Tigers Rout Warriors 86-59
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - After the broadcast of the Warsaw-Wawasee boys basketball game Friday night, one local radio station played Tina Turner's hit, "Simply the Best."
The Tigers certainly proved they were the better team Friday night as they disposed of Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Wawasee 86-59, improving their record to 5-0 and 2-0 in conference play. The Warriors fell to 0-4 and 0-1 in the NLC.
The Warriors hadn't beaten the Tigers since the sectionals in 1995, and the emotions were high in Wawasee's renovated gym.
Warsaw struck first with a free throw #before Wawasee's Jeremy High scored the Warriors' first two points of the game, Andrew Warner added an early bucket, and Wawasee took a 4-1 lead.
The two teams played with emotions that saw the score tied six times in the opening frame, and the quarter ended with a 20-20 deadlock.
"I knew they would play us tough at the start," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "People talk about the rivalry, but we don't play them in the sectional anymore, so our rivalries are in the Elkhart area. They had great emotions, but emotions only carry you so far."
The emotions carried over through the start of the second quarter as Carter Ploszek nailed one of his two three-pointers to put the Warriors on top 23-20, but Greg Seiss brought Warsaw right back added with Rob Kesler's layup and the Tigers held a 24-23 advantage.
The score remained close until Steve Siebenmorgen connected on two free throws that started Warsaw's 10-1 quarter-closing run. Ross Kesler ended the run with a buzzer beating 15-footer that upped the Warsaw advantage to 44-32 at the break.
Rhodes said the Tigers made limited halftime adjustments, but his team was able to take away the strength of Wawasee's first half inside game, Warner. Warner scored eight of his 15 points in the first frame, but went scoreless in the second quarter and only tallied three in the third quarter.
"For one thing our defense was physically tougher," said Rhodes. "Our defense collapsed on them. Tom (Donkers) and Steve (Siebenmorgen) as well as others had excellent efforts in the last three quarters of the game. We game them too many drives early, but our team depth showed up again and we kept playing well. I think we were fresher than they were."
The Tigers' team depth did show up. All but two of the Warsaw cagers broke the scoring column.
"We had 11 players score," said Rhodes. "I've never had this much depth. Everyone was part of our second quarter run."
Warsaw opened the third frame on the strength of a 5-0 run that pushed the lead to 17 points, 49-32. At quarter's end Warsaw held a 65-45 advantage.
The crowd remained relatively quiet through the second half considering the animosity that has risen between the two teams over the years.
If Warsaw was trying to completely demoralize the Warriors, they did so in the final quarter. Chris Wiggins capped off the Tigers' fourth quarter 8-0 run with a fast break dunk that sent the Warsaw student section into a frenzy. At that point the score stood at 81-50.
As if that wasn't all the 0-4 Warriors could handle, the Tigers ignited the student section with a dunk one more time thanks to Seiss. This time after a timeout that saw Wawasee fail to break the huddle and return to the playing floor. Seiss took the pass and put the ball down uncontested.
In all, Warsaw outscored the Warriors 66-39 in the final 24 minutes of play.
The victory put Warsaw at 2-0 in conference action, and at this point has them in contention for a conference title.
"Going in Northridge and Plymouth have to be the favorites," said Rhodes. "I never look at us because we haven't played the best teams yet. I am proud of their attitude and coachability.'
Warsaw (5-0) will return to the hardwood tonight as it hosts Fort Wayne North (3-1) at 6:15 p.m. Wawasee (0-4) will travel to Mentone next Friday to battle Tippecanoe Valley.
WARSAW 86 WAWASEE 59
Warsaw 20 24 21 21-86
Wawasee 20 12 13 14-59
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Siebenmorgen (F) 5-6 7-13 0 1 4 20
Wiggins (G) 7-13 3-4 0 1 4 19
Rs. Kesler (G) 3-4 4-5 4 0 2 11
Seiss 3-4 2-2 0 3 2 8
Nelson (C) 4-6 0-0 0 0 4 8
Barrett 2-2 0-0 0 0 1 5
Rb. Kesler (G) 2-3 0-0 6 4 1 4
Donkers 1-2 2-2 0 0 2 4
Rhodes 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 3
Grossnickle 1-2 0-0 0 0 2 2
Compson 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 32-60 16-19 10 11 24 86
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
Warner (P) 5-8 5-7 0 0 4 15
Nethaway (P) 3-7 1-4 0 1 3 9
Lambert (G) 3-4 2-2 0 0 2 9
Wilson (G) 2-5 2-2 0 0 0 8
High (F) 3-7 1-2 0 2 1 7
Ploszek 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 6
Adkins 2-3 1-1 0 0 0 5
Zolman 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0
Packer 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Knisely 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Beer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Farrell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Gradle 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20-41 12-16 0 3 12 59
Three-point goals - Warsaw 5 (Wiggins 2, Siebenmorgen, Rhodes, Barrett), Wawasee 6 (Ploszek 2, Nethaway 2, Lambert, Wilson). Fouls - Warsaw 14, Wawasee 15. Turnovers - Warsaw 11, Wawasee 18.
JV: Warsaw 50, Wawasee 33
Warsaw scoring - Finnegan 8, Fawley 7, Buck 6, Payton 6, Seiss 6, Martin 6, Stogsdill 5, Dock 2, Walmer 2, Johnson 1.
Wawasee scoring - Speicher 10, Farrell 9, Doty 4, Beer 3, Wilson 3, Brumbaugh 3, Klenke 2. [[In-content Ad]]
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SYRACUSE - After the broadcast of the Warsaw-Wawasee boys basketball game Friday night, one local radio station played Tina Turner's hit, "Simply the Best."
The Tigers certainly proved they were the better team Friday night as they disposed of Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Wawasee 86-59, improving their record to 5-0 and 2-0 in conference play. The Warriors fell to 0-4 and 0-1 in the NLC.
The Warriors hadn't beaten the Tigers since the sectionals in 1995, and the emotions were high in Wawasee's renovated gym.
Warsaw struck first with a free throw #before Wawasee's Jeremy High scored the Warriors' first two points of the game, Andrew Warner added an early bucket, and Wawasee took a 4-1 lead.
The two teams played with emotions that saw the score tied six times in the opening frame, and the quarter ended with a 20-20 deadlock.
"I knew they would play us tough at the start," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "People talk about the rivalry, but we don't play them in the sectional anymore, so our rivalries are in the Elkhart area. They had great emotions, but emotions only carry you so far."
The emotions carried over through the start of the second quarter as Carter Ploszek nailed one of his two three-pointers to put the Warriors on top 23-20, but Greg Seiss brought Warsaw right back added with Rob Kesler's layup and the Tigers held a 24-23 advantage.
The score remained close until Steve Siebenmorgen connected on two free throws that started Warsaw's 10-1 quarter-closing run. Ross Kesler ended the run with a buzzer beating 15-footer that upped the Warsaw advantage to 44-32 at the break.
Rhodes said the Tigers made limited halftime adjustments, but his team was able to take away the strength of Wawasee's first half inside game, Warner. Warner scored eight of his 15 points in the first frame, but went scoreless in the second quarter and only tallied three in the third quarter.
"For one thing our defense was physically tougher," said Rhodes. "Our defense collapsed on them. Tom (Donkers) and Steve (Siebenmorgen) as well as others had excellent efforts in the last three quarters of the game. We game them too many drives early, but our team depth showed up again and we kept playing well. I think we were fresher than they were."
The Tigers' team depth did show up. All but two of the Warsaw cagers broke the scoring column.
"We had 11 players score," said Rhodes. "I've never had this much depth. Everyone was part of our second quarter run."
Warsaw opened the third frame on the strength of a 5-0 run that pushed the lead to 17 points, 49-32. At quarter's end Warsaw held a 65-45 advantage.
The crowd remained relatively quiet through the second half considering the animosity that has risen between the two teams over the years.
If Warsaw was trying to completely demoralize the Warriors, they did so in the final quarter. Chris Wiggins capped off the Tigers' fourth quarter 8-0 run with a fast break dunk that sent the Warsaw student section into a frenzy. At that point the score stood at 81-50.
As if that wasn't all the 0-4 Warriors could handle, the Tigers ignited the student section with a dunk one more time thanks to Seiss. This time after a timeout that saw Wawasee fail to break the huddle and return to the playing floor. Seiss took the pass and put the ball down uncontested.
In all, Warsaw outscored the Warriors 66-39 in the final 24 minutes of play.
The victory put Warsaw at 2-0 in conference action, and at this point has them in contention for a conference title.
"Going in Northridge and Plymouth have to be the favorites," said Rhodes. "I never look at us because we haven't played the best teams yet. I am proud of their attitude and coachability.'
Warsaw (5-0) will return to the hardwood tonight as it hosts Fort Wayne North (3-1) at 6:15 p.m. Wawasee (0-4) will travel to Mentone next Friday to battle Tippecanoe Valley.
WARSAW 86 WAWASEE 59
Warsaw 20 24 21 21-86
Wawasee 20 12 13 14-59
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Siebenmorgen (F) 5-6 7-13 0 1 4 20
Wiggins (G) 7-13 3-4 0 1 4 19
Rs. Kesler (G) 3-4 4-5 4 0 2 11
Seiss 3-4 2-2 0 3 2 8
Nelson (C) 4-6 0-0 0 0 4 8
Barrett 2-2 0-0 0 0 1 5
Rb. Kesler (G) 2-3 0-0 6 4 1 4
Donkers 1-2 2-2 0 0 2 4
Rhodes 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 3
Grossnickle 1-2 0-0 0 0 2 2
Compson 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 32-60 16-19 10 11 24 86
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
Warner (P) 5-8 5-7 0 0 4 15
Nethaway (P) 3-7 1-4 0 1 3 9
Lambert (G) 3-4 2-2 0 0 2 9
Wilson (G) 2-5 2-2 0 0 0 8
High (F) 3-7 1-2 0 2 1 7
Ploszek 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 6
Adkins 2-3 1-1 0 0 0 5
Zolman 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0
Packer 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Knisely 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Beer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Farrell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Gradle 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20-41 12-16 0 3 12 59
Three-point goals - Warsaw 5 (Wiggins 2, Siebenmorgen, Rhodes, Barrett), Wawasee 6 (Ploszek 2, Nethaway 2, Lambert, Wilson). Fouls - Warsaw 14, Wawasee 15. Turnovers - Warsaw 11, Wawasee 18.
JV: Warsaw 50, Wawasee 33
Warsaw scoring - Finnegan 8, Fawley 7, Buck 6, Payton 6, Seiss 6, Martin 6, Stogsdill 5, Dock 2, Walmer 2, Johnson 1.
Wawasee scoring - Speicher 10, Farrell 9, Doty 4, Beer 3, Wilson 3, Brumbaugh 3, Klenke 2. [[In-content Ad]]