Tigers Tear Up Warriors 89-58
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - Despite 21st-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes calling it a time of transition, the result of Friday's Warsaw/Wawasee Northern Lakes Conference clash was the same as it has been for nearly half a decade.
Having beaten their Kosciusko County rivals in each meeting since the 1995 sectional championship, the Tigers rolled over Wawasee 89-58 in the conference opener for both teams.
Before last night's 31-point thrashing, the Tigers had won the previous three meetings by an average of 23 points.
Rhodes calls this a time of transition because for the first time in a decade Warsaw tries to push the ball up the floor and score as quickly as possible rather than feed the ball into the post. The last time the Tigers ran this style of offense, the 1989-90 season, they climbed to the No. 1 ranking in the state.
While Rhodes says his team still has a lot of kinks to work out, the Tigers made it look easy last night in upping their overall season record to 3-2; Wawasee falls to 3-3.
"They threw the ball up and knew they could outjump us," first-year Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said of the Tigers. "Whether it was a lob or a Hail Mary pass, they threw it up and just outjumped us. That's a credit to Coach Rhodes and his kids, trusting in each other and knowing that if they threw it up, they would catch it."
Using what looked like a Joe Montana-to-Jerry Rice style of offense, Warsaw threw the ball down court and was able to score lay-ups at will. The Tigers finished the game 36 of 57 (63.2 percent) from the field.
The beneficiaries of these passes were six-foot-4 senior Josh Buck, 6-3 senior Brian Johnson and 6-3 junior Chris Clay. Buck and Clay were receivers on Phil Jensen's conference championship football team.
While Warsaw got production from seven players at 6-3 or taller, Wawasee had three players between 6-1 and 6-3.
Buck finished with a game-high 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Johnson and Chris Clay added 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Six-foot-4 junior Jerad Shaw also scored 12, while 6-3 junior Greg Clay added eight.
"I have no qualms with our top eight players," Rhodes said. "Our team depth is pretty good right now. Our sophomore rovers, Ryan DeGeeter, William Knepper and Erik Fussle, are all improving."
Knepper, DeGeeter and Fussle all came off the bench late in the game, with Knepper scoring four, while DeGeeter and Fussle scored two each.
The Tigers jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead and then went up 20-7 when Buck hit a field goal with 2:16 remaining in the opening quarter. Warsaw led 25-11 after eight minutes of action and 45-26 at halftime.
To go with its strong offensive showing, Warsaw's defense forced 28 Warrior turnovers. The Tigers finished the game with just 16 turnovers.
Warsaw also used a huge 36-16 advantage on the boards to cruise to its third win of the season.
"One thing this team has been able to do in every game is rebound," Rhodes said. "We don't have a lot of great height, but we're quick to the boards."
Said Mishler: "They had more offensive rebounds than we had defensive rebounds. Obviously we have to work on blocking out. I don't know if we can sprint back any harder than we did. I told the kids at halftime it was going to be a dead sprint to the paint, Warsaw still got it in there. We have to work on stopping their transition."
After trailing much of the third quarter by 25 or more, Wawasee got as close as 62-40 when senior Andrew Packer connected on one of his two three-pointers with 1:41 remaining before the final frame.
Packer, who came in as Wawasee's leading scorer at more than 13 points per game, was held to eight points and was 3 of 8 from the field.
Junior guard Justin VanLue led the Warriors in the scoring column with 12 points, while classmate Scott Beasley chipped in with 10. Junior Curtis Farrell scored eight points off the bench.
After opening the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run, Warsaw led by close to 30 the remainder of the game.
"When you get beat by 31 and you get beat that bad, it's easy to start showing disgust and hang your head," Mishler said. "I think the kids kept their heads up. Warsaw/Wawasee is an emotional game. It's important to understand that both teams came in with the idea of winning, therefore, you have to respect both teams no matter the situation."
After Warsaw clashes with 4-1 Elkhart Central Saturday, the Tigers will return to Wawasee Tuesday for the opening round of the inaugural NLC tournament. The girls will tip off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game at 8 p.m.
"I'm sure Wawasee's coaches will go back to their drawing boards and press breakers," Rhodes said. "I'm confident Tuesday's game will be a lot closer. It will have a tournament type atmosphere. We're mainly just trying to worry about ourselves."
WARSAW 89, WAWASEE 58
Warsaw (3-2) 25 20 19 25 - 89
Wawasee (3-3) 11 15 14 18 - 58
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Seiss (G) 1-3 2-2 4 3 4
C. Clay (G) 5-9 2-2 4 2 12
Johnson (G) 7-10 2-2 4 2 16
G. Clay (F) 4-7 0-1 4 0 8
Buck (F) 10-13 0-1 6 6 20
Martin 2-3 2-2 1 0 7
Fawley 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Foster 0-0 0-0 3 3 0
Shaw 3-5 6-8 2 1 12
Fussle 1-1 0-0 2 0 2
DeGeeter 0-1 2-4 2 1 2
Knepper 2-3 0-0 2 0 4
Totals 36-57 16-22 36 18 89
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Klenke (G) 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
Adkins (F) 1-2 0-0 0 1 3
Beasley (G) 3-6 2-2 0 0 10
Brumbaugh (F) 0-1 0-2 0 2 0
Packer (C) 3-8 0-0 5 0 8
Doty 2-4 1-1 1 0 5
Speicher 1-3 2-2 1 1 4
VanLue 5-9 1-1 1 0 12
Abbs 2-3 0-0 1 0 4
Popenfoose 1-4 0-0 4 0 2
Farrell 3-6 2-3 1 3 8
Totals 22-49 8-11 16 7 58
Three-point goals - Warsaw 1-2 (Martin 1-2), Wawasee 6-14 (Adkins 1-2, Beasley 2-3, Packer 2-3, Speicher 0-1, VanLue 1-3, Popenfoose 0-1, Farrell 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 16, Wawasee 28. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Wawasee 20. Fouled out - Packer.
JV - Warsaw 42, Wawasee 28
Warsaw (5-0) - Suraj Datta 13, Erik Fussle 9, Ryan DeGeeter 7, William Knepper 6, Geoff Walmer 6, Ross Wilhite 1
Wawasee (3-3) - Kyle Lantz 11, Eric Gingerich 6, Rosten Trobaugh 4, Ryan Stichter 3, Clint Custer 2, Adam Packer 2 [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - Despite 21st-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes calling it a time of transition, the result of Friday's Warsaw/Wawasee Northern Lakes Conference clash was the same as it has been for nearly half a decade.
Having beaten their Kosciusko County rivals in each meeting since the 1995 sectional championship, the Tigers rolled over Wawasee 89-58 in the conference opener for both teams.
Before last night's 31-point thrashing, the Tigers had won the previous three meetings by an average of 23 points.
Rhodes calls this a time of transition because for the first time in a decade Warsaw tries to push the ball up the floor and score as quickly as possible rather than feed the ball into the post. The last time the Tigers ran this style of offense, the 1989-90 season, they climbed to the No. 1 ranking in the state.
While Rhodes says his team still has a lot of kinks to work out, the Tigers made it look easy last night in upping their overall season record to 3-2; Wawasee falls to 3-3.
"They threw the ball up and knew they could outjump us," first-year Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said of the Tigers. "Whether it was a lob or a Hail Mary pass, they threw it up and just outjumped us. That's a credit to Coach Rhodes and his kids, trusting in each other and knowing that if they threw it up, they would catch it."
Using what looked like a Joe Montana-to-Jerry Rice style of offense, Warsaw threw the ball down court and was able to score lay-ups at will. The Tigers finished the game 36 of 57 (63.2 percent) from the field.
The beneficiaries of these passes were six-foot-4 senior Josh Buck, 6-3 senior Brian Johnson and 6-3 junior Chris Clay. Buck and Clay were receivers on Phil Jensen's conference championship football team.
While Warsaw got production from seven players at 6-3 or taller, Wawasee had three players between 6-1 and 6-3.
Buck finished with a game-high 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Johnson and Chris Clay added 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Six-foot-4 junior Jerad Shaw also scored 12, while 6-3 junior Greg Clay added eight.
"I have no qualms with our top eight players," Rhodes said. "Our team depth is pretty good right now. Our sophomore rovers, Ryan DeGeeter, William Knepper and Erik Fussle, are all improving."
Knepper, DeGeeter and Fussle all came off the bench late in the game, with Knepper scoring four, while DeGeeter and Fussle scored two each.
The Tigers jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead and then went up 20-7 when Buck hit a field goal with 2:16 remaining in the opening quarter. Warsaw led 25-11 after eight minutes of action and 45-26 at halftime.
To go with its strong offensive showing, Warsaw's defense forced 28 Warrior turnovers. The Tigers finished the game with just 16 turnovers.
Warsaw also used a huge 36-16 advantage on the boards to cruise to its third win of the season.
"One thing this team has been able to do in every game is rebound," Rhodes said. "We don't have a lot of great height, but we're quick to the boards."
Said Mishler: "They had more offensive rebounds than we had defensive rebounds. Obviously we have to work on blocking out. I don't know if we can sprint back any harder than we did. I told the kids at halftime it was going to be a dead sprint to the paint, Warsaw still got it in there. We have to work on stopping their transition."
After trailing much of the third quarter by 25 or more, Wawasee got as close as 62-40 when senior Andrew Packer connected on one of his two three-pointers with 1:41 remaining before the final frame.
Packer, who came in as Wawasee's leading scorer at more than 13 points per game, was held to eight points and was 3 of 8 from the field.
Junior guard Justin VanLue led the Warriors in the scoring column with 12 points, while classmate Scott Beasley chipped in with 10. Junior Curtis Farrell scored eight points off the bench.
After opening the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run, Warsaw led by close to 30 the remainder of the game.
"When you get beat by 31 and you get beat that bad, it's easy to start showing disgust and hang your head," Mishler said. "I think the kids kept their heads up. Warsaw/Wawasee is an emotional game. It's important to understand that both teams came in with the idea of winning, therefore, you have to respect both teams no matter the situation."
After Warsaw clashes with 4-1 Elkhart Central Saturday, the Tigers will return to Wawasee Tuesday for the opening round of the inaugural NLC tournament. The girls will tip off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game at 8 p.m.
"I'm sure Wawasee's coaches will go back to their drawing boards and press breakers," Rhodes said. "I'm confident Tuesday's game will be a lot closer. It will have a tournament type atmosphere. We're mainly just trying to worry about ourselves."
WARSAW 89, WAWASEE 58
Warsaw (3-2) 25 20 19 25 - 89
Wawasee (3-3) 11 15 14 18 - 58
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Seiss (G) 1-3 2-2 4 3 4
C. Clay (G) 5-9 2-2 4 2 12
Johnson (G) 7-10 2-2 4 2 16
G. Clay (F) 4-7 0-1 4 0 8
Buck (F) 10-13 0-1 6 6 20
Martin 2-3 2-2 1 0 7
Fawley 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Foster 0-0 0-0 3 3 0
Shaw 3-5 6-8 2 1 12
Fussle 1-1 0-0 2 0 2
DeGeeter 0-1 2-4 2 1 2
Knepper 2-3 0-0 2 0 4
Totals 36-57 16-22 36 18 89
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Klenke (G) 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
Adkins (F) 1-2 0-0 0 1 3
Beasley (G) 3-6 2-2 0 0 10
Brumbaugh (F) 0-1 0-2 0 2 0
Packer (C) 3-8 0-0 5 0 8
Doty 2-4 1-1 1 0 5
Speicher 1-3 2-2 1 1 4
VanLue 5-9 1-1 1 0 12
Abbs 2-3 0-0 1 0 4
Popenfoose 1-4 0-0 4 0 2
Farrell 3-6 2-3 1 3 8
Totals 22-49 8-11 16 7 58
Three-point goals - Warsaw 1-2 (Martin 1-2), Wawasee 6-14 (Adkins 1-2, Beasley 2-3, Packer 2-3, Speicher 0-1, VanLue 1-3, Popenfoose 0-1, Farrell 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 16, Wawasee 28. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Wawasee 20. Fouled out - Packer.
JV - Warsaw 42, Wawasee 28
Warsaw (5-0) - Suraj Datta 13, Erik Fussle 9, Ryan DeGeeter 7, William Knepper 6, Geoff Walmer 6, Ross Wilhite 1
Wawasee (3-3) - Kyle Lantz 11, Eric Gingerich 6, Rosten Trobaugh 4, Ryan Stichter 3, Clint Custer 2, Adam Packer 2 [[In-content Ad]]