In case anyone forgot, the Warsaw Tigers reminded Wawasee on Thursday just how difficult it is to win in the Tiger Den. Wawasee had the offense moving on all cylinders in the first half with 35 points, the most allowed by the Tigers this year in one half.

But when Warsaw clamped on the defense in the second half, the Warriors struggled in Mark Sumpter's first game as the official interim coach and the Tigers won 68-57.

Warsaw survived a spectactular night from Lydia Carpenter. She scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting. Against most teams, those numbers would be impressive, but against Warsaw, that type of inside dominance is extraordinary.

"Those are some pretty good girls that she's playing against," Sumpter said. "She was moving and slashing, and she was using her outside shooting."

For Warsaw head coach Will Wienhorst, it was his 200th victory (304 overall) at Warsaw and Sumpter had nothing but praise for him.

"Coach Wienhorst is a super guy. Some of the things he said to me out there really helped. That's great (that he won his 200th game). I'll never be around that long."

There were a few points throughout the game in which Warsaw stood up to big tests to stay in position to win.

The first one came after Sam Wideman picked up her second foul less than three minutes into the game. Carpenter began to run wild with 10 points in the quarter and four rebounds without the presence of Wideman inside.

However, Wienhorst made a risky move by inserting Wideman back into the game with less than one minute remaining in the first quarter and Wawasee leading 16-10. She responded with a three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer and then hit another one on the first possession of the second quarter to tie the score at 16-16.

"We had the ball, so I was hoping we could control it and get the last-second shot," Wienhorst said. "That's Sam's favorite spot and we got that. (The three-pointer in the second quarter) tied it up, but more importantly, it boosted Sam's confidence, and she played really good basketball from that point."

The third quarter was another key spot for Warsaw. Wawasee led 35-33 at the half and went up 38-35 after Mary Cockburn canned a three-pointer. However, that's when the Tigers turned up the juices on the defensive side of the ball.

Over the next 11 minutes, Wawasee scored just seven points as the Tigers jumped out to a 55-45 lead.

"In the first half, offensively we played well and so did Wawasee," Wienhorst said. "You've got to give them a lot of credit. In the second half, Carpenter still played well, but for the other girls it wasn't the same."

Jackie Edwards was the big second-half contributor by scoring all of her 13 points in the final 16 minutes to spark Warsaw on the offensive side.

"Jackie stood around the first half, and she knew that," Wienhorst said. "She wasn't happy that it happened, and we talked about that at halftime. Obviously, she responded very well in the second half."

The 57 points that Wawasee scored is the most points that Warsaw has allowed all season in a single game, bettering the 52-point outing from Fort Wayne Northrop. However, in both of those games, the Tigers won.

Turnovers and shooting were the big difference for Wawasee in the two halves. In the opening 16 minutes, Wawasee had just four turnovers and shot 59 percent from the floor. However, in the second half, the Warriors committed 13 turnovers and shot just 26 percent.

Wideman led Warsaw with 22 points, while Edwards added 10 rebounds to her 13 points. Tiffany Ross scored a quiet 10 points and had eight rebounds.

For Wawasee, Price scored all of her eight points in the second quarter to back up Carpenter in scoring for the Warriors.

Warsaw (8-4, 4-0) will head to Benton Central Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Wawasee (4-6, 1-2) will host Goshen Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]