The Penalty Box – Mangas’ All-Star Status Is Special In Many Ways, For Him And Us
April 12, 2017 at 4:06 p.m.
The Penalty Box – Mangas’ All-Star Status Is Special In Many Ways, For Him And Us
By Roger Grossman-
It sounded important.
It was.
The dings were circulating the news that Warsaw’s Kyle Mangas had been named to the 2017 Indiana All-Star Team that will battle the Kentucky All-Stars in June.
The honor sets a bright blue jewel on to the crown of a Warsaw athlete whose legacy in Tiger Town is now complete.
You’ve heard me quote the numbers before:
• 1,450 career points. Only 1996 Indiana Mr. Basketball Kevin Ault (2,028), 2011 Indiana All-Star Nic Moore (1,891), and 1985 Indiana Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose (1,749) scored more points in their Warsaw careers.
• He leaves with two of the top 13 scoring seasons of all-time. He scored 633 points in 2017 (fifth highest ever) and 523 as a junior (13th best). That adds up to 1,156 in his final two seasons.
• His career stats: 53 percent from the field. 42 percent from 3-point range. 82 percent from the free throw line.
• He played in 86 games in three-plus seasons, and he started 77 of those.
• He was part of a team that won a school-record 20 consecutive games to start a season, finished 21-1 and went to Semistate. He was part of a string of 21 consecutive Northern Lakes Conference wins and three straight NLC titles.
• He scored at least 10 points in a game 67 times in four years, including 52 of his last 54 games. Since the beginning of his sophomore season, he was the leading scorer in 59 of 68 games he played in.
But these cold, hard stats don’t tell the whole story. Consider this:
• On Jan. 23, 2016, he hit a 3-point shot with :05 left to send the game at Fort Wayne Northrop to overtime. Warsaw went on to win the game and secure the school record for the longest winning streak to start a season.
• Later last season, his 3-pointer in the final half-minute tied the game with Carmel.
• Mangas scored a traditional 3-point play in the final minute of Warsaw’s come-from-behind win at Carroll to close out the regular season.
• In a tie game in this year’s sectional final at North Side Gym, he drove the ball the length of the court and scored with time running out to lift Warsaw to the title.
• And on what would be his final day as a Tiger, he scored 47 points in a regional semifinal win over East Chicago at Michigan City. Only three players have ever scored at least that many points in a single game, and on one has scored more in a tournament game.
He was pretty good.
On top of all of that, all of the numbers, all the moments that made him Cardiac Kyle, and all of the wins, there is Kyle Mangas the kid.
He’s quiet. He’s always let his game do the talking. We have watched him dunk on guys over the last two seasons and never once did he flex his muscles, stand over an opponent and yell, or beat his chest. He dunked, then ran back to play defense.
He led by example. Yes, as a senior he was more vocal. But no one was ever going to mistake him for Nic Moore.
But in the end, two things make Kyle Mangas who he is and account for what will be his ultimate legacy. I cannot tell you of one instance in which Mangas showed up a teammate; he never made them look bad or undressed them in front of others.
Not once.
The other: I cannot tell you of a single teammate who has one bad thing to say about Kyle Mangas.
Not one.
You just don’t find those kind of people anymore. The combination of skill and class. Grit and gracefulness. Equal parts competitor, athlete, student and son. A great kid from great parents who have raised two boys they, and the rest of this community, can be pretty darn proud of.
He is what high school sports is supposed to be. He is what an Indiana All-Star is supposed to be.
And now his name will forever be mentioned with the likes of Mike and Ben Niles, Charlie McKenzie, Ron Brandenburg, Marty Lehman, Jeff Grose, Rick Fox, Jason McKenzie, Kevin Ault and Nic Moore.
Lofty company, but Kyle Mangas belongs.
It sounded important.
It was.
The dings were circulating the news that Warsaw’s Kyle Mangas had been named to the 2017 Indiana All-Star Team that will battle the Kentucky All-Stars in June.
The honor sets a bright blue jewel on to the crown of a Warsaw athlete whose legacy in Tiger Town is now complete.
You’ve heard me quote the numbers before:
• 1,450 career points. Only 1996 Indiana Mr. Basketball Kevin Ault (2,028), 2011 Indiana All-Star Nic Moore (1,891), and 1985 Indiana Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose (1,749) scored more points in their Warsaw careers.
• He leaves with two of the top 13 scoring seasons of all-time. He scored 633 points in 2017 (fifth highest ever) and 523 as a junior (13th best). That adds up to 1,156 in his final two seasons.
• His career stats: 53 percent from the field. 42 percent from 3-point range. 82 percent from the free throw line.
• He played in 86 games in three-plus seasons, and he started 77 of those.
• He was part of a team that won a school-record 20 consecutive games to start a season, finished 21-1 and went to Semistate. He was part of a string of 21 consecutive Northern Lakes Conference wins and three straight NLC titles.
• He scored at least 10 points in a game 67 times in four years, including 52 of his last 54 games. Since the beginning of his sophomore season, he was the leading scorer in 59 of 68 games he played in.
But these cold, hard stats don’t tell the whole story. Consider this:
• On Jan. 23, 2016, he hit a 3-point shot with :05 left to send the game at Fort Wayne Northrop to overtime. Warsaw went on to win the game and secure the school record for the longest winning streak to start a season.
• Later last season, his 3-pointer in the final half-minute tied the game with Carmel.
• Mangas scored a traditional 3-point play in the final minute of Warsaw’s come-from-behind win at Carroll to close out the regular season.
• In a tie game in this year’s sectional final at North Side Gym, he drove the ball the length of the court and scored with time running out to lift Warsaw to the title.
• And on what would be his final day as a Tiger, he scored 47 points in a regional semifinal win over East Chicago at Michigan City. Only three players have ever scored at least that many points in a single game, and on one has scored more in a tournament game.
He was pretty good.
On top of all of that, all of the numbers, all the moments that made him Cardiac Kyle, and all of the wins, there is Kyle Mangas the kid.
He’s quiet. He’s always let his game do the talking. We have watched him dunk on guys over the last two seasons and never once did he flex his muscles, stand over an opponent and yell, or beat his chest. He dunked, then ran back to play defense.
He led by example. Yes, as a senior he was more vocal. But no one was ever going to mistake him for Nic Moore.
But in the end, two things make Kyle Mangas who he is and account for what will be his ultimate legacy. I cannot tell you of one instance in which Mangas showed up a teammate; he never made them look bad or undressed them in front of others.
Not once.
The other: I cannot tell you of a single teammate who has one bad thing to say about Kyle Mangas.
Not one.
You just don’t find those kind of people anymore. The combination of skill and class. Grit and gracefulness. Equal parts competitor, athlete, student and son. A great kid from great parents who have raised two boys they, and the rest of this community, can be pretty darn proud of.
He is what high school sports is supposed to be. He is what an Indiana All-Star is supposed to be.
And now his name will forever be mentioned with the likes of Mike and Ben Niles, Charlie McKenzie, Ron Brandenburg, Marty Lehman, Jeff Grose, Rick Fox, Jason McKenzie, Kevin Ault and Nic Moore.
Lofty company, but Kyle Mangas belongs.
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