This one was a tough game to figure out.

Huntington North entered the contest with undefeated Warsaw with an atypical 1-2 mark. The Vikings have a Miss Basketball candidate fouling out with only 10 points and 3 rebounds, while leading scorer Sarah MacKay, who entered the game with a 13.3 points per game average, scored just a single point and was 0-for-4 from the field and 1-for-5 from the free throw line.

All this and the Vikings still won by 11 points, 41-30.

When answering the question of how, it would be a three-part answer.

1. The Viking defense.

Huntington's man-to-man defense smothered the Tigers' guards and didn't allow Warsaw's offense to get into any kind of flow. Warsaw committed 16 turnovers and shot only 9 of 31 from the field.

2. Alison Perkins

The Vikings' Perkins entered the game averaging only 7 ppg, but exploded for 18 points, including 16 in the first half. She hit on 4 of 10 from the three-point arc and kept the Tiger defense from sagging on Wilson in the second half of the game.

3. Warsaw's inability to cash in on opportunities.

The Viking offense didn't exactly light up the Warsaw defense and had 17 turnovers of their own. Huntington hit on only 14 of 36 from the field and besides Wilson and Perkins had no offense at all.

Also, besides Wilson fouling out, the Vikings had three other players with at least three fouls as Warsaw shot 23 free throws to only 13 for Huntington. Problem was, the Tigers made only 11 of those freebies.

Huntington North coach Fred Fields said it best after the game.

"Warsaw is a good basketball team," he said. "They just didn't quite have the answer today."

Warsaw (4-1) looked at this game as a measuring stick for how far it had come since losing to the Vikings in last year's regional final. Huntington, even without Miss Basketball Lisa Winter and with the sub .500 record, is still always a dangerous team. Especially with the defense Fields teaches.

But the No. 20 Tigers, who already beat a team in the top 20, were looking to see if they have enough talent to get past Huntington, ranked No. 15, for the first time in four years.

It didn't happen on this particular day.

"They were prepared and had been in game situations in their first three games," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said. "In our first four games, we had one game like this. We were not ready for their defense. Our timing is obviously off, and a lot of it has to do with what Huntington did. We haven't practiced well, and it shows. We are going to be better because of this game."

Wienhorst said the game plan was good for the Tigers against the Vikings, but it wasn't run as he had hoped.

"We have a good group of girls," Wienhorst said. "They listen, but they don't do what you ask them to do."

The problem is still the same for Warsaw. With a talented and tall front line, the Tigers can't seem to find someone to handle the ball and set up the offense. Sherri Ross has been doing a decent job, but she is naturally a shooting guard. Emily Niemier was expected to fill the void at the point after the graduation of Sherri Haines, but the sophomore still appears to be lost on the court.

Until this gets solved, Warsaw will have trouble against the Vikes, a team they can face again in the postseason, every time.

"Going into the season, we knew we would be weak and inexperienced right off the bat at the guard position," Wienhorst said. "We wanted to control the tempo of the game. When the defense dictates that we don't because we can't get the ball back to the point guard, we have to take it to the hole. We weren't ready for that."

The Vikings' man-to-man defense was set up to put as much pressure on the guards and not let the ball get back into the point guard's hands once it went elsewhere and to not allow Warsaw's Tiffany Ross or Katie Elliott to touch the ball very often.

"We wanted to put pressure on their guards, but we didn't want to give them a bail out by lobbing to their big people," Fields said. "Most of our pressure was man pressure. We changed up a couple of times into a zone look. We wanted their people to have to put the ball on the floor."

Despite trailing by double figures in the third quarter, Warsaw had an excellent chance to get back into the game when Wilson picked up her fourth foul with just a couple of minutes gone in the quarter.

But Huntington had an answer for that. With Wilson on the bench, the Vikings pulled the ball back and held it for as long as they could. It wasn't a total stall, but Huntington was able to run considerable time off the clock on every possession.

The Vikings managed only three points in the quarter on a trey by Brooke Working and didn't score after the 7-minute mark. It didn't matter, though: Warsaw got only 7 points itself and still trailed 31-19 heading into the final quarter.

"The clock was running, and we had them chasing us, and we had some of their players that were on the verge of foul trouble out challenging our quick people on the perimeter," Fields said. "I thought we did a good job. We probably would not have even seen that today if Wilson is not on the bench. As long as we have the low post threat, we will keep playing. I know people want to see a lot of points, but they better pick up another schedule."

Warsaw still had its chances in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers made only 5 of 12 free throws in the frame.

On the strength of 8 points from Perkins, Huntington jumped out to a quick 12-5 first-quarter lead. Perkins was basically wide open every time she shot the ball because the Tigers were double-teaming Wilson, with players in the front and the back of her. But Warsaw's rotation seemed to be a step slow to get on Perkins. Wilson did not even attempt a shot in the quarter.

It was more of the same as Perkins went for 8 more points, but this time Wilson was able to help with 6 points of her own as Huntington opened up a 28-12 halftime advantage.

Warsaw was led by Tiffany and Sherri Ross, who both scored 10 points.

Warsaw is at Fort Wayne Northrop Wednesday. [[In-content Ad]]