It may not be pretty, it may not earn many style points, but it is getting the job done.

After the first week of the season, an inexperienced Warsaw Tigers boys' basketball team has three wins against three good opponents, and it doesn't really matter how they are getting it done, as long as they are doing the job.

"It (the first week) is very difficult because of the fact there is just not enough time to get ready with our inexperienced team," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "Last year, I wouldn't have thought twice about this stretch because we already knew our offenses and defenses basically. We were more ready for different situations to arise."

Besides the wins, another constant has been the defense of the Tigers. Warsaw is 3-0 despite having scored 63, 63 and 56 points in those three games. And the reason is defense, having given up only 59, 62 and 46 points in the three games.

The latest victim, Columbia City, shot only 42 percent from the field in a 56-46 loss to Warsaw in the Tiger Den Saturday.

In their season opener against Whitko on Wednesday, the Eagles used a potent high-post game to frustrate the Wildcat defense. The Tigers were waiting for the Eagle offense and shut the inside down for the most part.

"We knew they were going to try to get the ball in the paint," Rhodes said. "We tried to back off their guards. We have a very go get 'em mentality. When we backed off and stayed in front of their guards, they had trouble. When we were too aggressive and go out, they were able to throw it into the post or dribble penetrate. Overall, I thought our game plan was successful."

Chris Joy and Jason Elkins, who did most of the damage against Whitko, were held in check by the Tigers' defense. Joy did get 18 points, 14 in the second half, but Elkins was saddled with foul trouble and ended up with only 2.

"Our defense was very aggressive, and that pretty much controlled the game for us," Rhodes said. "Defense and rebounding have been very important. That is the reason we have won their first three games.

"We controlled the rebounds for the first three quarters, but in the fourth, it seemed like we couldn't keep them off the offensive boards," he said. "We had break downs where their guards penetrated, and then we were outnumbered."

Offensively, the Tigers fared considerably better against the Eagles than they had in their previous two games, shooting 22 of 38 (58 percent) from the field and turning the ball over only 15 times, down from 29 in the season opener and 19 on Wednesday against Tippecanoe Valley.

"I thought we played with a much better of percentage of errors," Rhodes said. "I thought we had an improved offensive performance. We scored more points out of our offense with fewer turnovers.

"I thought we played much better tonight when Columbia City played zone," he said. "We worked hard on it from the Valley game. We weren't ready for the Valley game."

Warsaw held a 13 point lead, 46-33, at the end of the third period. Columbia City cut the lead to 46-39 as the Eagles got the ball inside for two jumpers from Dave Richmond and a layup from Joy to cut the lead to 46-39 to start the fourth.

The Tigers then put together a quick 8-0 run, including two baskets from Andy Plank, to put the game out of reach at 54-39.

After the Eagles opened up the game with a 3-0 lead, Warsaw came back with seven straight points en route to a 12-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers pushed the margin to 29-13 on two free throws from Tyler Charlton before settling for a 29-16 halftime bulge.

Plank led the Tigers with 15 points, Charlton had 13 and Tom Krizmanich chipped in 10.

"Both teams were working hard on defense, and there wasn't a lot of flow (on offense)," Rhodes said.

Warsaw (3-0) is at Huntington North on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]