Young Tigers Looking For Experience
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
As the sixth-year Warsaw Community High School boys basketball coach went on to say, his team is looking for one.[[In-content Ad]]"I think it's fair to say we're inexperienced, there's no way getting around it," said Ogle. "There's an old adage that says there's no substitute for experience. We've got to find one. Hopefully we can do that with the combination of quickness, smart play and teamwork."
When the Tigers open the season Wednesday at Kosciusko County rival Tippecanoe Valley, they will have no seniors on the roster.
In fact, the Tigers, whose preseason varsity roster features just nine players, return only one starter from last year's 11-10 team and just three players that played in more than five varsity games.
"I've never had a team with no seniors," said Ogle. "I wish we had some seniors. I do like our younger players, though. We have a pretty good sophomore class, we have a good junior class and we have Nic Moore, who will play varsity as a freshman."
Graduated from last year's team are the top two scorers, Steve Lemasters (17 points per game) and Tommy Reinholt (9.6 points per game). Reinholt also led the team in rebounds with seven caroms per contest.
Also graduated from last season's team are Ben Truman, Eric Blanton, Scott Harman and Spencer Plummer.
"Our seniors that graduated are really going to be missed," said Ogle. "Not only did they work hard and play hard, they were good role models for the younger players."
At the beginning of last season, only two juniors, Scott Perry and Brad Waikel, were on the team. Only Waikel finished the season, and neither came out this year.
Ogle's team is also without the services this year of junior Jesse Sharp, who had surgery after suffering a knee injury during soccer.
Sharp played in 14 varsity games last season, cracking the starting lineup in five of them.
"We were planning on having Jesse Sharp," said Ogle. "He had knee surgery and wants to get ready for soccer next season, so he's not playing. That hurts our depth."
On a night the Warsaw boys gathered for their team photos, there were nine players in the varsity photo and there are nine players listed on the junior varsity roster, with juniors Alex Nulf and Kyle Tucker appearing in both photos.
Six-foot-3 sophomore Justin Clemens returns with the most experience for the Tigers, and is also the team's top scorer coming back after scoring 5.6 points per game last season.
Clemens, played in 19 games last year and started 18 of them.
Junior Ryne Robinson played in 19 games and scored 3.4 points per contest.
Others on Warsaw's varsity roster include freshman Nic Moore, sophomore Andy Conrad and juniors Luke Holladay, Taylor Long, Chase Byerly, Tucker and Nulf.
In the Tigers' preseason scrimmage against Fairfield, Ogle's starting lineup included the 5-7 Long, 5-8 Moore, 6-4 Byerly, 6-3 Robinson and Clemens.
Ogle said Conrad was fighting for a starting spot as well, and that there were a number of junior varsity players that could dress for the varsity team and make it a 12-man roster.
"We have three spots open, I like several of the JV players," said Ogle. "I wanted to have three spots available for some of the junior varsity players that could move up."
As Ogle tries to find his team's identity in Wednesday's season-opener at Valley, veteran coach Bill Patrick has a number of returners from last season's regional runner-up team.
"We're going to have to be patient with this team," said Ogle. "We're young, and we're opening with a Valley team that has a lot of experience. I don't know that they'll start anybody that's not a senior. That's not the most ideal situation to take this group into that."
After Wednesday's game, the Tigers will travel to Columbia City Saturday and then open the home schedule Nov. 30 with DeKalb, before hosting Huntington North the next night.
"I hope this team plays with a lot of effort," said Ogle. "I don't think we're there quite yet. This is maybe the quickest team I've had. We have some good shooters and some good passers. I hope we can turn into a solid defensive team. Offensively, we're ahead of where we are defensively right now. I think that's typical of young teams."
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As the sixth-year Warsaw Community High School boys basketball coach went on to say, his team is looking for one.[[In-content Ad]]"I think it's fair to say we're inexperienced, there's no way getting around it," said Ogle. "There's an old adage that says there's no substitute for experience. We've got to find one. Hopefully we can do that with the combination of quickness, smart play and teamwork."
When the Tigers open the season Wednesday at Kosciusko County rival Tippecanoe Valley, they will have no seniors on the roster.
In fact, the Tigers, whose preseason varsity roster features just nine players, return only one starter from last year's 11-10 team and just three players that played in more than five varsity games.
"I've never had a team with no seniors," said Ogle. "I wish we had some seniors. I do like our younger players, though. We have a pretty good sophomore class, we have a good junior class and we have Nic Moore, who will play varsity as a freshman."
Graduated from last year's team are the top two scorers, Steve Lemasters (17 points per game) and Tommy Reinholt (9.6 points per game). Reinholt also led the team in rebounds with seven caroms per contest.
Also graduated from last season's team are Ben Truman, Eric Blanton, Scott Harman and Spencer Plummer.
"Our seniors that graduated are really going to be missed," said Ogle. "Not only did they work hard and play hard, they were good role models for the younger players."
At the beginning of last season, only two juniors, Scott Perry and Brad Waikel, were on the team. Only Waikel finished the season, and neither came out this year.
Ogle's team is also without the services this year of junior Jesse Sharp, who had surgery after suffering a knee injury during soccer.
Sharp played in 14 varsity games last season, cracking the starting lineup in five of them.
"We were planning on having Jesse Sharp," said Ogle. "He had knee surgery and wants to get ready for soccer next season, so he's not playing. That hurts our depth."
On a night the Warsaw boys gathered for their team photos, there were nine players in the varsity photo and there are nine players listed on the junior varsity roster, with juniors Alex Nulf and Kyle Tucker appearing in both photos.
Six-foot-3 sophomore Justin Clemens returns with the most experience for the Tigers, and is also the team's top scorer coming back after scoring 5.6 points per game last season.
Clemens, played in 19 games last year and started 18 of them.
Junior Ryne Robinson played in 19 games and scored 3.4 points per contest.
Others on Warsaw's varsity roster include freshman Nic Moore, sophomore Andy Conrad and juniors Luke Holladay, Taylor Long, Chase Byerly, Tucker and Nulf.
In the Tigers' preseason scrimmage against Fairfield, Ogle's starting lineup included the 5-7 Long, 5-8 Moore, 6-4 Byerly, 6-3 Robinson and Clemens.
Ogle said Conrad was fighting for a starting spot as well, and that there were a number of junior varsity players that could dress for the varsity team and make it a 12-man roster.
"We have three spots open, I like several of the JV players," said Ogle. "I wanted to have three spots available for some of the junior varsity players that could move up."
As Ogle tries to find his team's identity in Wednesday's season-opener at Valley, veteran coach Bill Patrick has a number of returners from last season's regional runner-up team.
"We're going to have to be patient with this team," said Ogle. "We're young, and we're opening with a Valley team that has a lot of experience. I don't know that they'll start anybody that's not a senior. That's not the most ideal situation to take this group into that."
After Wednesday's game, the Tigers will travel to Columbia City Saturday and then open the home schedule Nov. 30 with DeKalb, before hosting Huntington North the next night.
"I hope this team plays with a lot of effort," said Ogle. "I don't think we're there quite yet. This is maybe the quickest team I've had. We have some good shooters and some good passers. I hope we can turn into a solid defensive team. Offensively, we're ahead of where we are defensively right now. I think that's typical of young teams."
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