Warsaw Boys Beat Rochester
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By school enrollment, Warsaw vs. Rochester would be a David-and-Goliath situation.
On the basketball court Friday night, however, it was a physical contest that went down to the wire.
When all was said and done, Class 4A Warsaw came away with a 51-48 win over Class 2A Rochester in the Tiger Den.
"We're young," said Rochester coach Rob Malchow, whose team has just one senior on its 11-man varsity roster. "Coming up to Warsaw, we knew it was going to take a special effort. We had a couple missed opportunities here and there. I thought our effort was outstanding. We got better. This isn't a conference game for us. We'll keep getting better."
Rochester fell to 2-2 on the season while Warsaw improved to 4-2. The Tigers, who won an overtime thriller at Rochester last year, are 3-1 in the Tiger Den this season.
"I'm relieved as much as anything, but I'm proud of our poise," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "I'm really happy for our guys. Rochester is a good team. We knew if they played Plymouth the way they did, we knew they're a good defensive team. They forced Plymouth into 16 turnovers."
In their game last Friday at Plymouth, the Zebras led by one with two minutes to play. Plymouth scored the final 13 points of the game to post the 50-38 win.
Against the Tigers last night, it was back and forth througout the majority of the game.
The biggest lead in the game was Warsaw's 40-33 advantage in the third quarter.
Rather than completely taking the game over or pushing their lead to double digits, the Tigers' lead was just two, 40-38, going into the fourth quarter.
The game appeared to be tied at 40-all after the third as Rochester's Brody Schoen scored a basket that one official signaled as a good basket. But after a discussion, the two points were taken off the scoreboard.
After a Warsaw turnover, Rochester inbounded the ball with three-tenths of a second on the clock. The ball was tipped by a teammate before Schoen collected it and scored. The officials ruled that three-tenths of a second wasn't enough time for all of that to happen.
"They (the officials) said (Cory) Overmyer tipped it before Brad shot it," said Malchow. "My frustration was because I thought there should have been more than three-tenths on the clock after Warsaw's turnover."
The Tigers took a 44-40 lead when senior point guard Ben Truman scored. The Zebras responded with a three-pointer from Schoen, who came into the game to replace junior starter Kory Barnett, who fouled out.
Moments later, Warsaw senior Tommy Reinholt fouled out, and Overmyer connected on both free throws to give Rochester a 45-44 lead with 2:20 to play.
Rochester took its last lead of the game - a 48-47 advantage - with 1:30 to play on a steal and basket by Overmyer.
A field goal by senior Steve Lemasters game Warsaw a 49-48 lead with a minute to play and sophomore Ryne Robinson scored the game's final two points from the free throw line with 21 seconds to play.
Rochester had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Overmyer's three-point attempt came up short.
"My heart stopped," said Ogle. "I thought Overmyer's shot was good."
For the game, Warsaw shot nearly 50 percent from the field, hitting 18 of 37 shots (48.6 percent). The Tigers were only 3 of 11 from three-point range but did hit 12 of 16 free throws.
Rochester was 17 of 45 (37.8 percent) from the field, including 4 of 16 from three-point range, and hit 10 of 17 free throws.
The difference maker in the game for Warsaw, just as it was in last Saturday's win at Huntington North, was the play of Lemasters.
In the win over Huntington North, Lemasters had career highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Against Rochester, Lemasters scored 19 of Warsaw's 30 first-half points. He scored all 11 of the Tigers' points in the second quarter, lifting his team to a 30-26 lead at the break.
Lemasters finished the game 7 of 15 from the field and 10 of 12 from the charity stripe for a game-high 26 points.
"Steve Lemasters carried us through the game," said Ogle. "He completely carried us in the first half. He's worked hard to get stronger. He put on 20 pounds and that's made all the difference. He's so much stronger now. Last year he was one-dimensional. When he wasn't shooting well, there wasn't any reason to play him. Now he helps us in a lot of ways."
Truman added 10 points in the win, while senior Eric Blanton scored six, Robinson scored four, junior Brad Waikel scored three points and Reinholt finished the game with two points.
Overmyer led Rochester with 21 points and six rebounds, while Bruce Grimm, who transferred from Triton, scored 11 points and Carter Walley chipped in with nine points.
Warsaw is in action again tonight when it hosts Class 4A No. 9 Penn (3-0). The Kingsmen beat Mishawaka Marian 48-45 Friday.
"We're going to have to play a lot better," Ogle said of the matchup with Penn. "But it's a game where our guys can play relaxed. Nobody is going to think we're good enough to beat Penn. We played them pretty tough last year, and I think they were better last year."
WARSAW 51, ROCHESTER 48
Rochester 15 11 12 10 - 48
Warsaw 19 11 10 11 - 51
Rochester FG FT R S Pts.
* Barnett 2-9 0-0 3 1 4
* Grimm 4-14 0-0 2 5 11
* Overmyer 7-13 7-8 6 4 21
* Bowers 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
* Easterday 0-1 0-1 5 0 0
Schoen 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
Strem 0-1 0-1 1 0 0
Walley 3-5 3-7 6 0 9
Totals 17-45 10-17 27 10 48
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Clemens 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
* Truman 5-8 0-1 1 1 10
* Reinholt 1-4 0-1 7 3 2
* Blanton 3-5 0-0 3 0 6
* Lemasters 7-15 10-12 2 0 26
Robinson 1-1 2-2 0 0 4
Waikel 1-2 0-0 1 0 3
Harman 0-1 0-0 4 1 0
Plummer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 18-37 12-16 26 5 51
Three-point goals - Rochester 4-16 (Grimm 3-8, Schoen 1-1, Barnett 0-5, Strem 0-1, Overmyer 0-1), Warsaw 3-11 (Lemasters 2-6, Waikel 1-2, Truman 0-1). Turnovers - Rochester 8, Warsaw 11. Fouls - Rochester 17, Warsaw 15. Fouled out - Barnett, Reinholt.
JV - Warsaw 57, Rochester 38
Warsaw (6-0) - Jesse Sharp 15, Andy Conrad 12, Taylor Long 9, Ryne Robinson 6, Luke Holladay 6, Chase Bylery 4, Eric Hoover 3, Kyle Tucker 2 [[In-content Ad]]
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By school enrollment, Warsaw vs. Rochester would be a David-and-Goliath situation.
On the basketball court Friday night, however, it was a physical contest that went down to the wire.
When all was said and done, Class 4A Warsaw came away with a 51-48 win over Class 2A Rochester in the Tiger Den.
"We're young," said Rochester coach Rob Malchow, whose team has just one senior on its 11-man varsity roster. "Coming up to Warsaw, we knew it was going to take a special effort. We had a couple missed opportunities here and there. I thought our effort was outstanding. We got better. This isn't a conference game for us. We'll keep getting better."
Rochester fell to 2-2 on the season while Warsaw improved to 4-2. The Tigers, who won an overtime thriller at Rochester last year, are 3-1 in the Tiger Den this season.
"I'm relieved as much as anything, but I'm proud of our poise," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "I'm really happy for our guys. Rochester is a good team. We knew if they played Plymouth the way they did, we knew they're a good defensive team. They forced Plymouth into 16 turnovers."
In their game last Friday at Plymouth, the Zebras led by one with two minutes to play. Plymouth scored the final 13 points of the game to post the 50-38 win.
Against the Tigers last night, it was back and forth througout the majority of the game.
The biggest lead in the game was Warsaw's 40-33 advantage in the third quarter.
Rather than completely taking the game over or pushing their lead to double digits, the Tigers' lead was just two, 40-38, going into the fourth quarter.
The game appeared to be tied at 40-all after the third as Rochester's Brody Schoen scored a basket that one official signaled as a good basket. But after a discussion, the two points were taken off the scoreboard.
After a Warsaw turnover, Rochester inbounded the ball with three-tenths of a second on the clock. The ball was tipped by a teammate before Schoen collected it and scored. The officials ruled that three-tenths of a second wasn't enough time for all of that to happen.
"They (the officials) said (Cory) Overmyer tipped it before Brad shot it," said Malchow. "My frustration was because I thought there should have been more than three-tenths on the clock after Warsaw's turnover."
The Tigers took a 44-40 lead when senior point guard Ben Truman scored. The Zebras responded with a three-pointer from Schoen, who came into the game to replace junior starter Kory Barnett, who fouled out.
Moments later, Warsaw senior Tommy Reinholt fouled out, and Overmyer connected on both free throws to give Rochester a 45-44 lead with 2:20 to play.
Rochester took its last lead of the game - a 48-47 advantage - with 1:30 to play on a steal and basket by Overmyer.
A field goal by senior Steve Lemasters game Warsaw a 49-48 lead with a minute to play and sophomore Ryne Robinson scored the game's final two points from the free throw line with 21 seconds to play.
Rochester had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Overmyer's three-point attempt came up short.
"My heart stopped," said Ogle. "I thought Overmyer's shot was good."
For the game, Warsaw shot nearly 50 percent from the field, hitting 18 of 37 shots (48.6 percent). The Tigers were only 3 of 11 from three-point range but did hit 12 of 16 free throws.
Rochester was 17 of 45 (37.8 percent) from the field, including 4 of 16 from three-point range, and hit 10 of 17 free throws.
The difference maker in the game for Warsaw, just as it was in last Saturday's win at Huntington North, was the play of Lemasters.
In the win over Huntington North, Lemasters had career highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Against Rochester, Lemasters scored 19 of Warsaw's 30 first-half points. He scored all 11 of the Tigers' points in the second quarter, lifting his team to a 30-26 lead at the break.
Lemasters finished the game 7 of 15 from the field and 10 of 12 from the charity stripe for a game-high 26 points.
"Steve Lemasters carried us through the game," said Ogle. "He completely carried us in the first half. He's worked hard to get stronger. He put on 20 pounds and that's made all the difference. He's so much stronger now. Last year he was one-dimensional. When he wasn't shooting well, there wasn't any reason to play him. Now he helps us in a lot of ways."
Truman added 10 points in the win, while senior Eric Blanton scored six, Robinson scored four, junior Brad Waikel scored three points and Reinholt finished the game with two points.
Overmyer led Rochester with 21 points and six rebounds, while Bruce Grimm, who transferred from Triton, scored 11 points and Carter Walley chipped in with nine points.
Warsaw is in action again tonight when it hosts Class 4A No. 9 Penn (3-0). The Kingsmen beat Mishawaka Marian 48-45 Friday.
"We're going to have to play a lot better," Ogle said of the matchup with Penn. "But it's a game where our guys can play relaxed. Nobody is going to think we're good enough to beat Penn. We played them pretty tough last year, and I think they were better last year."
WARSAW 51, ROCHESTER 48
Rochester 15 11 12 10 - 48
Warsaw 19 11 10 11 - 51
Rochester FG FT R S Pts.
* Barnett 2-9 0-0 3 1 4
* Grimm 4-14 0-0 2 5 11
* Overmyer 7-13 7-8 6 4 21
* Bowers 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
* Easterday 0-1 0-1 5 0 0
Schoen 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
Strem 0-1 0-1 1 0 0
Walley 3-5 3-7 6 0 9
Totals 17-45 10-17 27 10 48
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Clemens 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
* Truman 5-8 0-1 1 1 10
* Reinholt 1-4 0-1 7 3 2
* Blanton 3-5 0-0 3 0 6
* Lemasters 7-15 10-12 2 0 26
Robinson 1-1 2-2 0 0 4
Waikel 1-2 0-0 1 0 3
Harman 0-1 0-0 4 1 0
Plummer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 18-37 12-16 26 5 51
Three-point goals - Rochester 4-16 (Grimm 3-8, Schoen 1-1, Barnett 0-5, Strem 0-1, Overmyer 0-1), Warsaw 3-11 (Lemasters 2-6, Waikel 1-2, Truman 0-1). Turnovers - Rochester 8, Warsaw 11. Fouls - Rochester 17, Warsaw 15. Fouled out - Barnett, Reinholt.
JV - Warsaw 57, Rochester 38
Warsaw (6-0) - Jesse Sharp 15, Andy Conrad 12, Taylor Long 9, Ryne Robinson 6, Luke Holladay 6, Chase Bylery 4, Eric Hoover 3, Kyle Tucker 2 [[In-content Ad]]