It might not have been any prettier, but it was certainly better for Warsaw.

After suffering an ugly 48-27 loss to Perry Meridian in the first round of the Tiger Tourney Saturday, Warsaw bounced back with a 49-45 win over Mt. Vernon in the consolation game.

The Tigers turned the ball over against the Perry Meridian press 35 times and against Mt. Vernon didn't fare much better with 30 miscues. But the Tiger defense stepped up in the consolation game and held Mt. Vernon to 18 of 60 (30 percent) from the field and held off Mt. Vernon in the fourth quarter.

The win snapped a two-year winless streak in their own tourney for the Tigers.

"This was an important win because we lacked confidence this morning," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said. "We played scared. And we have not played well in this tournament with this group of kids. I told them after the first game that it is just a mental thing. Hopefully, this is a first step in improving the mental aspect of our game."

Valpo won its fifth title in six years and ninth overall with a 41-39 win over Perry Meridian in the championship game.

Warsaw opened up a 34-22 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Marauders caught fire and cut the gap to 45-41 with 30 seconds left. The Tigers' Sherri Ross hit four big free throws down the stretch as Warsaw held on for the win.

Warsaw's 1-2-2 defense did a nice job on the Mt. Vernon offense, which features four good shooters, including the Kirby sisters April and Alyssa. Mt. Vernon converted on 10 of 48 (21 percent) shots in the first three quarters, including April Kirby, who missed her first 12 shots from the field.

"We couldn't match up with them man-to-man and if we went 2-3 zone, they are really going to get shots," Wienhorst said. "We went with a 1-2-2, and I thought we did as good as we could at this time. We had only really practiced the 1-2-2 for a week. We were fortunate they missed some shots. A lot of it had to do with their legs; they were tired."

Against Perry Meridian, the Tigers were never in the game and fell behind 17-6 early. Warsaw cut the lead to 17-12, but the Falcons stretched the lead to 30-13 and eventually 35-20 after three quarters.

The Tigers turned the ball over 21 times. Because of the turnovers, Warsaw could get off only nine field goal attempts in the first half.

It wasn't much better in the second half with 14 turnovers, and the margin was too much for Warsaw to overcome.

Warsaw attempted only 23 field goals in the game, while Perry Meridian made 21.

"They have got to focus on the right things for us to win," Wienhorst said. "It is working on the things we need to get better, and one of those is obviously turnovers. A lot had to with their press, but some were in the halfcourt when we forced the ball instead of reversing it. When we only get one offensive rebound in the entire game, it shows that nobody was ready to play."

Sherri Ross led Warsaw with 11 points against Perry Meridian, while Sam Wideman was tops against Mt. Vernon with 14.

Jackie Edwards added 13 against Mt. Vernon.

Warsaw (7-4) hosts Wawasee Thursday. [[In-content Ad]]