War'Shaw' Boys Build Win From Clay
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE - Ever the mathematician, the right answer Friday for Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes came from the equation Shaw + Clay2.
In a Northern Lakes Conference matchup at NorthWood, Warsaw got 26 points from Greg Clay, 22 from Jared Shaw and 17 more from Chris Clay. The senior trio's efforts added up to an 84-71 Tiger win.
Warsaw is now 14-1 overall and 5-0 in the NLC, while the host Panthers fall to 6-6 and 2-3.
In what has become a trend the last couple weeks, the 10th-ranked Tigers used a huge fourth quarter to seperate themselves from the opposition.
Friday night when Warsaw outscored NorthWood 28-17 in the final frame, that perfomance came at the charity stripe, where the Tigers were an astounding 18 of 19. For the game Warsaw was 27 of 32 at the line.
The host Panthers started last night's contest in a dead sprint, hitting 8 of 10 shots in the first quarter, including 3 of 4 from the arc.
"They scored 28 points in the first quarter of their last game," Rhodes said of NorthWood. "We knew we had to be careful. We shot the ball early too many times, but we made a good percentage of our shots."
Despite NorthWood's hot hand, the Tigers stayed right with the Panthers and the teams were knotted at 23 after one quarter.
NorthWood took a five-point lead, 39-34, when junior Robbie Lightfoot hit a three-pointer with 1:51 left in the half but Warsaw clamped down and wouldn't let go. Down by eight, 45-37, when Lightfoot hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left in the half, Greg Clay hit a trey at the buzzer to keep the deficit at five.
In all, the Panthers hit 16 of 25 shots in the first half, including 6 of 9 from the arc.
Warsaw countered by making seven treys of its own.
"They were doing a great job in their half-court offense of curling and popping out for the three-point shot," Rhodes said of the Panthers. "In the first half they were getting 1.5 points per possession, that's off the scale. When I saw that and we were only down five I knew we were in great shape."
Junior center Ryan DeGeeter split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to one, 49-48, and the Tigers traded baskets with the Panthers and evenutally led 56-54 at the end of the third quarter.
A big difference in the second half was Warsaw's defense, namely that of Chris Clay on Panther senior Rory Clouse.
Clouse scored 11 points in the first half, 10 in the first quarter, but with Chris Clay hounding him, he only got off one shot in the third and finished with just a pair of free throws in the second half before fouling out.
Leading 56-54 after three, Warsaw opened the final frame with a 7-0 run and then hit free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Greg Clay finished the fourth quarter with 11 points and a perfect 9-of-9 effort at the charity stripe. Twin brother Chris scored eight in the fourth and was 4 of 4 at the free throw line.
Also scoring for Warsaw was DeGeeter with eight, Brad Seiss and Erik Fussle with five each, and Suraj Datta with one.
Scoring nine in the fourth quarter and trying to rally the Panthers, junior Ryan Bradley finished with a game-high 28 points, followed by Lightfoot with 18, Clouse with 13 and junior Adam Leeper with 10.
This is the third game in a row the Tigers have had to come from behind to win. Against Goshen Shaw scored 18 in the fourth quarter of a one-point win. Last week at Concord Shaw hit 13 in the fourth quarter of a four-point win.
At the beginning of the season Rhodes promised this team had heart and would be exciting to watch. Thus far Warsaw hasn't disapointed, picking up its 14th straight win and setting up a huge game at NLC foe Elkhart Memorial next Friday. After a win over Goshen Friday, Memorial is 13-2 and tied at 5-0 in the NLC with Warsaw.
"We've got experience in four starters that played a whole season of varsity a year ago," Rhodes said. "Seiss is a three-year starter at point guard. We've got eight seniors and a really strong bench. Next week is a big week. I told the kids these three games would set up what I think is the premiere game in Northern Indiana."
The Tigers defeated Elkhart Memorial to win the NLC Holiday Tournament championship.
With Friday's win, Al Rhodes now has 398 career wins.
NO. 10 (4A) WARSAW 84
NORTHWOOD 71
Warsaw (14-1, 5-0) 23 17 16 28 - 84
NorthWood (6-6, 2-3) 23 22 9 17 - 71
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Seiss (G) 2-4 0-0 1 0 5
G. Clay (G) 7-15 9-11 4 3 26
C. Clay (F) 6-9 4-4 7 0 17
Shaw (F) 6-11 9-9 5 3 22
DeGeeter (C) 2-2 3-4 5 1 8
Knepper 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
Fussle 2-2 1-2 2 3 5
Walmer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Scott 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Datta 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
Totals 25-44 27-32 27 10 84
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.
Lightfoot (G) 5-9 5-6 1 0 18
Bradley (G) 11-20 5-6 2 2 28
Leeper (F) 4-6 0-2 5 1 10
Clouse (F) 3-9 5-8 5 0 13
Hall (C) 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Richard 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Klotz 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 24-46 15-22 16 3 71
Three-point goals - Warsaw 7-16 (G. Clay 3-7, Seiss 1-3, C. Clay 1-2, Shaw 1-3, DeGeeter 1-1), NorthWood 8-15 (Lightfoot 3-3, Leeper 2-3, Clouse 2-4, Bradley 1-4, Richard 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 7, NorthWood 11. Fouls - Warsaw 16, NorthWood 20. Fouled out - Clouse.
JV - Warsaw 52, NorthWood 42
Warsaw scoring - Adam Griggs 16, Todd Braddock 15, Michael Wienhorst 9, Riley Fuller 7, Ryan Schultz 2, Greg Allison 2, Nate Miller 1
Valley Picks Up Important TRC Win Over Manchester
By Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Editor
AKRON -ÊIn the break between the third and fourth quarters of Friday night's Three Rivers Conference contest between Tippecanoe Valley and Manchester, Viking fans started the wave.
That wave must have somehow transferred to the players on the court as the Valley squad outscored Manchester 12-3 in the final quarter to pick up a 43-42 win over the Squires.
And the game ended the same way it began -Êwith Valley junior Ross Stutzman scoring for the Vikings.
Stutzman sank two free throws with 4.2 ticks left in the fourth quarter to seal the 43-42 win, but he also started the game off with a basket to put the Vikings up 2-0 early in the first.
Trey Eaton followed Stutzman's lead, hitting the second basket of the game to give Valley a 4-0 lead.
However, that lead was short-lived as Manchester's Dustin Simcoe scored four straight points to knot the score at 4-all.
Valley held a 10-9 advantage after the first quarter, but Michael Sorg netted the first basket of the second frame to give the Squires a lead they held until late in the fourth quarter.
Simcoe followed Sorg's basket with a three-pointer to extend Manchester's lead to four, and the Squires rolled through the quarter.
In the second Manchester outscored Valley 19-10 and held a 28-20 lead at the half.
"We had too many turnovers in the first half," said Valley coach Bill Patrick. "We weren't ready to play mentally. We didn't shoot well. And Manchester had good defense. Their defense was solid."
The Squires added to their lead in the third. Barry Hicks hit two free throws to open the quarter, and then Matt Stoops followed with a basket to make Manchester's advantage 32-20.
At the 2:35 mark in the third frame, Simcoe hit a basket, making the score 39-25 and giving Manchester its biggest lead of the game.
But then the Valley offense kicked in. At 2:18 Eaton sank two shots from the charity stripe and started a 6-0 Viking run and put his team back in the running.
By the end of the third, Valley sliced the Squire lead to eight, 39-31.
And Eaton kept his team in the game. He hit a three-pointer to open the scoring in the fourth and then hit two free throw to put Valley within three, 39-36.
Todd Dale hit a free throw to make the score 40-36, but there was no doubt that the quarter belonged to Valley.
The next came from Viking senior Andrew Kramer. He banked a three-pointer off the backboard to put Valley within one, 40-39 with 2:42 left in the game.
"That was a big shot," said Patrick. "Sometimes you get a lucky break, and that was one of them."
Then with 1:39 left to play, Eaton hit a basket to give the Vikings their first lead since the beginning of the second quarter, 41-40.
But the Squires did not lay down. Simcoe sank two free throws with just 17.7. ticks left on the clock to put Manchester up 42-41.
Valley took the ball down the floor, and Eaton missed a basket with 7.5 seconds on the clock. However, the ball hit a Manchester player and flew out of bounds, returning possession to the Vikings under their own basket.
On the ensuing possession, Kramer shot a three-pointer that missed, but Stutzman picked up the rebound and was fouled in the process, sending him to the line for a one-and-bonus opportunity.
The lanky senior stepped to the charity stripe and hit the front end to knot the score at 42-all. Then he sent the bonus shot through the net to give Valley a 43-42 advantage.
Manchester got the ball back and moved down the court and put the ball in the hands of senior Stoops. The ball went up, hit the rim and bounced out as the buzzer sounded.
Valley's Eaton led all scorers with 23 points, while Simcoe scored 13 and Hicks had 11 for Manchester.
"Trey was sick all week," said Patrick. "He missed school Monday and Tuesday. He's still not feeling good."
The win moves Valley to 12-3 overall and 4-1 in the TRC. Manchester falls to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in TRC play.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 43
MANCHESTER 42
Manchester 9 19 11 3 - 42
Valley 10 10 11 12 - 43
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
*A. Sorg (g) 1-5 0-0 2 0 2
*Stoops (g) 4-9 0-0 2 1 8
*Simcoe (c) 4-6 4-4 2 1 13
*Hicks (f) 3-5 2-2 2 0 11
*Dale (f) 1-4 2-3 2 3 4
Westendorf 0-1 0-0 1 2 0
Carandante 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
M. Sorg 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Garber 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Totals 15-34 8-9 13 9 42
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Eaton (f) 8-14 6-6 3 2 23
*Frantz (f) 1-4 4-4 3 0 6
*Stutzman (c) 2-3 2-2 4 0 6
*Hartzler (g) 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
*Kramer (g) 2-4 0-1 4 0 5
Beyers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wise 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Harmon 0-0 3-4 1 0 3
Totals 13-27 15-17 16 2 43
Three-point goals -ÊManchester 4-11 (A. Sorg 0-1, Stoops 0-1, Simcoe 1-1, Hicks 3-5, Dale 0-2, M. Sorg 0-1), Valley 2-8 (Eaton 1-3, Frantz 0-1, Hartzler 0-2, Kramer 1-2). Fouls -ÊManchester 17, Valley 11. Fouled out -Ênone.
JV -ÊTIPPECANOE VALLEY 44, MANCHESTER 32
Concord Hands Wawasee NLC Loss
By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
SYRACUSE -ÊBoth Wawasee and Concord came into Friday night's boy's basketball games at Wawasee looking to improve on their 1-3 Northern Lakes Conference records.
Both teams picked up losses against the same three teams: Warsaw, Plymouth and Elkhart Memorial.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, it was Concord that picked up a 69-55 win and imporved its record to 2-3 in conference play and 9-5 overall.
The Warriors, who have relied on three-pointers much of the season, began the same way Friday.
Freshman point guard Kory Lantz opened the scoring for the Warriors with a three-pointer and Steve Conrad added two more in the first to account for nine of the Warriors' 14 points.
The Warriors, though, trailed 19-14 after the first mainly due to Concord's ability to beat the defense down court.
"Concord transitions very well," said Wawasee coach Phil Mishler. "We got beat in the first quarter on their transition, but I thought we did a nice job adjusting to that in the second."
Wawasee only allowed the Minutemen seven points in quarter two, and on the strength of a 14-2 run, the Warriors took a 28-26 halftime lead.
Wawasee's Ben Knisley began the scoring in the second half to give the Warriors a short-lived four-point lead.
Just 40 seconds into the half, Steve Conrad, who had a 26-point performance Tuesday, picked up his fourth foul.
The Minutemen promptly ran off nine straight points to take a 35-30 lead.
The Warriors hung tough for a while but it was just too much Concord as both Mike Casey and Steve Warr were too much for Wawasee to handle.
Concord ran off the last four points of the quarter to take a 47-40 lead.
Conrad returned with six minutes left in the game and the Warriors trailing 53-44.
The Minutemen however were able to maintain their lead throughout the fourth, forcing Wawasee to foul.
"What hurt us in the third quarter was that we took some ill-advised shots and we turned the ball over," said Mishler. "That allowed them to transition off the turnovers. They got 13 points tonight off of our turnovers. Our goal was to have less than 10 turnovers. We had one in the first half and that's how you can play with a team who is more athletic and stronger."
The eight second-half turnovers led to fast break baskets for Concord and spelled the difference in the game.
"I thought we pushed the ball very well, getting past their defense and getting some easy baskets, particularly in the first and third quarters," said Concord coach Ryan Culp.
Both teams showed balanced efforts as Warriors Kory Lantz and Clint Custer both finished with 13 points while Kyle Lantz added 10 and Conrad had 9. For Concord it was Casey who led all scorers with 18 points.
Casey played much bigger than his listed height of 6-foot-2. He also added eight rebounds for his team.
Also in double figures for the Minutemen were Warr with 15 and Micah Staley with 11. Warr got his points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, many of those coming as he lead the fast break.
Jeremy Lugbill also added nine points for Concord.
The Warriors fall to 1-4 in the NLC and 7-8 overall. Wawasee has eight days off before traveling to Middlebury Saturday for an NLC match-up against Northridge.
CONCORD 69, WAWASEE 55
WAWASEE 14 14 12 15 - 55
CONCORD 19 7 21 22 - 69
WAWASEE FG FT A S R PTS. #
Kory Lantz* 5-16 1-2 3 0 0 13
Conrad* 3-6 1-2 1 0 3 9
Kyle Lantz* 4-10 0-0 2 1 2 10
Custer* 4-11 5-5 1 1 12 13
Knisley* 2-6 2-2 3 2 7 7
Stichter 1-3 1-1 2 0 2 3#
Totals 19-52 10-12 12 4 26 55
CONCORD FG FT A S R PTS.
Conrad* 2-5 3-4 5 2 6 7
Lugbill* 2-5 5-7 4 3 3 9
Staley* 4-9 2-2 1 0 4 11
Warr* 7-9 1-3 3 0 7 15
Casey* 8-12 2-3 1 0 8 18
Snider 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 2
Shafer 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Morningstar 2-3 0-0 2 0 2 4
Parker 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Biting 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3
Totals 27-46 13-19 18 5 32 69
Three-point goals - Wawasee 7-22 (Kory Lantz 2-7, Kyle Lantz 2-7, Conrad 2-4, Knisley 1-2, Stichter 0-2) Concord 2-5 (Staley 1-3, Biting 1-1, Conrad 0-1) Wawasee. Fouled out - none. Team Fouls: Wawasee 18 Concord 13. Turnovers -ÊWawasee 9, Concord 9.
JV - CONCORD 58, WAWASEE 41
Jimtown Slides Past Triton
By Dan Riordan, TImes-Union Sports Correspondent
BOURBON -ÊJimtown is known as a football school.
Under the guidance of coach Randy DeShone, a once woeful basketball program has been turned into one to be reckoned with.
The Jimmies went into Friday night's game against the 3-9 Triton Trojans with a 9-5 record. That includes a 5-2 record away from Jimtown.
Despite a subpar season, the Trojans kept the score low and nearly pulled of an upset before falling 38-36.
Going into the final quarter the Trojans saw themselves down 27-17. That's when junior Adam Wanemacher stepped up. He scored 12 of his team-high 15 points in the final quarter to nearly give his team the win.
Wanemacher hit two free throws at the 4:36 mark to put his team back at a 10-point deficit 31-21.
After a basket by Josh Moore, Wanemacher found sophomore Braxton Barton open for a three-pointer to narrow the margin to 31-26 with 2:40 left to go. ##
After a pair of Jimtown free throws, Todd Blackford answered right back for Triton grabbing an offensive rebound and converting it into two points.
Triton quickly fouled freshman Derrick DeShone. The point guard missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Trojans life.
The Trojans were unable to convert as Moore missed a layup with 1:15 left.
Jimtown refused to put the game away as Jeremy Herring went 1 for 2 at the line to leave the Jimmies up by only six points, two possesions.
Wanemacher made things interesting as he nailed a three to cut the lead in half.
Forced to foul, the Trojans once again sent DeShone to the line.
This time the coach's son made both of his free throws to give Jimtown the 36-31 lead.
Triton's chances seemed to be dashed when Blackford was unable to connect from beyond the arc.
Once again, however, Jimtown left the door open. Herring missed both ends of his double bonus to leave the margin at five.
It was deja vu all over again as Wanemacher hit his second straight three with 11.7 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing Jimtown inbounds it was Herring taking the ball out.
Without the luxury of time, Triton was forced to foul sophomore Kyle Johnson. Johnson, who stands at 6-foot-7, has an unusually soft touch for a big man. He connected on Jimtown's only three of the night and nailed both of his free throws to put his team up 38-34.
With 9.7 seconds standing on the clock, the Trojans raced down the court. Barton, who was nearly the hero in the JV game, was unable to nail a running shot from outside.
Wanemacher, who finished the night with four rebounds, picked up the loose ball and hit a layup to make the score 38-36.
Unfortunately, Triton was out of timeouts and could only watch as the clock hit all zeros.
After the game Coach DeShone was well aware that his team quite literally escaped with a win.
"We were unable to hit our free throws and they hit some shots late to mearly pull it of. I feel fortunate to come out with a win tonight."
On the other end of the spectrum Triton's Mike McBride was aware of the fact that his team hung tough with a good team. He's also aware that his team needs a big win to turn things around.
"After the game I told them that (Jimtown) is a team we can beat. We have a team that can be right in things at sectional time. We're playing teams tough. We just need to get one big win and hopefully that might start to put us over the hump."
Triton now 3-10 (2-3) will face another tough team when they host 14-2 Argos Tuesday night.
JIMTOWN 38, TRITON 36
JIMTOWN 8 6 13 11 - 38
TRITON 5 4 8 19 - 36
TRITON FG FT A S R PTS.
Nifong* 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Wanemacher* 5-8 2-2 3 0 4 15
Boyer* 0-3 2-2 0 1 3 2
Yankovich* 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0
Moore* 5-15 0-0 0 0 7 10#
Blackford 1-3 0-0 1 0 4 2
Landis 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Barton 1-4 0-0 1 0 1 3
Watkins 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2
Totals 14-37 4-4 5 4 24 36
JIMTOWN FG FT A S R PTS.
Woodwine* 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Squibb* 3-8 0-0 1 0 3 6
Whitaker* 1-1 4-4 2 1 2 6
Herring* 8-14 1-4 1 3 10 17
Johnson* 2-4 2-2 2 0 0 7
Deshone 0-2 2-3 6 0 1 2
Totals 14-29 9-13 13 5 16 38
Three-point goals: Triton 4-11 (Wanemacher 3-4, Barton 1-3, Boyer 0-3, Blackford 0-1). Jimtown 1-7 (Johnson 1-2, Squibb 0-3, Herring 0-1, Deshone 0-1). Fouled out - none. Team Fouls: Triton 16, Jimtown 10. Turnovers: Triton 13, Jimtown 11.
JV -ÊJIMTOWN 39, TRITON 32
Whitko Improves To 6-7 On Season
Times-Union Staff Report
South Whitley -ÊWhitko improved to 6-7 on the season and 3-2 in the TRC with a 46-31 victory over Oak Hill Friday.
The Wildcats were led by Brad Walpole's 18 points. John Woods had a solid game for Whitko chipping in nine points to go along with eight rebounds.
The Eagles led at the half 17-16. Whitko took the lead at the end of the third quarter 29-28. They never looked back outscoring Oak Hill 17-3 in the final quarter. #
Whitko also got to practice its free throw shooting. The team went to the line a total of 29 times. The Wildcats were 62 percent as team connecting on 18 of them.
The loss brings Oak Hill's record to 3-10 (2-3 TRC). The Wildcats face Churubusco tonight at home.
WHITKO 46 OAK HILL 31
WHITKO 11 5 13 17- 46#
OAK HILL 11 6 11 3- 31
WHITKO: Walpole 6 5-7 18, Garber 2 7-11 11, Woods 3 3-7 9, Robbins 1 3-4 5, Spangle 1 0-0 3.
OAK HILL: Owsley 3 4-7 12, Jackson 2 1-1 6, Wilson 2 0-0 5, Boswell 2 0-0 4, Winger 1 0-0 2, Planck 1 0-0 2.
Three point goals: Whitko-2 (Walpole, Spangle) Oak Hill 4 (Owsley 2, Jackson, Wilson) Team fouls: Whitko 12 Oak Hill 20. fouled out: none. [[In-content Ad]]
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NAPPANEE - Ever the mathematician, the right answer Friday for Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes came from the equation Shaw + Clay2.
In a Northern Lakes Conference matchup at NorthWood, Warsaw got 26 points from Greg Clay, 22 from Jared Shaw and 17 more from Chris Clay. The senior trio's efforts added up to an 84-71 Tiger win.
Warsaw is now 14-1 overall and 5-0 in the NLC, while the host Panthers fall to 6-6 and 2-3.
In what has become a trend the last couple weeks, the 10th-ranked Tigers used a huge fourth quarter to seperate themselves from the opposition.
Friday night when Warsaw outscored NorthWood 28-17 in the final frame, that perfomance came at the charity stripe, where the Tigers were an astounding 18 of 19. For the game Warsaw was 27 of 32 at the line.
The host Panthers started last night's contest in a dead sprint, hitting 8 of 10 shots in the first quarter, including 3 of 4 from the arc.
"They scored 28 points in the first quarter of their last game," Rhodes said of NorthWood. "We knew we had to be careful. We shot the ball early too many times, but we made a good percentage of our shots."
Despite NorthWood's hot hand, the Tigers stayed right with the Panthers and the teams were knotted at 23 after one quarter.
NorthWood took a five-point lead, 39-34, when junior Robbie Lightfoot hit a three-pointer with 1:51 left in the half but Warsaw clamped down and wouldn't let go. Down by eight, 45-37, when Lightfoot hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left in the half, Greg Clay hit a trey at the buzzer to keep the deficit at five.
In all, the Panthers hit 16 of 25 shots in the first half, including 6 of 9 from the arc.
Warsaw countered by making seven treys of its own.
"They were doing a great job in their half-court offense of curling and popping out for the three-point shot," Rhodes said of the Panthers. "In the first half they were getting 1.5 points per possession, that's off the scale. When I saw that and we were only down five I knew we were in great shape."
Junior center Ryan DeGeeter split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to one, 49-48, and the Tigers traded baskets with the Panthers and evenutally led 56-54 at the end of the third quarter.
A big difference in the second half was Warsaw's defense, namely that of Chris Clay on Panther senior Rory Clouse.
Clouse scored 11 points in the first half, 10 in the first quarter, but with Chris Clay hounding him, he only got off one shot in the third and finished with just a pair of free throws in the second half before fouling out.
Leading 56-54 after three, Warsaw opened the final frame with a 7-0 run and then hit free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Greg Clay finished the fourth quarter with 11 points and a perfect 9-of-9 effort at the charity stripe. Twin brother Chris scored eight in the fourth and was 4 of 4 at the free throw line.
Also scoring for Warsaw was DeGeeter with eight, Brad Seiss and Erik Fussle with five each, and Suraj Datta with one.
Scoring nine in the fourth quarter and trying to rally the Panthers, junior Ryan Bradley finished with a game-high 28 points, followed by Lightfoot with 18, Clouse with 13 and junior Adam Leeper with 10.
This is the third game in a row the Tigers have had to come from behind to win. Against Goshen Shaw scored 18 in the fourth quarter of a one-point win. Last week at Concord Shaw hit 13 in the fourth quarter of a four-point win.
At the beginning of the season Rhodes promised this team had heart and would be exciting to watch. Thus far Warsaw hasn't disapointed, picking up its 14th straight win and setting up a huge game at NLC foe Elkhart Memorial next Friday. After a win over Goshen Friday, Memorial is 13-2 and tied at 5-0 in the NLC with Warsaw.
"We've got experience in four starters that played a whole season of varsity a year ago," Rhodes said. "Seiss is a three-year starter at point guard. We've got eight seniors and a really strong bench. Next week is a big week. I told the kids these three games would set up what I think is the premiere game in Northern Indiana."
The Tigers defeated Elkhart Memorial to win the NLC Holiday Tournament championship.
With Friday's win, Al Rhodes now has 398 career wins.
NO. 10 (4A) WARSAW 84
NORTHWOOD 71
Warsaw (14-1, 5-0) 23 17 16 28 - 84
NorthWood (6-6, 2-3) 23 22 9 17 - 71
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Seiss (G) 2-4 0-0 1 0 5
G. Clay (G) 7-15 9-11 4 3 26
C. Clay (F) 6-9 4-4 7 0 17
Shaw (F) 6-11 9-9 5 3 22
DeGeeter (C) 2-2 3-4 5 1 8
Knepper 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
Fussle 2-2 1-2 2 3 5
Walmer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Scott 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Datta 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
Totals 25-44 27-32 27 10 84
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.
Lightfoot (G) 5-9 5-6 1 0 18
Bradley (G) 11-20 5-6 2 2 28
Leeper (F) 4-6 0-2 5 1 10
Clouse (F) 3-9 5-8 5 0 13
Hall (C) 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Richard 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Klotz 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 24-46 15-22 16 3 71
Three-point goals - Warsaw 7-16 (G. Clay 3-7, Seiss 1-3, C. Clay 1-2, Shaw 1-3, DeGeeter 1-1), NorthWood 8-15 (Lightfoot 3-3, Leeper 2-3, Clouse 2-4, Bradley 1-4, Richard 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 7, NorthWood 11. Fouls - Warsaw 16, NorthWood 20. Fouled out - Clouse.
JV - Warsaw 52, NorthWood 42
Warsaw scoring - Adam Griggs 16, Todd Braddock 15, Michael Wienhorst 9, Riley Fuller 7, Ryan Schultz 2, Greg Allison 2, Nate Miller 1
Valley Picks Up Important TRC Win Over Manchester
By Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Editor
AKRON -ÊIn the break between the third and fourth quarters of Friday night's Three Rivers Conference contest between Tippecanoe Valley and Manchester, Viking fans started the wave.
That wave must have somehow transferred to the players on the court as the Valley squad outscored Manchester 12-3 in the final quarter to pick up a 43-42 win over the Squires.
And the game ended the same way it began -Êwith Valley junior Ross Stutzman scoring for the Vikings.
Stutzman sank two free throws with 4.2 ticks left in the fourth quarter to seal the 43-42 win, but he also started the game off with a basket to put the Vikings up 2-0 early in the first.
Trey Eaton followed Stutzman's lead, hitting the second basket of the game to give Valley a 4-0 lead.
However, that lead was short-lived as Manchester's Dustin Simcoe scored four straight points to knot the score at 4-all.
Valley held a 10-9 advantage after the first quarter, but Michael Sorg netted the first basket of the second frame to give the Squires a lead they held until late in the fourth quarter.
Simcoe followed Sorg's basket with a three-pointer to extend Manchester's lead to four, and the Squires rolled through the quarter.
In the second Manchester outscored Valley 19-10 and held a 28-20 lead at the half.
"We had too many turnovers in the first half," said Valley coach Bill Patrick. "We weren't ready to play mentally. We didn't shoot well. And Manchester had good defense. Their defense was solid."
The Squires added to their lead in the third. Barry Hicks hit two free throws to open the quarter, and then Matt Stoops followed with a basket to make Manchester's advantage 32-20.
At the 2:35 mark in the third frame, Simcoe hit a basket, making the score 39-25 and giving Manchester its biggest lead of the game.
But then the Valley offense kicked in. At 2:18 Eaton sank two shots from the charity stripe and started a 6-0 Viking run and put his team back in the running.
By the end of the third, Valley sliced the Squire lead to eight, 39-31.
And Eaton kept his team in the game. He hit a three-pointer to open the scoring in the fourth and then hit two free throw to put Valley within three, 39-36.
Todd Dale hit a free throw to make the score 40-36, but there was no doubt that the quarter belonged to Valley.
The next came from Viking senior Andrew Kramer. He banked a three-pointer off the backboard to put Valley within one, 40-39 with 2:42 left in the game.
"That was a big shot," said Patrick. "Sometimes you get a lucky break, and that was one of them."
Then with 1:39 left to play, Eaton hit a basket to give the Vikings their first lead since the beginning of the second quarter, 41-40.
But the Squires did not lay down. Simcoe sank two free throws with just 17.7. ticks left on the clock to put Manchester up 42-41.
Valley took the ball down the floor, and Eaton missed a basket with 7.5 seconds on the clock. However, the ball hit a Manchester player and flew out of bounds, returning possession to the Vikings under their own basket.
On the ensuing possession, Kramer shot a three-pointer that missed, but Stutzman picked up the rebound and was fouled in the process, sending him to the line for a one-and-bonus opportunity.
The lanky senior stepped to the charity stripe and hit the front end to knot the score at 42-all. Then he sent the bonus shot through the net to give Valley a 43-42 advantage.
Manchester got the ball back and moved down the court and put the ball in the hands of senior Stoops. The ball went up, hit the rim and bounced out as the buzzer sounded.
Valley's Eaton led all scorers with 23 points, while Simcoe scored 13 and Hicks had 11 for Manchester.
"Trey was sick all week," said Patrick. "He missed school Monday and Tuesday. He's still not feeling good."
The win moves Valley to 12-3 overall and 4-1 in the TRC. Manchester falls to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in TRC play.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 43
MANCHESTER 42
Manchester 9 19 11 3 - 42
Valley 10 10 11 12 - 43
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
*A. Sorg (g) 1-5 0-0 2 0 2
*Stoops (g) 4-9 0-0 2 1 8
*Simcoe (c) 4-6 4-4 2 1 13
*Hicks (f) 3-5 2-2 2 0 11
*Dale (f) 1-4 2-3 2 3 4
Westendorf 0-1 0-0 1 2 0
Carandante 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
M. Sorg 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Garber 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Totals 15-34 8-9 13 9 42
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Eaton (f) 8-14 6-6 3 2 23
*Frantz (f) 1-4 4-4 3 0 6
*Stutzman (c) 2-3 2-2 4 0 6
*Hartzler (g) 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
*Kramer (g) 2-4 0-1 4 0 5
Beyers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wise 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Harmon 0-0 3-4 1 0 3
Totals 13-27 15-17 16 2 43
Three-point goals -ÊManchester 4-11 (A. Sorg 0-1, Stoops 0-1, Simcoe 1-1, Hicks 3-5, Dale 0-2, M. Sorg 0-1), Valley 2-8 (Eaton 1-3, Frantz 0-1, Hartzler 0-2, Kramer 1-2). Fouls -ÊManchester 17, Valley 11. Fouled out -Ênone.
JV -ÊTIPPECANOE VALLEY 44, MANCHESTER 32
Concord Hands Wawasee NLC Loss
By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
SYRACUSE -ÊBoth Wawasee and Concord came into Friday night's boy's basketball games at Wawasee looking to improve on their 1-3 Northern Lakes Conference records.
Both teams picked up losses against the same three teams: Warsaw, Plymouth and Elkhart Memorial.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, it was Concord that picked up a 69-55 win and imporved its record to 2-3 in conference play and 9-5 overall.
The Warriors, who have relied on three-pointers much of the season, began the same way Friday.
Freshman point guard Kory Lantz opened the scoring for the Warriors with a three-pointer and Steve Conrad added two more in the first to account for nine of the Warriors' 14 points.
The Warriors, though, trailed 19-14 after the first mainly due to Concord's ability to beat the defense down court.
"Concord transitions very well," said Wawasee coach Phil Mishler. "We got beat in the first quarter on their transition, but I thought we did a nice job adjusting to that in the second."
Wawasee only allowed the Minutemen seven points in quarter two, and on the strength of a 14-2 run, the Warriors took a 28-26 halftime lead.
Wawasee's Ben Knisley began the scoring in the second half to give the Warriors a short-lived four-point lead.
Just 40 seconds into the half, Steve Conrad, who had a 26-point performance Tuesday, picked up his fourth foul.
The Minutemen promptly ran off nine straight points to take a 35-30 lead.
The Warriors hung tough for a while but it was just too much Concord as both Mike Casey and Steve Warr were too much for Wawasee to handle.
Concord ran off the last four points of the quarter to take a 47-40 lead.
Conrad returned with six minutes left in the game and the Warriors trailing 53-44.
The Minutemen however were able to maintain their lead throughout the fourth, forcing Wawasee to foul.
"What hurt us in the third quarter was that we took some ill-advised shots and we turned the ball over," said Mishler. "That allowed them to transition off the turnovers. They got 13 points tonight off of our turnovers. Our goal was to have less than 10 turnovers. We had one in the first half and that's how you can play with a team who is more athletic and stronger."
The eight second-half turnovers led to fast break baskets for Concord and spelled the difference in the game.
"I thought we pushed the ball very well, getting past their defense and getting some easy baskets, particularly in the first and third quarters," said Concord coach Ryan Culp.
Both teams showed balanced efforts as Warriors Kory Lantz and Clint Custer both finished with 13 points while Kyle Lantz added 10 and Conrad had 9. For Concord it was Casey who led all scorers with 18 points.
Casey played much bigger than his listed height of 6-foot-2. He also added eight rebounds for his team.
Also in double figures for the Minutemen were Warr with 15 and Micah Staley with 11. Warr got his points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, many of those coming as he lead the fast break.
Jeremy Lugbill also added nine points for Concord.
The Warriors fall to 1-4 in the NLC and 7-8 overall. Wawasee has eight days off before traveling to Middlebury Saturday for an NLC match-up against Northridge.
CONCORD 69, WAWASEE 55
WAWASEE 14 14 12 15 - 55
CONCORD 19 7 21 22 - 69
WAWASEE FG FT A S R PTS. #
Kory Lantz* 5-16 1-2 3 0 0 13
Conrad* 3-6 1-2 1 0 3 9
Kyle Lantz* 4-10 0-0 2 1 2 10
Custer* 4-11 5-5 1 1 12 13
Knisley* 2-6 2-2 3 2 7 7
Stichter 1-3 1-1 2 0 2 3#
Totals 19-52 10-12 12 4 26 55
CONCORD FG FT A S R PTS.
Conrad* 2-5 3-4 5 2 6 7
Lugbill* 2-5 5-7 4 3 3 9
Staley* 4-9 2-2 1 0 4 11
Warr* 7-9 1-3 3 0 7 15
Casey* 8-12 2-3 1 0 8 18
Snider 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 2
Shafer 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Morningstar 2-3 0-0 2 0 2 4
Parker 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Biting 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3
Totals 27-46 13-19 18 5 32 69
Three-point goals - Wawasee 7-22 (Kory Lantz 2-7, Kyle Lantz 2-7, Conrad 2-4, Knisley 1-2, Stichter 0-2) Concord 2-5 (Staley 1-3, Biting 1-1, Conrad 0-1) Wawasee. Fouled out - none. Team Fouls: Wawasee 18 Concord 13. Turnovers -ÊWawasee 9, Concord 9.
JV - CONCORD 58, WAWASEE 41
Jimtown Slides Past Triton
By Dan Riordan, TImes-Union Sports Correspondent
BOURBON -ÊJimtown is known as a football school.
Under the guidance of coach Randy DeShone, a once woeful basketball program has been turned into one to be reckoned with.
The Jimmies went into Friday night's game against the 3-9 Triton Trojans with a 9-5 record. That includes a 5-2 record away from Jimtown.
Despite a subpar season, the Trojans kept the score low and nearly pulled of an upset before falling 38-36.
Going into the final quarter the Trojans saw themselves down 27-17. That's when junior Adam Wanemacher stepped up. He scored 12 of his team-high 15 points in the final quarter to nearly give his team the win.
Wanemacher hit two free throws at the 4:36 mark to put his team back at a 10-point deficit 31-21.
After a basket by Josh Moore, Wanemacher found sophomore Braxton Barton open for a three-pointer to narrow the margin to 31-26 with 2:40 left to go. ##
After a pair of Jimtown free throws, Todd Blackford answered right back for Triton grabbing an offensive rebound and converting it into two points.
Triton quickly fouled freshman Derrick DeShone. The point guard missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Trojans life.
The Trojans were unable to convert as Moore missed a layup with 1:15 left.
Jimtown refused to put the game away as Jeremy Herring went 1 for 2 at the line to leave the Jimmies up by only six points, two possesions.
Wanemacher made things interesting as he nailed a three to cut the lead in half.
Forced to foul, the Trojans once again sent DeShone to the line.
This time the coach's son made both of his free throws to give Jimtown the 36-31 lead.
Triton's chances seemed to be dashed when Blackford was unable to connect from beyond the arc.
Once again, however, Jimtown left the door open. Herring missed both ends of his double bonus to leave the margin at five.
It was deja vu all over again as Wanemacher hit his second straight three with 11.7 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing Jimtown inbounds it was Herring taking the ball out.
Without the luxury of time, Triton was forced to foul sophomore Kyle Johnson. Johnson, who stands at 6-foot-7, has an unusually soft touch for a big man. He connected on Jimtown's only three of the night and nailed both of his free throws to put his team up 38-34.
With 9.7 seconds standing on the clock, the Trojans raced down the court. Barton, who was nearly the hero in the JV game, was unable to nail a running shot from outside.
Wanemacher, who finished the night with four rebounds, picked up the loose ball and hit a layup to make the score 38-36.
Unfortunately, Triton was out of timeouts and could only watch as the clock hit all zeros.
After the game Coach DeShone was well aware that his team quite literally escaped with a win.
"We were unable to hit our free throws and they hit some shots late to mearly pull it of. I feel fortunate to come out with a win tonight."
On the other end of the spectrum Triton's Mike McBride was aware of the fact that his team hung tough with a good team. He's also aware that his team needs a big win to turn things around.
"After the game I told them that (Jimtown) is a team we can beat. We have a team that can be right in things at sectional time. We're playing teams tough. We just need to get one big win and hopefully that might start to put us over the hump."
Triton now 3-10 (2-3) will face another tough team when they host 14-2 Argos Tuesday night.
JIMTOWN 38, TRITON 36
JIMTOWN 8 6 13 11 - 38
TRITON 5 4 8 19 - 36
TRITON FG FT A S R PTS.
Nifong* 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Wanemacher* 5-8 2-2 3 0 4 15
Boyer* 0-3 2-2 0 1 3 2
Yankovich* 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0
Moore* 5-15 0-0 0 0 7 10#
Blackford 1-3 0-0 1 0 4 2
Landis 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Barton 1-4 0-0 1 0 1 3
Watkins 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2
Totals 14-37 4-4 5 4 24 36
JIMTOWN FG FT A S R PTS.
Woodwine* 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Squibb* 3-8 0-0 1 0 3 6
Whitaker* 1-1 4-4 2 1 2 6
Herring* 8-14 1-4 1 3 10 17
Johnson* 2-4 2-2 2 0 0 7
Deshone 0-2 2-3 6 0 1 2
Totals 14-29 9-13 13 5 16 38
Three-point goals: Triton 4-11 (Wanemacher 3-4, Barton 1-3, Boyer 0-3, Blackford 0-1). Jimtown 1-7 (Johnson 1-2, Squibb 0-3, Herring 0-1, Deshone 0-1). Fouled out - none. Team Fouls: Triton 16, Jimtown 10. Turnovers: Triton 13, Jimtown 11.
JV -ÊJIMTOWN 39, TRITON 32
Whitko Improves To 6-7 On Season
Times-Union Staff Report
South Whitley -ÊWhitko improved to 6-7 on the season and 3-2 in the TRC with a 46-31 victory over Oak Hill Friday.
The Wildcats were led by Brad Walpole's 18 points. John Woods had a solid game for Whitko chipping in nine points to go along with eight rebounds.
The Eagles led at the half 17-16. Whitko took the lead at the end of the third quarter 29-28. They never looked back outscoring Oak Hill 17-3 in the final quarter. #
Whitko also got to practice its free throw shooting. The team went to the line a total of 29 times. The Wildcats were 62 percent as team connecting on 18 of them.
The loss brings Oak Hill's record to 3-10 (2-3 TRC). The Wildcats face Churubusco tonight at home.
WHITKO 46 OAK HILL 31
WHITKO 11 5 13 17- 46#
OAK HILL 11 6 11 3- 31
WHITKO: Walpole 6 5-7 18, Garber 2 7-11 11, Woods 3 3-7 9, Robbins 1 3-4 5, Spangle 1 0-0 3.
OAK HILL: Owsley 3 4-7 12, Jackson 2 1-1 6, Wilson 2 0-0 5, Boswell 2 0-0 4, Winger 1 0-0 2, Planck 1 0-0 2.
Three point goals: Whitko-2 (Walpole, Spangle) Oak Hill 4 (Owsley 2, Jackson, Wilson) Team fouls: Whitko 12 Oak Hill 20. fouled out: none. [[In-content Ad]]