Tigers Put Wawasee Away
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
After Warsaw's highly touted varsity boys basketball team started the season by winning its first three games by a total of 11 points, questions began surfacing.
Maybe one question came a bit more frequent: With the height and talent the Tigers, ranked No. 5 in class 4A, have on the floor, when would they be able to put a team away?
"I think we've made progress all along," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "It's a situation where the expectations are higher than they should be. Basically, I never worry about what people say. We're working hard and putting the small pieces together."
The Tigers put a few more pieces in place Friday when they hosted and defeated Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Wawasee 61-40.
The win ups Warsaw's overall season record to 4-0 and 1-0 in the NLC. The Warriors fall to 0-4 and 0-1, and their regular season losing streak hit 24 games. Wawasee's last regular season victory came against Bremen in the last game of the 1997-98 season.
Perhaps the biggest piece that fell in place for Warsaw was the return of 6-foot-4 forward Ross Kesler.
Kesler fractured his back during the football season and hadn't been in uniform yet this season. Kesler didn't start in last night's victory, but ended up with eight points.
"Ross brings so much experience as a basketball player and as an athlete," said Rhodes. "He's improved his jump shot and is steadily improving other dimensions offensively."
Warsaw senior Chris Wiggins led all scorers with 16 points. Steve Siebenmorgen added 13 points to the Tiger effort.
Jeremy High paced the Warrior offensive attack with 15 points. Drew Gradle added six points in the loss.
The Tigers won by 21, but things were still undecided midway through the third quarter. With 4:53 remaining in the third stanza, Warsaw's advantage was 34-26.
"I thought we played hard for 32 minutes," said Wawasee coach Robb Berger. "I thought for the most part we executed. Whenever you hold a talented Warsaw team to 61, that's good. The score would've been closer, but our shots wouldn't fall."
For the game the Warriors shot a dismal 11 of 38 (28.9 percent) from the field. Warsaw, on the other hand, shot a respectable 22 of 44 (50 percent) from the field.
At the 5:10 mark of the third quarter Wawasee's Travis Klenke made good on a three-point attempt that cut Warsaw's advantage to 33-26. The Warriors didn't score again until the 4:54 mark of the final frame. By that time the Tigers already had gone on a 21-0 run.
According to Berger, turnovers led to Wawasee's second half falter. The Warriors turned the ball over nine times in the second half and 22 times for the game.
"In the 20s, that's too high," said Berger. "We're not gonna have a chance to score when we turn the ball over. If we're not turning the ball over they're not making easy layups."
The key to Warsaw's success in the final 16 minutes was getting the ball inside.
"We picked things up defensively," said Rhodes of the second half. "We got the ball inside to Siebenmorgen and that put fouls on them. We were able to finish plays inside."
Siebenmorgen scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.
Warsaw led 15-7 after one quarter of play, and went to the locker room with a 29-17 advantage. The Tigers outscored the Warriors 32-23 in the second half, accounting for the 21-point win.
Wawasee (0-4, 0-1) will host Tippecanoe Valley Friday at 6:15 p.m. Warsaw will be in action again tonight in a 6:15 p.m. contest at Fort Wayne North.
WARSAW 61, WAWASEE 40
Wawasee (0-4) 7 10 9 14 - 40
Warsaw (4-0) 15 14 16 16 - 61
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Farrell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Doty 1-1 3-3 3 0 5
Wilson (G) 1-4 0-1 3 2 3
Klenke (G) 2-4 0-0 1 2 5
Gradle (F) 1-3 4-4 0 0 6
Custer 0-1 0-1 2 0 0
Speicher 1-3 2-2 0 0 5
High (F) 5-15 5-5 6 0 15
Beer 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Packer (F) 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Total 11-38 15-19 21 4 20
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
B. Seiss (G) 1-1 3-5 4 2 5
Wiggins (G) 5-9 5-6 4 3 16
Rhodes (F) 1-4 0-1 0 0 2
Siebenmorgen (F) 5-8 3-5 4 0 13
Nelson (C) 3-3 0-0 3 0 6
Martin 1-2 1-3 1 0 4
Buck 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Henthorn 1-3 0-1 2 0 3
Walmer 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Finnegan 1-6 0-0 4 1 2
G. Seiss 1-2 0-0 3 2 2
Kesler 3-4 2-3 0 1 8
Totals 22-44 14-24 29 10 61
Three-point goals - Wawasee 2 (Wilson 1, Speicher 1), Warsaw 2 (Martin, Henthorn). Turnovers - Wawasee 22, Warsaw 11. Fouls - Wawasee 22, Warsaw 21. Fouled out - Packer, Gradle
JV - Warsaw 61, Wawasee 35
Warsaw scoring - Foster 2, Johnson 9, Fawley 4, C. Clay 14, G. Clay 3, Shaw 12, Bolesky 12
Wawasee scoring - Custer 3, Ellsworth 2, VanLue 6, Longenbaugh 4, Popenfoose 18, Plew 2 [[In-content Ad]]
After Warsaw's highly touted varsity boys basketball team started the season by winning its first three games by a total of 11 points, questions began surfacing.
Maybe one question came a bit more frequent: With the height and talent the Tigers, ranked No. 5 in class 4A, have on the floor, when would they be able to put a team away?
"I think we've made progress all along," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "It's a situation where the expectations are higher than they should be. Basically, I never worry about what people say. We're working hard and putting the small pieces together."
The Tigers put a few more pieces in place Friday when they hosted and defeated Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Wawasee 61-40.
The win ups Warsaw's overall season record to 4-0 and 1-0 in the NLC. The Warriors fall to 0-4 and 0-1, and their regular season losing streak hit 24 games. Wawasee's last regular season victory came against Bremen in the last game of the 1997-98 season.
Perhaps the biggest piece that fell in place for Warsaw was the return of 6-foot-4 forward Ross Kesler.
Kesler fractured his back during the football season and hadn't been in uniform yet this season. Kesler didn't start in last night's victory, but ended up with eight points.
"Ross brings so much experience as a basketball player and as an athlete," said Rhodes. "He's improved his jump shot and is steadily improving other dimensions offensively."
Warsaw senior Chris Wiggins led all scorers with 16 points. Steve Siebenmorgen added 13 points to the Tiger effort.
Jeremy High paced the Warrior offensive attack with 15 points. Drew Gradle added six points in the loss.
The Tigers won by 21, but things were still undecided midway through the third quarter. With 4:53 remaining in the third stanza, Warsaw's advantage was 34-26.
"I thought we played hard for 32 minutes," said Wawasee coach Robb Berger. "I thought for the most part we executed. Whenever you hold a talented Warsaw team to 61, that's good. The score would've been closer, but our shots wouldn't fall."
For the game the Warriors shot a dismal 11 of 38 (28.9 percent) from the field. Warsaw, on the other hand, shot a respectable 22 of 44 (50 percent) from the field.
At the 5:10 mark of the third quarter Wawasee's Travis Klenke made good on a three-point attempt that cut Warsaw's advantage to 33-26. The Warriors didn't score again until the 4:54 mark of the final frame. By that time the Tigers already had gone on a 21-0 run.
According to Berger, turnovers led to Wawasee's second half falter. The Warriors turned the ball over nine times in the second half and 22 times for the game.
"In the 20s, that's too high," said Berger. "We're not gonna have a chance to score when we turn the ball over. If we're not turning the ball over they're not making easy layups."
The key to Warsaw's success in the final 16 minutes was getting the ball inside.
"We picked things up defensively," said Rhodes of the second half. "We got the ball inside to Siebenmorgen and that put fouls on them. We were able to finish plays inside."
Siebenmorgen scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.
Warsaw led 15-7 after one quarter of play, and went to the locker room with a 29-17 advantage. The Tigers outscored the Warriors 32-23 in the second half, accounting for the 21-point win.
Wawasee (0-4, 0-1) will host Tippecanoe Valley Friday at 6:15 p.m. Warsaw will be in action again tonight in a 6:15 p.m. contest at Fort Wayne North.
WARSAW 61, WAWASEE 40
Wawasee (0-4) 7 10 9 14 - 40
Warsaw (4-0) 15 14 16 16 - 61
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Farrell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Doty 1-1 3-3 3 0 5
Wilson (G) 1-4 0-1 3 2 3
Klenke (G) 2-4 0-0 1 2 5
Gradle (F) 1-3 4-4 0 0 6
Custer 0-1 0-1 2 0 0
Speicher 1-3 2-2 0 0 5
High (F) 5-15 5-5 6 0 15
Beer 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Packer (F) 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Total 11-38 15-19 21 4 20
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
B. Seiss (G) 1-1 3-5 4 2 5
Wiggins (G) 5-9 5-6 4 3 16
Rhodes (F) 1-4 0-1 0 0 2
Siebenmorgen (F) 5-8 3-5 4 0 13
Nelson (C) 3-3 0-0 3 0 6
Martin 1-2 1-3 1 0 4
Buck 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Henthorn 1-3 0-1 2 0 3
Walmer 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Finnegan 1-6 0-0 4 1 2
G. Seiss 1-2 0-0 3 2 2
Kesler 3-4 2-3 0 1 8
Totals 22-44 14-24 29 10 61
Three-point goals - Wawasee 2 (Wilson 1, Speicher 1), Warsaw 2 (Martin, Henthorn). Turnovers - Wawasee 22, Warsaw 11. Fouls - Wawasee 22, Warsaw 21. Fouled out - Packer, Gradle
JV - Warsaw 61, Wawasee 35
Warsaw scoring - Foster 2, Johnson 9, Fawley 4, C. Clay 14, G. Clay 3, Shaw 12, Bolesky 12
Wawasee scoring - Custer 3, Ellsworth 2, VanLue 6, Longenbaugh 4, Popenfoose 18, Plew 2 [[In-content Ad]]