for the first time since 2000, but a turnover dashed any of those hopes and ended the Tigers' season.

"It's disappointing we lost, but I'm proud of this team," said Ogle. "We played on a much bigger stage today, and we put ourselves in position to win."

Riley was just 5 of 18 at the free throw line in its narrow win, while Warsaw was 6 of 10 at the charity stripe.

Moore led the Tigers in scoring with a game-high 19 points.

Moore's play was highlighted by a circus-like reverse layup and a stretch where he ran a Riley player down from behind, blocked the shot, got the rebound and then raced the ball the other way and shot over two much-taller defenders in the lane for two points.

Moore, who finished the game with five rebounds and a pair of assists, also delivered a beautiful alley-oop pass to junior Ryne Robinson, who skied for the dunk. Robinson's dunk, which sent Warsaw's fans as well as East Chicago's energetic cheering section into a frenzy, didn't count as an official called a foul away from the ball.

"The dunk was big a big play," said Ogle. "We could have used those two points."

Robinson finished the game with 10.

Combined, Moore and Robinson average nearly 33 points per game. Saturday the combined to score 29 of the Tigers' 41 points.

Robinson, who averages 16 points per contest, sat out the first quarter because he missed practice time this week due to what Ogle called a "school matter."

Asked how much his team was affected by Robinson missing the first eight minutes of the game, Ogle said, "I don't think it was that big of a factor."

Long chipped in with six points for Warsaw, while sophomore Justin Clemens added four points and junior Chase Byerly added two points and eight rebounds.

Larry King led Riley with 11 points and six rebounds, while Zackary Cook scored nine points and pulled down six boards.

Williams and Breavard chipped in with six points each.

S.B. RILEY 44, WARSAW 41

R 10 13 4 17 - 44

W 5 11 15 10 - 41

Riley - Breveard 2 2-2 6, Jackson 2 0-1 4, Ross 1 2-8 4, J. King 0 0-0 0, Williams 3 0-4 6, Burdette 0 0-0 0, L. King 5 1-3 11, Cook 3 0-0 9, Henson 2 0-0 4, Townsell 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-18 44.

Warsaw - Conrad 0 0-0 0, Clemens 1 2-2 4, Moore 7 4-6 19, Linky 0 0-0 0, Robinson 4 0-0 10, Holladay 0 0-0 0, Long 2 0-1 6, Byerly 1 0-1 2. Totals 15 6-10 41.

3-point goals - Riley 3 (Cook 3), Warsaw 5 (Robinson 2, Long 2, Moore). Rebounds - Riley 29 (L. King 6, Cook 6), Warsaw 31 (Byerly 8). Turnovers - Riley 9, Warsaw 10. Steals - Riley 7, Warsaw 3. Fouls - Riley 14, Warsaw 16. Fouled out - Conrad.
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