Tigers Get By Valparaiso 51-44
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Everyone in the Warsaw community who follows boys basketball wants to know what's wrong with the Tigers, and the theories are many: Senior forward Ross Kesler, arguably the team's best defensive player, is out with a fractured back. There's inexperience at point guard. The team chemistry has not clicked. The timing on offense is off. The players entered the season believing they were as good as their top 10 preseason rankings. And so on.
During the Indiana/Kentucky broadcast Saturday afternoon, CBS color analyst Billy Packer said he would never forget about the time former coach Al Maguire asked him what the object of the game was. The object, Maguire told him, is to win the game.
That said, the Tigers are 3-0 after Saturday's 51-44 win over a Valparaiso team that entered 3-0.
Warsaw's has won its three games by a combined 11 points.
Senior guard Chris Wiggins led Warsaw with 15 points. Senior frontcourt players Steve Siebenmorgen and Zach Nelson added eight each, while reserve junior guard Paul Finnegan scored seven.
After winning their first game in double overtime then winning their second with no time on the clock, the Tigers had a cushion in this one.
Finnegan scored only seven points in the game, but five of his seven came at a crucial time that helped Warsaw capture momentum.
Finnegan ended the third quarter by rebounding Chris Wiggins' missed three-pointer and putting it in to up Warsaw's lead to 34-29. Valparaiso scored first in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 34-31, but Finnegan swished a three-pointer to push the lead to 37-31.
"That was a big play at the end of the quarter, and Paul also had several blocked shots throughout the course of the game," Rhodes said. "He hit a big three in the corner. He's still learning to play the wing position."
The Tigers only added to the lead in the final quarter, the biggest bulge at 46-36 with 1:09 left.
Valparaiso attacked the Tigers much the same way Columbia City did a week earlier: Slow the game down, drive to the basket and kick the ball out for three-point shots.
But Rhodes had the Tigers prepared. The two three-point shooters Rhodes was worried about, Matt Handlon and Erik Rhinehart, were kept in check. They combined for two three-pointers and 14 points.
"What we tried to do was stay with them on the wings and take away that part of the offense," Rhodes said. "We wanted to play one-on-one in the post. We did not want to double down when they threw it in the post because we felt the catch-and-shoot three was their strength. What we did is stay with the guards on the outside.
"That's hard to do, because you're used to helping your teammates."
As a result of the Vikings' slow-down tactics, the teams finished the first half tied at 21-21. But once the Tigers took a 24-23 lead with 7:06 left in the third quarter, they kept it the rest of the game.
"I knew (Valparaiso's) style of play was a patient offense and zone defense," Rhodes said. "Had we executed better in our zone offenses and gotten a lead at halftime, the pace might have picked up in the second half. They were comfortable at 21-21.
"The first half, against their zone, we just didn't move the ball quickly or sharply. We threw a lot of balls with no purpose. The second half, we did better. The ball moved quicker. Our screening and timing was better."
Notes: Warsaw is missing not only Kesler but also senior guard Jason Henthorn, who is out with a bad ankle sprain.
"Both are making solid progress," Rhodes said. "I'm hoping Jason will be back next week. We're still a couple weeks away with Ross. He is jogging now and is able to do drills that are not live - run through an offense without a defense."
WARSAW 51, VALPARAISO 44
Valparaiso (3-1) 7 14 8 15 - 44
Warsaw (3-0) 8 13 13 17 - 51
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Wiggins (G) 5-13 4-6 3 2 1 15
Siebenmorgen (F) 3-5 2-2 1 0 6 8
Nelson (C) 4-5 0-2 0 0 7 8
Rhodes (G) 2-5 0-0 1 0 4 5
B. Seiss (G) 0-1 1-3 2 0 0 1
Finnegan 3-5 0-0 0 2 3 7
G. Seiss 2-2 0-1 0 0 1 4
Martin 1-4 0-0 0 1 0 3
Buck 0-2 0-0 0 0 3 0
Totals 20-42 7-14 7 5 25 51
Valparaiso FG FT A S R Pts.
Cusic (F) 5-14 2-4 2 2 9 13
Handlon (F) 0-1 6-6 0 0 5 6
Mackanos (G) 2-8 0-0 2 0 2 5
Kassanits (G) 1-3 0-1 1 0 0 3
Blake (C) 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 2
Rhinehart 3-4 0-0 0 0 2 8
Coburn 2-6 3-3 0 1 3 7
Hart 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 14-40 11-14 5 3 22 44
Three-point goals -ÊValparaiso 5-10 (Rhinehart 2-2, Mackanos 1-3, Kassanits 1-2, Cusic 1-2, Handlon 0-1), Warsaw 4-14 (Wiggins 1-6, Rhodes 1-3, Martin 1-3, Finnegan 1-1, B. Seiss 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 7, Valparasio 10. Total fouls - Warsaw 13, Valparaiso 18. Fouled out - None.
JV: WARSAW 36, VALPARAISO 30
Warsaw (3-0) scoring -ÊGreg Clay 13, Chris Clay 12, Brian Johnson 7, Nick Bolesky 4.
Valparaiso scoring -ÊBen Lieske 8, Nate Hines 6, Adam Vail 6, Pete Springsteen 4, Mike Sullivan 3, Greg Burrus 2, Josh Wendahl 1. [[In-content Ad]]
Everyone in the Warsaw community who follows boys basketball wants to know what's wrong with the Tigers, and the theories are many: Senior forward Ross Kesler, arguably the team's best defensive player, is out with a fractured back. There's inexperience at point guard. The team chemistry has not clicked. The timing on offense is off. The players entered the season believing they were as good as their top 10 preseason rankings. And so on.
During the Indiana/Kentucky broadcast Saturday afternoon, CBS color analyst Billy Packer said he would never forget about the time former coach Al Maguire asked him what the object of the game was. The object, Maguire told him, is to win the game.
That said, the Tigers are 3-0 after Saturday's 51-44 win over a Valparaiso team that entered 3-0.
Warsaw's has won its three games by a combined 11 points.
Senior guard Chris Wiggins led Warsaw with 15 points. Senior frontcourt players Steve Siebenmorgen and Zach Nelson added eight each, while reserve junior guard Paul Finnegan scored seven.
After winning their first game in double overtime then winning their second with no time on the clock, the Tigers had a cushion in this one.
Finnegan scored only seven points in the game, but five of his seven came at a crucial time that helped Warsaw capture momentum.
Finnegan ended the third quarter by rebounding Chris Wiggins' missed three-pointer and putting it in to up Warsaw's lead to 34-29. Valparaiso scored first in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 34-31, but Finnegan swished a three-pointer to push the lead to 37-31.
"That was a big play at the end of the quarter, and Paul also had several blocked shots throughout the course of the game," Rhodes said. "He hit a big three in the corner. He's still learning to play the wing position."
The Tigers only added to the lead in the final quarter, the biggest bulge at 46-36 with 1:09 left.
Valparaiso attacked the Tigers much the same way Columbia City did a week earlier: Slow the game down, drive to the basket and kick the ball out for three-point shots.
But Rhodes had the Tigers prepared. The two three-point shooters Rhodes was worried about, Matt Handlon and Erik Rhinehart, were kept in check. They combined for two three-pointers and 14 points.
"What we tried to do was stay with them on the wings and take away that part of the offense," Rhodes said. "We wanted to play one-on-one in the post. We did not want to double down when they threw it in the post because we felt the catch-and-shoot three was their strength. What we did is stay with the guards on the outside.
"That's hard to do, because you're used to helping your teammates."
As a result of the Vikings' slow-down tactics, the teams finished the first half tied at 21-21. But once the Tigers took a 24-23 lead with 7:06 left in the third quarter, they kept it the rest of the game.
"I knew (Valparaiso's) style of play was a patient offense and zone defense," Rhodes said. "Had we executed better in our zone offenses and gotten a lead at halftime, the pace might have picked up in the second half. They were comfortable at 21-21.
"The first half, against their zone, we just didn't move the ball quickly or sharply. We threw a lot of balls with no purpose. The second half, we did better. The ball moved quicker. Our screening and timing was better."
Notes: Warsaw is missing not only Kesler but also senior guard Jason Henthorn, who is out with a bad ankle sprain.
"Both are making solid progress," Rhodes said. "I'm hoping Jason will be back next week. We're still a couple weeks away with Ross. He is jogging now and is able to do drills that are not live - run through an offense without a defense."
WARSAW 51, VALPARAISO 44
Valparaiso (3-1) 7 14 8 15 - 44
Warsaw (3-0) 8 13 13 17 - 51
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Wiggins (G) 5-13 4-6 3 2 1 15
Siebenmorgen (F) 3-5 2-2 1 0 6 8
Nelson (C) 4-5 0-2 0 0 7 8
Rhodes (G) 2-5 0-0 1 0 4 5
B. Seiss (G) 0-1 1-3 2 0 0 1
Finnegan 3-5 0-0 0 2 3 7
G. Seiss 2-2 0-1 0 0 1 4
Martin 1-4 0-0 0 1 0 3
Buck 0-2 0-0 0 0 3 0
Totals 20-42 7-14 7 5 25 51
Valparaiso FG FT A S R Pts.
Cusic (F) 5-14 2-4 2 2 9 13
Handlon (F) 0-1 6-6 0 0 5 6
Mackanos (G) 2-8 0-0 2 0 2 5
Kassanits (G) 1-3 0-1 1 0 0 3
Blake (C) 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 2
Rhinehart 3-4 0-0 0 0 2 8
Coburn 2-6 3-3 0 1 3 7
Hart 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 14-40 11-14 5 3 22 44
Three-point goals -ÊValparaiso 5-10 (Rhinehart 2-2, Mackanos 1-3, Kassanits 1-2, Cusic 1-2, Handlon 0-1), Warsaw 4-14 (Wiggins 1-6, Rhodes 1-3, Martin 1-3, Finnegan 1-1, B. Seiss 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 7, Valparasio 10. Total fouls - Warsaw 13, Valparaiso 18. Fouled out - None.
JV: WARSAW 36, VALPARAISO 30
Warsaw (3-0) scoring -ÊGreg Clay 13, Chris Clay 12, Brian Johnson 7, Nick Bolesky 4.
Valparaiso scoring -ÊBen Lieske 8, Nate Hines 6, Adam Vail 6, Pete Springsteen 4, Mike Sullivan 3, Greg Burrus 2, Josh Wendahl 1. [[In-content Ad]]