ELKHART - Long after his team's gutsy fourth-quarter comeback Saturday, third-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle stood in a long hallway at historic North Side Gym and talked about having faith.

Having Michael Wienhorst didn't hurt, either.

With 6:05 left in the fourth quarter Saturday, the Tigers trailed host Elkhart Central 47-32, and then the 6-foot-2 Wienhorst took over the game, scoring 12 of his game-high 26 points in the final five minutes and leading Warsaw to a thrilling 52-49 win.

After a three-pointer by M.J. Spann gave Elkhart Central the 15-point lead, the Tigers closed the game with a 20-2 run, adding even more history to a well-known gym celebrating its 50th birthday.

"You gotta have faith," said Ogle, whose Tigers rebounded from Friday's 18-point loss at rival Wawasee and upped their season record to 5-2. "Once it got down to 10, I felt like I was watching Louisville and Kentucky. Kentucky came from about 16 points down with eight minutes to go."

A pair of free throws from Wienhorst cut Central's advantage to four, 49-45, with 2:46 remaining.

Thirty-one seconds later the Blue Blazers threw the ball away, and with 1:58 to play, Wienhorst hit two more charity tosses to cut the deficit to two.

After Elkart Central's Derek Drews missed a field goal attempt, Wienhorst collected the rebound and was fouled at the other end of the court when he drove the lane for two points.

His shot attempt was good, and when he converted the three-point play, he gave the Tigers a 50-49 lead with 1:03 to play.

The lead was Warsaw's first of the game, as Drews scored the first points of the game. The Blue Blazers led 14-9 after the first quarter, 23-17 at halftime and 41-31 going into the final frame.

Elkhart Central got out to a lead Friday night against South Bend Washington and had to fend off the feisty Panthers before pulling out a 62-59 win.

Saturday was a different story, and the Blue Blazers couldn't slow the Tigers once momentum's gate finally swung their way.

"I knew South Bend Washington came back on them last night, and I knew we could because we're a better team than Washington," said Wienhorst, who lifted the Tigers to a 50-49 win at North Side Gym last year over Elkhart Memorial when he hit a free throw with one second remaining. "If we played hard, I knew we'd get back into it eventually."

Wienhorst made a steal with 13 seconds left, and when junior teammate Colin Clemens came away with the ball, Drews committed his fifth foul.

Clemens sank both free throws, accounting for the final score, and Central got off two three-point attempts in the closing seconds but couldn't convert.

"We just finally got things going," Ogle said of his team's fourth-quarter performance. "We were kind of not playing well until that point. We couldn't keep track of Drews in any defense we tried."

Drews finished the game with a team-high 22 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter when he was perfect from the field.

Wienhorst outshadowed Drews' performance by scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter.

His individual performance was a lot like that of 2002 graduate Jared Shaw, who in a Northern Lakes Conference battle at the Tiger Den, scored 18 points in the fourth to bring Warsaw back from 14 points down and lead them to a win over Goshen.

Throughout his playing days for Warsaw, Shaw as well put up big numbers at North Side Gym, including a 38-point performance against Elkhart Memorial in a double-overtime loss, and often joked about renaming the place North Shaw Gym.

Saturday night, however, at least in the fourth quarter, it was Wienhorst's house.

"Michael was a leader tonight," said Ogle. "I liked the grit we showed down the stretch. I'm really proud of this team."

En route to his game-high 26 points, Wienhorst converted 15 of 17 free throws. He also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Junior Mitchell Reinholt came off the bench and was perfect from the field, scoring 10 points and pulling down seven rebounds, while John-Wesley Maierle and Shaun Cabrera scored five each, Clemens four and Andrew Holladay two.

To go with Drews' 22-point performance for Elkhart Central, Spann scored eight, Brock Welch and Chris Porter six each, Mauri Miller five and Spencer Williamson two.

The loss dropped the Blue Blazers to 3-2 on the season.

Warsaw is in action again Dec. 28 at NorthWood in the first round of the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament.

WARSAW 52, ELK. CENTRAL 49

Warsaw 9 8 14 21 - 52

Central 14 9 18 8 - 49

Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.

* Cabrera 2-3 0-0 1 0 5

* Holladay 1-4 0-1 1 2 2

* Maierle 1-2 3-6 3 1 5

* W'horst 5-15 15-17 7 1 26

* Clemens 0-2 4-4 4 3 4

Conley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Fuller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Reinholt 5-5 0-0 7 0 10

Team 0-0 0-0 3 0 0

Totals 14-30 22-27 26 7 52

Central FG FT R S Pts.

* Spann 3-11 1-2 3 2 8

* Welch 2-3 0-0 1 0 6

* Miller 1-4 3-5 2 1 5

* Williamson 1-4 0-1 5 0 2

* Drews 7-13 5-6 3 1 22

Choler 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Conard 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Porter 2-5 2-3 4 2 6

Team 0-0 0-0 4 0 0

Totals 16-41 12-19 23 6 49

Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-10 (Wienhorst 1-6, Cabrera 1-2, Clemens 0-2), Central 5-18 (Drews 3-5, Welch 2-2, Spann 1-6, Miller 0-3, Williamson 0-1, Porter 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 11, Central 12. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Central 20. Fouled out - Drews.

JV - Warsaw 43, Central 35 [[In-content Ad]]