Tigers Go Inside In Win Over Tippecanoe Valley
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Combined, high school basketball coaches Al Rhodes and Bill Patrick have 810 wins.
Combined, Patrick and Rhodes have been varsity boys basketball head coaches for 48 years.
The two basketball lifers squared off Wednesday. Rhodes, in his 19th year as Warsaw's head coach, led the Tigers (1-0) to a 75-57 win over Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) and Patrick, who is in his first year as the Vikings' head coach.
The game was the first for Patrick, who had coached Whitko for 29 years, since March 3, 1995. On the list of places he would choose to play at after a three-season layoff, the Tiger Den fell somewhere between Cameron Indoor Stadium and Argos.
"Obviously, we would have liked to start off with somebody else to get us a little experience," Patrick said. "This is a tough way to start, playing Warsaw at Warsaw.
"It doesn't make any difference how long you've coached, you're always nervous before a basketball game. It was fun just to be back in the game."
Valley went 6-15 last year. Warsaw went 14-8 and returned three full-time starters and one part-time starter.
Warsaw received preseason votes in the class 4A poll; Valley received no votes and presumably was nowhere close to sniffing any votes in the 3A poll.
Valley played two players taller than 6-feet-2. Warsaw played seven players 6-3 or taller.
And as Patrick mentioned, the Tigers held home-court advantage.
On paper, the Tigers win this game. On the court, they did just that.
Rhodes' offensive game plan was based on one premise: Get the ball inside.
The Tigers did from start to finish, hitting 27 of 50 field goals, 54 percent. Six-foot-5 junior forward Steve Siebenmorgen thrived, hitting 10 of 13 field goals and leading all scorers with 31 points. He scored 11 of Warsaw's 20 points in the second quarter to turn what was an eight-point Tiger lead after one quarter into a 39-23 halftime lead.
If Warsaw wasn't scoring, the Tigers were rebounding. They finished the game with 19 defensive rebounds; Valley had 18 rebounds total.
"Through most of the game, we were pretty dominant inside," Rhodes said. "Rebounding-wise and physical presence-wise, we did a nice job of passing the ball on the perimeter and getting the ball into the post men.
"We didn't force anything from the perimeter. Chris Wiggins, for example, as long as people were open inside, was throwing the ball inside. We were very unselfish.
"Some nights we will need more outside shooting than we needed tonight. We have the capability. There was just no need for it tonight."
To Patrick, Siebenmorgen and his 31 points were not the key. To him, the keys were guys named Wiggins, Rob Kesler, Jason Barrett and Chris Rhodes, among others. These were the players who carried out Warsaw's game plan, the guys who passed the ball rather than take perimeter jumpshots.
"I don't know how well Siebenmorgen played," Patrick said. "They just did a nice job getting him the ball. Their kids did a nice job of reversing the ball. He did a nice job pinning us inside. (Valley center) Craig (Kuhn) didn't get around and front him, and our weak-side guy didn't come around and help.
"He didn't score those 31 points; the other kids scored them. The kids made the passes that scored those points. One on one, he wouldn't have scored that many. They got the ball to him when he was open."
Coaches yell two words when teams are at the free-throw line: Block out.
Two times in the first half the Tigers missed free throws, only to get the offensive rebounds and put them back in for points. Had Valley blocked out and scored on its end, the Vikings would have flirted with an eight-point swing. Instead of 39-23, the score could have been 35-27.
Could have been. It wasn't.
"Take away two blockouts the first half," Patrick said. "We didn't block out on free throws. They got them both and put them back in. There's no excuse for that. That should never happen. Without a couple mental letdowns, the score would have been closer at halftime."
If Warsaw's offensive execution was the first key to its win, the second was depth.
Warsaw played five substitutes before the first quarter ended, and Rhodes shuttled players in and out all evening. Valley played only one substitute in the first quarter.
"Our team depth showed as a factor," Rhodes said. "We were very pleased. We had excellent contributions off the bench."
The Vikings were missing two varsity players in Josh Cumberland and Chad Cumberland. Chad returns the next game. Josh must sit out two more games for disciplinary reasons. If available, Josh would have started at center against Warsaw.
"Right now, we're just not at the point where we can make a lot of adjustments," Patrick said. "From the bench, we'll be able to make changes and adjustments in a couple of weeks. It's a little difficult to do that now."
Still, Patrick made his halftime adjustments. After trailing the Tigers 39-23 in the first half, the Vikings played Warsaw to a 36-34 second half. At halftime he asked Valley 6-4 forward Brandon Eaton to get more involved in the offense, and he asked the Vikings to take the ball to the basket.
They listened. Eaton scored 18 in the half to finish with 23. Viking teammate Jarvis Shepherd finished with 13. Valley drew 17 fouls on the Tigers in the half and hit 14 of 20 free throws.
"The first half, we played pretty good half-court defense," Rhodes said. "We were able to get a 16-point lead. The mistake we made was in the third quarter. We fouled too much.
"We put them in the one-and-one way too early. That's the reason we weren't able to break away. We went up 24, but with them continually shooting free throws, the game slipped back in the balance."
This battle of the basketball lifers went to Rhodes.
Rhodes upped his career record to 332-113 (.746) with the win. Patrick's career record slipped to 478-181 (.725) with the loss.
WARSAW 75
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 57
Valley (0-1) 11 12 17 17 -Ê57
Warsaw (1-0) 19 20 23 13 - 75
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Sbnmrgen (F) 10-13 10-11 1 1 10 31
Wiggins (G) 3-10 2-4 7 2 4 9
Nelson (C) 3-7 3-4 0 0 3 9
Rb. Kesler (G) 3-5 0-1 3 4 1 6
Rs. Kesler (G) 3-5 0-0 0 3 1 6
Rhodes 2-3 0-0 2 1 3 5
Barrett 0-0 3-4 3 0 0 3
Donkers 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 2
Henthorn 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 2
Seiss 1-2 0-1 1 0 1 2
Grossnickle 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Compson 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0
Totals 27-50 18-27 18 12 27 75
Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Eaton (F) 5-13 12-16 3 1 3 23
Shepherd (G) 5-7 2-5 5 1 2 13
Silveus (G) 3-5 1-2 2 1 1 7
Prater (F) 2-6 0-0 0 2 6 4
Kuhn (C) 0-1 0-1 0 0 1 0
Snyder 2-2 0-3 0 1 4 4
Domenico 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3
Weber 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
New 0-1 1-2 0 0 1 1
Shafer 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Totals 18-37 16-29 11 6 18 57
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 3-8 (Wiggins 1-5, Siebenmorgen 1-1, Rhodes 1-1, Rb. Kesler 0-1), Tippecanoe Valley 3-7 (Eaton 1-4, Shepherd 1-1, Domenico 1-1, Silveus 0-1). Fouled out -ÊSeiss. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 25, Tippecanoe Valley 22. Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 15, Tippecanoe Valley 17.
Referees - Tom Schenkel, Steve Godfroy
JV: Warsaw 45, Tippecanoe Valley 22
Warsaw (1-0) scoring -ÊPaul Finnegan 9, Josh Buck 7, Jon Walmer 7, Jared Scrafton 6, Trent Martin 5, Jon Dock 4, David Fawley 3, Matt Payton 2, Brian Johnson 2.
Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) scoring - Cody New 7, Anthony Domenico 5, Andy Martin 5, Justin Ross 2, Daren Alber 2, Andrew Kramer 1. [[In-content Ad]]
Combined, high school basketball coaches Al Rhodes and Bill Patrick have 810 wins.
Combined, Patrick and Rhodes have been varsity boys basketball head coaches for 48 years.
The two basketball lifers squared off Wednesday. Rhodes, in his 19th year as Warsaw's head coach, led the Tigers (1-0) to a 75-57 win over Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) and Patrick, who is in his first year as the Vikings' head coach.
The game was the first for Patrick, who had coached Whitko for 29 years, since March 3, 1995. On the list of places he would choose to play at after a three-season layoff, the Tiger Den fell somewhere between Cameron Indoor Stadium and Argos.
"Obviously, we would have liked to start off with somebody else to get us a little experience," Patrick said. "This is a tough way to start, playing Warsaw at Warsaw.
"It doesn't make any difference how long you've coached, you're always nervous before a basketball game. It was fun just to be back in the game."
Valley went 6-15 last year. Warsaw went 14-8 and returned three full-time starters and one part-time starter.
Warsaw received preseason votes in the class 4A poll; Valley received no votes and presumably was nowhere close to sniffing any votes in the 3A poll.
Valley played two players taller than 6-feet-2. Warsaw played seven players 6-3 or taller.
And as Patrick mentioned, the Tigers held home-court advantage.
On paper, the Tigers win this game. On the court, they did just that.
Rhodes' offensive game plan was based on one premise: Get the ball inside.
The Tigers did from start to finish, hitting 27 of 50 field goals, 54 percent. Six-foot-5 junior forward Steve Siebenmorgen thrived, hitting 10 of 13 field goals and leading all scorers with 31 points. He scored 11 of Warsaw's 20 points in the second quarter to turn what was an eight-point Tiger lead after one quarter into a 39-23 halftime lead.
If Warsaw wasn't scoring, the Tigers were rebounding. They finished the game with 19 defensive rebounds; Valley had 18 rebounds total.
"Through most of the game, we were pretty dominant inside," Rhodes said. "Rebounding-wise and physical presence-wise, we did a nice job of passing the ball on the perimeter and getting the ball into the post men.
"We didn't force anything from the perimeter. Chris Wiggins, for example, as long as people were open inside, was throwing the ball inside. We were very unselfish.
"Some nights we will need more outside shooting than we needed tonight. We have the capability. There was just no need for it tonight."
To Patrick, Siebenmorgen and his 31 points were not the key. To him, the keys were guys named Wiggins, Rob Kesler, Jason Barrett and Chris Rhodes, among others. These were the players who carried out Warsaw's game plan, the guys who passed the ball rather than take perimeter jumpshots.
"I don't know how well Siebenmorgen played," Patrick said. "They just did a nice job getting him the ball. Their kids did a nice job of reversing the ball. He did a nice job pinning us inside. (Valley center) Craig (Kuhn) didn't get around and front him, and our weak-side guy didn't come around and help.
"He didn't score those 31 points; the other kids scored them. The kids made the passes that scored those points. One on one, he wouldn't have scored that many. They got the ball to him when he was open."
Coaches yell two words when teams are at the free-throw line: Block out.
Two times in the first half the Tigers missed free throws, only to get the offensive rebounds and put them back in for points. Had Valley blocked out and scored on its end, the Vikings would have flirted with an eight-point swing. Instead of 39-23, the score could have been 35-27.
Could have been. It wasn't.
"Take away two blockouts the first half," Patrick said. "We didn't block out on free throws. They got them both and put them back in. There's no excuse for that. That should never happen. Without a couple mental letdowns, the score would have been closer at halftime."
If Warsaw's offensive execution was the first key to its win, the second was depth.
Warsaw played five substitutes before the first quarter ended, and Rhodes shuttled players in and out all evening. Valley played only one substitute in the first quarter.
"Our team depth showed as a factor," Rhodes said. "We were very pleased. We had excellent contributions off the bench."
The Vikings were missing two varsity players in Josh Cumberland and Chad Cumberland. Chad returns the next game. Josh must sit out two more games for disciplinary reasons. If available, Josh would have started at center against Warsaw.
"Right now, we're just not at the point where we can make a lot of adjustments," Patrick said. "From the bench, we'll be able to make changes and adjustments in a couple of weeks. It's a little difficult to do that now."
Still, Patrick made his halftime adjustments. After trailing the Tigers 39-23 in the first half, the Vikings played Warsaw to a 36-34 second half. At halftime he asked Valley 6-4 forward Brandon Eaton to get more involved in the offense, and he asked the Vikings to take the ball to the basket.
They listened. Eaton scored 18 in the half to finish with 23. Viking teammate Jarvis Shepherd finished with 13. Valley drew 17 fouls on the Tigers in the half and hit 14 of 20 free throws.
"The first half, we played pretty good half-court defense," Rhodes said. "We were able to get a 16-point lead. The mistake we made was in the third quarter. We fouled too much.
"We put them in the one-and-one way too early. That's the reason we weren't able to break away. We went up 24, but with them continually shooting free throws, the game slipped back in the balance."
This battle of the basketball lifers went to Rhodes.
Rhodes upped his career record to 332-113 (.746) with the win. Patrick's career record slipped to 478-181 (.725) with the loss.
WARSAW 75
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 57
Valley (0-1) 11 12 17 17 -Ê57
Warsaw (1-0) 19 20 23 13 - 75
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Sbnmrgen (F) 10-13 10-11 1 1 10 31
Wiggins (G) 3-10 2-4 7 2 4 9
Nelson (C) 3-7 3-4 0 0 3 9
Rb. Kesler (G) 3-5 0-1 3 4 1 6
Rs. Kesler (G) 3-5 0-0 0 3 1 6
Rhodes 2-3 0-0 2 1 3 5
Barrett 0-0 3-4 3 0 0 3
Donkers 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 2
Henthorn 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 2
Seiss 1-2 0-1 1 0 1 2
Grossnickle 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Compson 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0
Totals 27-50 18-27 18 12 27 75
Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Eaton (F) 5-13 12-16 3 1 3 23
Shepherd (G) 5-7 2-5 5 1 2 13
Silveus (G) 3-5 1-2 2 1 1 7
Prater (F) 2-6 0-0 0 2 6 4
Kuhn (C) 0-1 0-1 0 0 1 0
Snyder 2-2 0-3 0 1 4 4
Domenico 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3
Weber 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
New 0-1 1-2 0 0 1 1
Shafer 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Totals 18-37 16-29 11 6 18 57
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 3-8 (Wiggins 1-5, Siebenmorgen 1-1, Rhodes 1-1, Rb. Kesler 0-1), Tippecanoe Valley 3-7 (Eaton 1-4, Shepherd 1-1, Domenico 1-1, Silveus 0-1). Fouled out -ÊSeiss. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 25, Tippecanoe Valley 22. Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 15, Tippecanoe Valley 17.
Referees - Tom Schenkel, Steve Godfroy
JV: Warsaw 45, Tippecanoe Valley 22
Warsaw (1-0) scoring -ÊPaul Finnegan 9, Josh Buck 7, Jon Walmer 7, Jared Scrafton 6, Trent Martin 5, Jon Dock 4, David Fawley 3, Matt Payton 2, Brian Johnson 2.
Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) scoring - Cody New 7, Anthony Domenico 5, Andy Martin 5, Justin Ross 2, Daren Alber 2, Andrew Kramer 1. [[In-content Ad]]