Saturday's girls basketball matchup between Warsaw and Plymouth was critical for both squads. The winner would keep its undefeated Northern Lakes Conference record and sit alone atop the early season NLC standings.

When all was said and done, Warsaw managed to keep its NLC record flawless and defeated the Pilgrims 41-33.

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead when Sara Parker netted the first basket of the game with 7:40 on the first quarter clock. The ball did not go through the net again until more than two minutes later, 5:01, when Plymouth tied the score at 2-2.

Warsaw held its lead through one period of play and finished the stanza with a 9-6 lead.

Then Warsaw's defense kicked in. The Tigers held Plymouth to just four points the entire quarter as they outscored the Pilgrims 15-4 to take a 24-10 lead at halftime.

Plymouth fought back early in the third quarter as the Pilgrims went on a 6-0 run to open the period and cut the Warsaw lead to eight.

By the end of the third, Warsaw held a 10 point lead, 31-21.

Plymouth managed to cut Warsaw's lead to six after scoring the first four points of the final quarter of play. But Warsaw slowly rebuilt its lead by netting 8 of 13 free throws in the final 2:11.

In the end, Warsaw came out on top 41-33.

"I told the girls that if we could hold them around 30 points in the game we would have a good chance to win the basketball game," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst.

Jenna Rooney and Hilary O'Connell led the Tigers with nine points each, while Nerecia Taylor pulled down 11 boards to lead Warsaw.

"We played good basketball today," said Wienhorst. "Plymouth has a good defense, and they are physically strong, This was a big game to win for us.

"To be the only undefeated team in the conference at this time of the year is great. With the type of year we have had, this is a great confidence builder."

Warsaw, now 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the NLC, will host the Tiger Tourney Dec. 30. Mount Vernon, Perry Meridian and Valparaiso will compete with Warsaw in the tourney.

WARSAW 41, PLYMOUTH 33

Plymouth 6 4 11 12 - 33

Warsaw 9 15 7 10 - 41

Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.

*Kesler 0-6 4-6 2 4 0 4

*O'Connell 3-7 2-4 7 0 0 9

*Parker 2-8 1-3 3 0 2 5

*Knisely 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

*Overton 0-2 0-0 4 1 0 0

Colt 2-9 3-4 4 0 0 8

Poling 0-1 0-0 2 0 1 0

Conley 0-2 0-0 3 0 0 0

Rooney 3-6 2-3 3 0 0 9

Stanley 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0

Taylor 2-2 2-5 11 0 3 6

Totals 12-44 14-25 45 5 6 41

Plymouth FG FT R A S Pts.

*Benge 2-8 0-0 2 0 1 4

*Blackburn 2-10 3-4 5 2 4 8

*Bunton 0-1 1-2 1 0 0 1

*Swihart 4-11 0-2 10 0 0 10

*Schlosser 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Houin 1-5 2-2 6 0 0 4

Rubesha 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Cox 1-6 2-2 3 1 0 4

Palmer 1-4 0-0 2 1 0 2

Totals 12-46 8-12 30 4 5 33

Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 3-10 (Kesler 0-1, Colt 1-4, Poling 0-1, O'Connell 1-1, Rooney 1-3), Plymouth 1-12 (Bange 0-3, Blackburn 1-4, Houin 0-1, Rubesha 0-1, Cox 0-1, Swihart 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 18, Plymouth 15. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 13, Plymouth 22. Fouled out - Cox.

JV Score - PLYMOUTH 39, WARSAW 24

Warsaw leaders - Sumpter 2 points, DeRenzo 2, Kiphart 5, Chabot 6, McGriff 4, Stackhouse 5. [[In-content Ad]]