It's rare that the Warsaw boys basketball team plays in the middle of the week.

It's even rarer that the Tigers are held to just four points in a quarter, especially the first.

Tuesday night, both happened when the Tigers took on Valparaiso.

Although the Vikings held Warsaw to only four points in the first quarter, the Tigers fought back to get a 57-43 win.

Valparaiso jumped out to an early lead, taking a 9-2 lead with 2:21 left in the first frame.

Warsaw's Greg Clay hit a basket with 59 seconds left in the frame to make the score 9-4 going into the second quarter.

"To start the game, they hit almost every shot they took," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "And we missed almost every shot we took. We were not patient offensively, and we were not going to the offensive boards very well."

However, the Tigers turned things around in the second quarter.

Jerad Shaw, Erik Fussle and Clay led Warsaw on a 6-0 run to open the second quarter, making the score 12-9 in the Tigers' favor.

From that point on, Warsaw never looked back. The Tigers held a 21-17 lead at the half, and then extended that advantage in the third.

"After the first quarter, we started to move the ball better," said Rhodes. "We reversed the ball side to side and opened things up inside."

Valparaiso got as close as one point, 21-20, when Nate Hines hit the opening basket of the second half.

But after a four-minute scoring drought, Warsaw's Fussle hit a basket to start a scoring onslaught. In the final 3:29 of the stanza, the Tigers outscored the Vikings 13-4 to build a 34-26 lead.

Shaw opened the fourth frame with a basket to give Warsaw its first double-figure lead, 36-26.

The Tigers continued to dominate through the end of the fourth and picked up the 57-43 win.

Shaw and Greg Clay led the Tiger scoring attack wit h15 points each. Chris Clay added seven.

Only one Viking scored in double figures and Ben Lieske tossed in 11. Warsaw held two of Valparaiso's leading three-point shooters, Matt Handlon and Nate Hines, to five and seven points respectively with no treys. Combined, Handlon and Hines were 0 of 4 from behind the three-point arc.

"We really wanted to do an excellent job defending No. 20 (Handlon) and No. 14 (Hines)," said Rhodes. "Greg and Chris did a tremendous job of individual defense against them."

The win is Warsaw's 11th consecutive and moves the Tiger record to 11-1. Valparaiso falls to 5-4 on the season.

The Tigers host Goshen Friday.

WARSAW 57, VALPARAISO 43

Valparaiso 9 9 8 17 - 43

Warsaw 4 17 13 23 - 57

Valparaiso FG FT R S Pts.

Handlon (f) 2-6 1-2 4 2 5

Marchand (f) 1-4 4-6 2 2 6

Lieske (c) 5-6 1-1 5 1 11

Hines (g) 1-3 1-2 3 0 3

Thephasdin (g) 3-9 0-0 2 3 7

Renn 1-1 0-0 0 0 3

Blake 0-0 2-2 1 2 2

Smardzija 1-2 2-2 1 0 4

McMillen 1-2 0-1 0 0 2

Hills 0-2 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 15-35 11-16 18 11 43

Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.

Seiss (g) 2-5 0-0 5 1 5

G. Clay (w) 5-14 3-4 2 4 15

C. Clay (w) 2-4 2-2 1 2 7

DeGeeter (p) 0-2 0-0 3 0 0

Shaw (p) 4-8 7-7 5 1 15

Knepper 1-1 2-4 4 0 4

Datta 1-1 0-0 0 0 3

Fussle 1-1 2-2 2 0 4

Scott 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Moore 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Walmer 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

Totals 18-38 16-19 23 8 57

Three-point goals -ÊValparaiso 2-14 (Handlon 0-3, Marchand 0-2, Hines 0-1, Thephasdin 1-4, Renn 1-1, Smardzija 0-1, Hills 0-2), Warsaw 5-12 (Seiss 1-4, G. Clay 2-4, C. Clay 1-3, Datta 1-1). Fouls - Valparaiso 17, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - Valparaiso coach.

JV -ÊWARSAW 50, VALPARAISO 42

Warsaw scoring -ÊRyan Schultz 3, Riley Fuller 9, Michael Wienhorst 4, Todd Braddock 1, Michael Moore 8, Adam Griggs 19, Greg Allison 6

Warrior Girls Squander Lead, Fall At Columbia City

By Dale Hubler, Times-Union Sports Writer

COLUMBIA CITY - If it were a comic book story, the plot saw Superman outdone by the Dynamic Duo.

Played in front of a packed house, Columbia City's girls basketball team came back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to down No. 6 (4A) Wawasee 71-68 in dramatic fashion Tuesday night.

While the highly-touted Warriors featured Shanna Zolman, a sure bet to garner Miss Basketball honors before heading to the University of Tennessee, the host Eagles got the job done with blue collar frontliners Mallory Faylor and Chasidy Myers.

Faylor scored 25 points, 16 in the second half, while Myers finished with 22. The duo also combined for 16 of the team's 29 rebounds and four of the team's six steals.

"Our inside game has been solid all year," said Columbia City coach Wayne Krieger, whose team downed 3A No. 1 Fort Wayne Concordia in its last outing. "Faylor and Myers can play inside or outside, and they play off of each other. They're a really tough matchup for teams."

With their team down 53-39 at the 5:01 mark of the third, the 6-foot Faylor and the 6-1 Myers led Columbia City on an 11-0 run that cut the lead to three, 53-50, with 1:21 remaining in the quarter.

Strapping her team on her back, Zolman, who scored a game-high 44 points, drilled a three-pointer with 3:55 left in regulation to give the Warriors a 65-60 lead. Unfortunately for Wawasee, the Eagles came back and tied the score with a trey from senior guard Beth Moore and a shot in the paint from Myers.

The Eagles took the lead, their first since being ahead 26-25 in the second stanza, when Faylor hit a field goal and Dana Roberts a pair of free throws.

Zolman, who finished 6 of 12 from the arc, drilled a three with 41 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game, 69-68. After Faylor missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Wawasee rebounded the ball, only to turn it over with 5.9 seconds left.

With the Warriors forced to foul, Myers hit a pair of free throws with 3.3 seconds left, accounting for the final score.

Wawasee attempted a game-winning three at the buzzer but came up short.

"We knew what they were probably gonna do if we got it to Shanna," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "They were gonna foul her and put it her at the line. We were gonna try and get it to Meagan (Wallen) or Crystal (Fawley) and see what we could do. We didn't have a lot of time left."

With a potential rematch looming in the sectional, Wawasee fell to 15-2 with the loss, while Columbia City improved to 11-4.

All told, the Warriors dominated the first half, outlasting Columbia City 24-8 in the second and leading 43-30 at the half. During their second-half comeback, the Eagles were 17 of 23 (74 percent) from the field. Wawasee was 10 of 22 (46 percent) in the final two quarters.

"I think some of the starters snuck out the back door at halftime," Kem Zolman said. "Some of the subs we had in there I didn't even recognize. I thought in the first half we made huge strides from our loss in the Hall of Fame Classic. I thought everybody was clicking."

To go with her 44 points, which leaves her 50 shy of breaking the all-time girls state record, Zolman dished out eight assists, had seven steals and garnered three rebounds. Fawley added nine points, while Jocelyn Higginbotham scored eight and Wallen seven. No other Warrior scored.

Roberts finished with eight for the winners, while teammate Kara Davisson scored six on a pair of key three-pointers.

Wawasee plays at Northern Lakes Conference rival Elkhart Memorial Saturday.

COLUMBIA CITY 71, NO. 6 (4A) WAWASEE 68

Wawasee (15-2) 19 24 13 12 - 68

Col. City (11-4) 22 8 20 21 - 71

Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.

Henderson (G) 0-2 0-0 4 1 0

Zolman (G) 15-25 8-8 3 7 44

Fawley (G) 2-3 3-3 3 0 9

Wallen (F) 3-10 0-0 4 1 7

Higginbotham (C) 4-9 0-0 7 1 8

Hershberger 0-3 0-1 2 0 0

Leach 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 24-53 11-12 24 11 68

Col. City FG FT R S Pts.

Schuman (F) 1-3 1-3 3 1 3

Moore (G) 2-3 0-0 3 0 5

Myers (C) 10-17 2-2 8 1 22

Davisson (F) 2-5 1-3 2 0 6

Faylor (F) 10-15 5-8 8 3 25

Roberts 2-3 4-4 4 1 8

Hoppe 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

Totals 28-47 13-20 29 6 71

Three-point goals - Wawasee 9-16 (Zolman 6-12, Fawley 2-2, Wallen 1-2), Col. City 2-5 (Moore 1-1, Davisson 1-1, Faylor 0-2, Roberts 0-1). Turnovers - Wawasee 18, Col. City 18. Fouls - Wawasee 19, Col. City 15. Fouled out - none.

JV - Columbia City 33, Wawasee 30

Warsaw Swim Teams Sweep Wawasee

By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent

Warsaw coaches Terry Aukeman and Chris LaLonde were all smiles Tuesday night as their girls and boys swim teams picked up identical 103-83 wins over conference rival Wawasee.

For LaLonde and her boy's team, Tuesday's meet was an opportunity for them to remain undefeated in Northern Lakes Conference as they came into the evening with a perfect record. They are now 6-0 in conference meets with only Northridge left on the schedule.

"We swam really well tonight as a team," said LaLonde, "We had nine personal bests. We have worked really hard this year and it all seems to be coming together at the right time."

Individual winners for the Tiger boys were: Kiel Beehler in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke, Brandon Moore in the 100-yard butterfly, Brett Moore in the 100-yard freestyle, and Michael Thallemer in the 500-yard freestyle.

The Tigers also picked up wins in two relay events. Thallemer, Beehler, Moore, and Munsch began things with a win in the 200-yard medley relay and then came back and picked up another first in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Dexter Anglin and Jake Keirn tied for third to lead the Tiger divers.

"Joe Clevenger swam really well tonight in the 200-yard free and Michael Thallemer did very well in the 500-yard free," said LaLonde, "Our 200 medley relay did real well too. That was a good swim for them."

Aukeman and his Tigers upped their NLC mark to 4-2 Tuesday night and they too only have Northridge left on their NLC agenda. Against the Warriors, it was the depth of the Tigers that spelled the difference.

"I thought our girls swam very well," said Aukeman, "We knew Wawasee would swim strong as they do every year. It probably came down to our depth. The meet was really determined by our outside third swimmers getting fourth and fifth, we really didn't have too many sixths."

Individually for the Tigers, Sarah Cook took a first in the 200-yard individual medley while Claire Beckett did the same in the 50-yard freestyle. Cook got another first in the 100-yard butterfly as did Beckett in the 100-yard free. Amanda Brown got the other Tiger win in the 100-yard breaststroke.

One big key for the Tigers was their three firsts in the relays. In the 200-yard medley relay it was sophomore Brown along with Elizabeth Helfrich, Allison Cook and Beckett taking the win. Beckett then teamed with Andrea Heyde, Laura Noggle and Aislinn Ummel to take first in the 200-yard freestyle relay. In the meets final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, it was Ummel, Sara Cook, Noggle, and Amber Michelini picking up another win.

Aukeman was especially proud of three of his swimmers, "Sarah Cook had two lifetime bests tonight and Amanda brown had a lifetime best in her IM. Our relays swam great. I was really happy with Becca Noggle, she swam great again in both the 200 and 500 freestyle."

Both the boy's and girl's teams have Northridge left on their NLC schedule before stepping into the NLC Championships. For the girls those championships are a week from Saturday on the 19th and then the boys championship will be the following Saturday, on the 26th.

GIRLS - WARSAW 103, WAWASEE 83

200 medley relay - 1. Warsaw 2:03.52, 2. Wawasee, 3. Warsaw

200 freestyle -Ê1. Marty (Waw) 2:09.97, 2. L. Noggle (War), 3. Jackson (Waw)

200 individual medley - 1. Cook (War) 2:28.98, 2. Brown (War), 3. Hoffman (Waw)

50 freestyle - 1. Beckett (War) :26.97, 2. Ummel (War), 3. Judy (Waw)

Diving - 1. Brown (Waw) 164.50, 2. Ziebarth (War), 3. Medlock (Waw)

100 butterfly - 1. Cook (War) 1:09.26, 2. Lyon (Waw), 3. Helfrich (War)

100 freestyle - 1. Beckett (War) :59.97, 2. Jackson (Waw), 3. Ummel (War)

500 freestyle - 1. Marty (Waw) 5:53.45, 2. L. Noggle (War), 3. B. Noggle (War)

200 freestyle relay - 1. Warsaw 1:49.39, 2. Wawasee, 3. Warsaw

100 backstroke - 1. White (Waw) 1:07.26, 2. Gunderson (Waw), 3. A. Cook (War)

100 breaststroke - 1. Brown (War) 1:15.94, 2. Hoffman (Waw), 3. Heyde (War)

400 freestyle relay - 1. Warsaw 4:05.02, 2. Wawasee, 3. Wawasee

BOYS - WARSAW 103, WAWASEE 83

200 medley relay - 1. Warsaw 1:40.65, 2. Wawasee, 3. Wawasee

200 freestyle - 1. Simmons (Waw) 1:54.58, 2. Thallemer (War), 3. Clevenger (War)

200 individual medley - 1. Beehler (War) 2:08.54, 2. Dingledein (Waw), 3. Stork (War)

50 freestyle - 1. Conley (Waw) :22.75, 2. Bre. Moore (War), 3. R. Munsch (War)

Diving - 1. R. Beer (Waw) 226.45, 2. Wawasee, 3. Keirn (War), Anglin (War)

100 butterfly - 1. Bra. Moore (War) :59.97, 2. Lettera (Waw), 3. Dingledein (Waw)

100 freestyle - 1. Bre. Moore (War) :51.92, 2. Conley (Waw), 3. R. Munsch (War)

500 freestyle - 1. Thallemer (War) 5:19.27, 2. Clevenger (War), 3. Beck (Waw)

200 freestyle relay - 1. Warsaw 1:32.73, 2. Wawasee, 3. Warsaw

100 backstroke - 1. Simmons (Waw) :55.40, 2. Bra. Moore (War), 3. Wallin (War)

100 breastroke - 1. Beehler (War) 1:07.04, 2. Singray (Waw), 3. Block (Waw)

400 freestyle relay - 1. Wawasee 3:33.50, 2. Warsaw, 3. Warsaw

Grace Men Lose Conference Opener

By Jason Knavel, Times-Union Sports Correspondent

WINONA LAKE -ÊHeading into Tuesday night's game with the Marian Knights, the Grace College men's basketball team had two opportunities in the conference opener. The Lancers had the opportunity to get off on the right foot in the Mid-Central Conference and the opportunity to bury the defending conference championships, who had entered the game at 0-2 in the MCC.

However, Marian played arguably it best game of the year and defeated Grace 85-54. The Knights blew open a close game at the half by outscoring the Lancers 51-25 over the final 20 minutes of action.

"We struggled in every aspect of the game," head coach Jim Kessler, in his 25th season at Grace, said. "The bottom line is that we've got to get better at defending the basketball. We know it and evidently, they knew it too."

In Marian's first two conference games, the Knights made 4 of 26 three-pointers. Tuesday night, the team made 9 of 18 from behind the arc. In all, Marian shot 60 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

Marian's James Gardner, the brother of Arizona guard Jason Gardner, entered the game as a 60 percent free-throw shooter, but he made 6-of-7 from the line and scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-11 field-goals.

Grace trailed 34-29 at the half, but stayed close early in the second half.

With Marian ahead 49-42 with 12:34 to play, the Knights began to expand the lead. An 11-2 lead capped off by a Gardner dunk gave Marian a 60-44 advantage.

Still leading 65-49, the Knights went on a 12-1 run to lead 77-50 with 4:07 to play and essentially finished the game.

"We're a better team than that," Kessler said. "And I'm confident that's the best game that Marian has played."

Andrew Kipsey came back from an injury to lead Grace with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Joe Saunders added 13 and a team-high nine rebounds, while

Derric Isensee had 10 points. Matt Abernethy, the conference's leading

scorer at 23.3 points per game, was held to just seven, on 3-of-6 shooting.

Marian improves to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the MCC. Grace (11-6, 0-1 MCC)

will play at St. Francis Thursday at 7 p.m.

MARIAN 85, GRACE 54

Marian 34 51 - 85

Grace 29 25 - 54

Marian - Brad Metzger 5-7 0-0 13, Demetris Bluffington 5-5 0-0 11, David

Meece 5-14 1-1 14, William Webster 2-3 7-8 11, James Gardner 8-11 6-7 22,

Marquies Steele 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Sims 0-0 0-0 0, Wes Carmony 0-3 1-2 1, Jay

Dawson 1-2 0-0 2, Travis Crick 0-0 0-0 0, Zack Robbins 2-2 0-0 6, Montay

Crowder 2-3 1-2 5, Total 30-50 16-20 85

Grace - Brian O'Dell 0-4 0-0 0, Matt Moore 1-4 1-2 3, Matt Abernethy 3-6 1-4

7, Joe Saunders 6-14 1-2 13, Andrew Kipsey 6-12 0-0 15, Corey Smith 1-6 2-2

4, Derric Isensee 5-7 0-2 10, Lee Compson 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Walter 0-1 0-0 0,

Tim Bailey 0-2 2-4 2, Jordan Bender 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Ryan 0-0 0-0 0, Total

22-57 7-16 54

Three-pointers - Marian 9-18 (Metzger 3-4, Meece 3-10, Robbins 2-2,

Bluffington 1-1, Dawson 0-1), Grace 3-20 (Kipsey 3-7, Isensee 0-1, Compson

0-1, Walter 0-1, O'Dell 0-3, Moore 0-3, Smith 0-4). Rebounds - Marian 30

(Meece 4), Grace 32 (Saunders 9). Personal fouls - Marian 18, Grace 18.

Fouled out - none. Turnovers - Marian 12, Grace 16.

Records - Marian 10-5, 1-2 MCC; Grace 11-6, 0-1 MCC.

Panthers Pound Tigers On The Mats

By Jim Brenneman, Times-Union Sports Correspondent

NAPPANEE -ÊWarsaw varsity wrestlers were pounded by the Panthers of Northwood Tuesday evening, losing 55-16 and falling to 1-4 in the Northern Lakes Conference.

Warsaw had only four varsity victories against the youthful Panthers.

Anthony Boley (119 pounds) controlled A.J. Rhymer through three periods but the brick-like sophomore successfully avoided being pinned. Boley earned four team points with a 10-1 major decision.

Tanner Connealy (125) took on wiry Jacob Hostetler, a freshman. Connealy's custom has been to amass takedown points in many of his wins this season, but this time he managed just one takedown. He finished with a 10-5 victory, giving the Tigers their first and only lead.

Later, long after the Panthers had cinched the team victory, the Tigers put together another couple of victories, but was too late and way too little.

Tyler Miller (189) battled through for a pin against Randy Mitschelen. After a close call in the second period, Miller resumed control in the third period, turning his opponent for good at 5:28.

In the match immediately following, Jacob Boots (215) turned on some heat late against David Mishler. Boots was down 2-1, but with just seven seconds remaining in period two, he nailed a takedown. Adding four more points in the final stanza, he earned a 7-2 victory.

Seven other Warsaw grapplers were victims of falls while two lost by decision.

Warsaw coach Tony Boley noted that the team seemed to be flat for the second event in a row and said, "We just have a lack of fire."

But he pointed out a couple of Tigers who were exceptions to that trend.

"Eddie Sanchez led the team in fire," said Boley. Sanchez is a 171-pound Tiger freshman with very little experience, but plenty of desire. In Boley's words, "He came ready to rumble."

After Northwood veteran E. J. Yehl scored the first takedown, Sanchez boomed back with two of his own to take a 5-3 lead. In period two Yehl escaped and grabbed a takedown, but Sanchez responded in kind, entering the third period with an 8-6 advantage. Inexperience caused Sanchez to fall into Yehl's guillotine pinning combination and the young Tiger was stretched out just 36 seconds into the third period, at 4:36.

Another Tiger showing flashes of brilliance was Brandon Cordell (140) although he lost a wild match to Brandon Garner, 18-7.

However, the Warsaw sophomore gave up points when he either slipped or simply lost his balance no less than five times.

Tiger coaches concur that as Cordell's aggressive strength is tempered with control and balance, he has great potential to enjoy substantial success even yet this season, as well as in the remainder of his Tiger career.

Warsaw falls to 1-4 in the NLC and 6-7 on the season overall. Next up for the Tiger grapplers will be another NLC contest when Warsaw hosts Goshen Thursday, January 10 at home in the Career Center Gym. The starting time is 7 p.m.

Northwood def. Warsaw, 55-16

103 Cory Riggs (NW) forfeit

112 Derrek Burnett (NW) pinned Ryan LaFollette, :51

119 Anthony Boley (W) def. A.J. Rhymer, 10-1 maj

125 Tanner Connealy (W) def. Jason Hostetler, 10-5

130 Troy Cox (NW) pinned Matt Palladino, 1:27

135 Dillon Whitacre (NW) def. Kyle Boley, 5-1

140 Brandon Garner (NW) def. Brandon Cordell, 18-7 maj

145 Phil Sumpter (NW) pinned Thomas Balestri, 2:23

152 Josh Metzler (NW) pinned Brandon LaFollette, 4:53

160 Chad Davis (NW) pinned Troy Miller, 1:54

171 E.J. Yehl (NW) pinned Eddie Sanchez, 4:36

189 Tyler Miller (W) pinned Randy Mitschelen, 5:28

215 Jacob Boots (W) def. David Mishler, 7-2

275 Jaime Garcia (NW) pinned David Ferguson, :49

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