Tigers Leave Blazers Feeling Blue
March 4, 2017 at 7:42 a.m.
Tigers Leave Blazers Feeling Blue
By Dale [email protected]
With a suffocating defense, along with a dominant performance on the boards and a sheer determination to win, the Warsaw Tigers put themselves in position to do just that tonight.
In the semifinals of Class 4A Sectional 4 at historic North Side Gym, Warsaw cruised to a 71-36 win Friday behind a defensive effort that absolutely stymied the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers.
The Tigers’ pack-line defense held the sectional host to just two points in the first quarter and 11 in the first half.
Central, who beat Warsaw 50-45 on Jan. 28 and who entered Friday’s game with a 20-2 record, made just 11 of 47 attempts from the field overall.
Because they couldn’t penetrate the Tigers’ defense, the Blazers were forced to take outside shots, and they made just 5 of 32 attempts from the arc as their 12-game win streak came to a screeching halt.
“Coach Ogle kept telling us the two most important things were defense and rebounding, just like they always are,” said Warsaw senior Jeremy David, who scored a career-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds.
“That was our mindset going into the game. We wanted to get off to a good start, we didn’t want to start like we did against Northridge (scoring just two points in the first quarter Wednesday). We set the tone. We knew Central was going to be tired (after a three-overtime win over Penn Wednesday). They came out flat, and we came out hot.”
Warsaw scored the first 16 points of the game and led 20-2 early in the second quarter.
The Tigers led 32-11 at halftime and 50-20 after three quarters of play.
Warsaw, now 16-9 on the season, made 21 of 38 attempts from the field overall, 1 of 4 from the arc, and 28 of 35 at the free throw line.
“When we played them back in January we didn’t guard the ball very well and they got to the basket quite a bit,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team beat Central in the sectional finals a year ago on a last-second shot by Kyle Mangas.
“We were determined to be packed more defensively. The only guy that we had marked as a must-dribble was (Brycen) Sherwood. The other guys we were just gonna see how they did. We were also committed to double-teaming Cornell Conner, (Deveon) Jackson and (Adonis) Brown.
“I just thought our defense was really disciplined, and stayed in front, and it was hard for them to get the ball in the basket area. And then they started shooting threes, which they haven’t been doing as well as they were a month ago.”
Conner led the Blazers with 12 points, making four of Central’s five treys, while Brown finished with nine points.
With Central’s student section chanting “over-rated” Mangas scored 12 points in the first quarter and 18 by halftime.
The Indiana Wesleyan University recruit and Indiana All-Star hopeful, who hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer in Wednesday’s 36-33 win over Northridge, finished the game with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
“It fueled me,” Mangas said of the chants when he touched the ball. “That definitely motivated me to keep my focus, get locked in and take control of the game. I didn’t think it was a good idea on their part.”
Senior Braxton Minix tallied 10 points and six boards in the win, while junior Asher Blum chipped in with six points and six rebounds.
The Tigers outrebounded Central 40-22.
“That’s a very good win for us,” said Ogle. “I just thought if we could outrebound them, and if Kyle shot well, we’d win. We did both those and more.”
The Goshen RedHawks won Friday’s first semifinal game 65-56 over Elkhart Memorial and will face the Tigers in tonight’s 7 p.m. title tilt.
Warsaw beat Goshen 57-31 on Jan. 13.
“This is a good win, but if we don’t stay grounded and stay humble ... Goshen is surging, they’ve won six out of their last seven,” said Ogle. “I thought they played very well tonight. Will Line is on a heck of a run. (Eliot)?Nafziger was making shots tonight. They’re playing well.
“We put a lot into this game. This wasn’t the sectional championship game, but obviously we knew were probably gonna have to beat (Central) ourselves, and we did, but we’ve got to come back ready to go.”
The Tigers are trying to repeat as sectional champions for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 1996-97.
Warsaw has won 39 sectional championships.
Goshen has won nine sectional titles in boys basketball, with the last one coming in 1992.
WARSAW 71, ELKHART CENTRAL 36
EC 2 9 9 16 – 36
W 16 16 18 21 – 71
Central – Trenton Culbreath 1-6 2-2 5, Desmond Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Kenyatta Young 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Kaiser 0-1 1-2 1, Cornell Conner 4-12 0-0 12, Adonis Brown 2-9 5-9 9, JT Webb 2-6 0-1 4, Michael Boone 0-5 0-1 0, Kyran Pearson 0-0 0-0 0, Deveon Jackson 2-6 0-0 4, Brycen Sherwood 0-0 1-2 1, Andrew Salmon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-47 9-17 36.
Warsaw – Kyle Mangas 6-11 13-15 26, Jeremy David 5-7 7-8 17, Sam Miller 0-0 0-2 0, Jack Rhoades 0-0 2-4 2, Aaron Sandoval 0-1 0-0 0, Zach Riley 0-1 2-2 2, Jaceb Burish 1-4 0-0 2, Braxton Minix 4-5 2-2 10,?Jack Grose 1-2 0-0 2, Asher Blum 3-6 0-0 6, Shane Powers 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Groninger 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 21-38 28-35 71.
Three-pointers – Central 5 (Conner 4, Culbreath), Warsaw 1 (Mangas); Rebounds – Central 22 (Webb 5, Jackson 5), Warsaw 40 (Mangas 9); Turnovers – Central 12, Warsaw 11; Fouls – Central 24, Warsaw 16; Fouled out – Webb; Records: Central 20-3, Warsaw 16-9
With a suffocating defense, along with a dominant performance on the boards and a sheer determination to win, the Warsaw Tigers put themselves in position to do just that tonight.
In the semifinals of Class 4A Sectional 4 at historic North Side Gym, Warsaw cruised to a 71-36 win Friday behind a defensive effort that absolutely stymied the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers.
The Tigers’ pack-line defense held the sectional host to just two points in the first quarter and 11 in the first half.
Central, who beat Warsaw 50-45 on Jan. 28 and who entered Friday’s game with a 20-2 record, made just 11 of 47 attempts from the field overall.
Because they couldn’t penetrate the Tigers’ defense, the Blazers were forced to take outside shots, and they made just 5 of 32 attempts from the arc as their 12-game win streak came to a screeching halt.
“Coach Ogle kept telling us the two most important things were defense and rebounding, just like they always are,” said Warsaw senior Jeremy David, who scored a career-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds.
“That was our mindset going into the game. We wanted to get off to a good start, we didn’t want to start like we did against Northridge (scoring just two points in the first quarter Wednesday). We set the tone. We knew Central was going to be tired (after a three-overtime win over Penn Wednesday). They came out flat, and we came out hot.”
Warsaw scored the first 16 points of the game and led 20-2 early in the second quarter.
The Tigers led 32-11 at halftime and 50-20 after three quarters of play.
Warsaw, now 16-9 on the season, made 21 of 38 attempts from the field overall, 1 of 4 from the arc, and 28 of 35 at the free throw line.
“When we played them back in January we didn’t guard the ball very well and they got to the basket quite a bit,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team beat Central in the sectional finals a year ago on a last-second shot by Kyle Mangas.
“We were determined to be packed more defensively. The only guy that we had marked as a must-dribble was (Brycen) Sherwood. The other guys we were just gonna see how they did. We were also committed to double-teaming Cornell Conner, (Deveon) Jackson and (Adonis) Brown.
“I just thought our defense was really disciplined, and stayed in front, and it was hard for them to get the ball in the basket area. And then they started shooting threes, which they haven’t been doing as well as they were a month ago.”
Conner led the Blazers with 12 points, making four of Central’s five treys, while Brown finished with nine points.
With Central’s student section chanting “over-rated” Mangas scored 12 points in the first quarter and 18 by halftime.
The Indiana Wesleyan University recruit and Indiana All-Star hopeful, who hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer in Wednesday’s 36-33 win over Northridge, finished the game with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
“It fueled me,” Mangas said of the chants when he touched the ball. “That definitely motivated me to keep my focus, get locked in and take control of the game. I didn’t think it was a good idea on their part.”
Senior Braxton Minix tallied 10 points and six boards in the win, while junior Asher Blum chipped in with six points and six rebounds.
The Tigers outrebounded Central 40-22.
“That’s a very good win for us,” said Ogle. “I just thought if we could outrebound them, and if Kyle shot well, we’d win. We did both those and more.”
The Goshen RedHawks won Friday’s first semifinal game 65-56 over Elkhart Memorial and will face the Tigers in tonight’s 7 p.m. title tilt.
Warsaw beat Goshen 57-31 on Jan. 13.
“This is a good win, but if we don’t stay grounded and stay humble ... Goshen is surging, they’ve won six out of their last seven,” said Ogle. “I thought they played very well tonight. Will Line is on a heck of a run. (Eliot)?Nafziger was making shots tonight. They’re playing well.
“We put a lot into this game. This wasn’t the sectional championship game, but obviously we knew were probably gonna have to beat (Central) ourselves, and we did, but we’ve got to come back ready to go.”
The Tigers are trying to repeat as sectional champions for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 1996-97.
Warsaw has won 39 sectional championships.
Goshen has won nine sectional titles in boys basketball, with the last one coming in 1992.
WARSAW 71, ELKHART CENTRAL 36
EC 2 9 9 16 – 36
W 16 16 18 21 – 71
Central – Trenton Culbreath 1-6 2-2 5, Desmond Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Kenyatta Young 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Kaiser 0-1 1-2 1, Cornell Conner 4-12 0-0 12, Adonis Brown 2-9 5-9 9, JT Webb 2-6 0-1 4, Michael Boone 0-5 0-1 0, Kyran Pearson 0-0 0-0 0, Deveon Jackson 2-6 0-0 4, Brycen Sherwood 0-0 1-2 1, Andrew Salmon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-47 9-17 36.
Warsaw – Kyle Mangas 6-11 13-15 26, Jeremy David 5-7 7-8 17, Sam Miller 0-0 0-2 0, Jack Rhoades 0-0 2-4 2, Aaron Sandoval 0-1 0-0 0, Zach Riley 0-1 2-2 2, Jaceb Burish 1-4 0-0 2, Braxton Minix 4-5 2-2 10,?Jack Grose 1-2 0-0 2, Asher Blum 3-6 0-0 6, Shane Powers 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Groninger 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 21-38 28-35 71.
Three-pointers – Central 5 (Conner 4, Culbreath), Warsaw 1 (Mangas); Rebounds – Central 22 (Webb 5, Jackson 5), Warsaw 40 (Mangas 9); Turnovers – Central 12, Warsaw 11; Fouls – Central 24, Warsaw 16; Fouled out – Webb; Records: Central 20-3, Warsaw 16-9
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