After starting the 2000 season by losing to Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw's boys basketball team practiced for 3 1/2 hours Friday and 2 1/2 hours Saturday before that evening's home game against Columbia City.

What Warsaw had to show for the work was a 54-40 win over the Eagles.

And what Warsaw coach Al Rhodes had to show for it was a voice barely louder than a whisper, which he attributed to Wednesday's game, flu and six hours of practices.

"From Wednesday until today," he said, "we made a lot of strides."

In Wednesday's 59-56 loss to Valley, the Vikings closed out the Tigers.

In Saturday's 54-40 win against Columbia City, the Tigers closed out the Eagles.

Warsaw went on a 15-3 run to turn a 36-30 lead with 3:46 left in the third quarter into a 51-33 lead with 2:19 left in the fourth.

Starting forward Greg Clay supplied six points and starting forward Josh Buck four points during the run. Starting guard Trent Martin hit the key basket, a three-pointer late in the third quarter that put Warsaw ahead 41-32.

"They hit that three, and it kind of demoralized us," Columbia City coach Chris Benedict said. "We got into a situation where we thought we had to get it all back on one play.

"In the first half, we chipped away. In the second half, when things didn't go our way, we didn't stay with it. We looked for a four- or five-point shot."

Buck, who scored 21 against Valley on 8-of-26 shooting, fared much better against Columbia City, scoring 21 on 8-of-15 shooting. Greg Clay added eight points, and starters Jerad Shaw and Martin had six each. Reserve Chris Clay also tallied six points.

Starting forward Jon Pettigrew led Columbia City with 14 points.

Rhodes' primary complaint with his team after its Wednesday loss was that players rushed their shots, leading to an abysmal 20 of 57 (34 percent) field goals.

Against Columbia City, the Tigers again attacked the basket, and this time, the shots fell.

"Jerad Shaw, Chris Clay and Josh Buck took time instead of rushing," Rhodes said. "I really appreciated the way we finished plays under the basket."

Columbia City, which likes to play a half-court offensive game, never found its rhythm against Warsaw. The Eagles went scoreless in the final three minutes of the third quarter and for nearly four minutes to start the fourth.

"We thought that one of Columbia City's strengths was three-point shooting, dribbling the basketball inside and throwing it back out," Rhodes said. "Each of our players stopped penetration without needing defensive help.

"Our half-court defenses and mixture of presses showed more improvement. Our full-court pressure disrupted them so they weren't standing offensively in the right places. Brian Johnson was a big spark off the bench. He really helped our perimeter defense."

WARSAW 54, COL. CITY 407

Col. City (1-1) 13 9 10 8 - 40

Warsaw (2-0) 18 10 13 13 - 54

Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.

Buck (F) 8-15 4-5 0 1 5 21

G. Clay (F) 3-4 2-2 0 0 4 8

Martin (G) 2-5 0-0 3 0 1 6

Shaw (C) 3-5 0-0 0 3 7 6

Seiss (G) 0-1 2-3 5 0 0 2

C. Clay 3-4 0-0 0 0 4 6

Johnson 2-3 0-0 3 2 4 4

Knepper 0-0 1-2 0 0 1 1

Foster 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0

Fawley 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Fussle 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Team 2

Totals 21-38 9-12 13 6 28 54

Col. City FG FT A S R Pts.

Pettigrew (F) 5-9 3-5 0 1 1 14

Dye (F) 3-7 0-0 1 0 3 6

Shively (G) 2-9 0-0 4 2 1 5

Schmitt (G) 0-2 3-6 2 3 4 3

Heuer (F) 0-1 0-0 2 2 3 0

Myers 4-6 0-0 0 0 1 8

Boylan 1-2 1-2 0 0 2 4

Totals 15-36 7-13 9 8 15 42

Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-9 (Martin 2-5, Buck 1-4), Columbia City 3-13 (Shively 1-6, Pettigrew 1-2, Boylan 1-2, Schmitt 0-2, Heuer 0-1). Turnovers - Columbia City 13, Warsaw 13. Fouled out - none. Total fouls - Warsaw 16, Columbia City 14.

JV: WARSAW 46, COLUMBIA CITY 22

Warsaw (2-0) scoring - William Knepper 15, Ryan DeGeeter 10, Erik Fussle 9, Geoff Walmer 5, Jeremy Lursen 3, Grant Toney 2, Suraj Datta 2

Columbia City (1-1) - Chad Eckert 8, Marcus Moore 8, Phil Buchanan 2, Ryan Modglin 2, Travis Stangland 2 [[In-content Ad]]