Amiss' Hot Hand Helps Tigers Get Back On Track
December 8, 2018 at 7:17 a.m.
Amiss' Hot Hand Helps Tigers Get Back On Track
By Dale [email protected]
The 5-foot-11 junior certainly had the hot hand Friday night in the Tigers’ 50-35 home win over the Lake Central Indians, a 15-point win that gave Ogle his 250th varsity victory.
Making his first varsity start, stepping in after classmate and leading scorer Brian Elliott left the team, Amiss made 5 of 7 attempts from the three-point arc and swished the only free throw he attempted en route to a game-high 16 points.
Amiss, who entered Friday’s contest averaging 8.5 points, converted a rare four-point play in the first 30 seconds and scored 10 of the Tigers’ first 15 points.
“I think it’s an understatement to say that his shooting has been good,” Ogle said of Amiss, who was also 4 of 6 from the arc against Tippecanoe Valley in the season opener.
“I had a meeting with Blake Marsh, Wyatt Amiss and Nolan Groninger after practice this week, because we now have three guys that can play point guard. They’re kind of interchangeable. Moving forward it could be a nice luxury for our team, that we don’t always have to have Nolan bring the ball upcourt.
“Amiss shot well last year. It’s not a fluke. He shot 47 percent (from the arc) over the course of the season last year on the JV team, which is a high percentage.”
The Tigers’ three-pronged backcourt accounted for 37 of the team’s 50 points, as Marsh added 11 points to go along with five rebounds, and Groninger finished with 10 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals.
Six-foot-8 senior frontliner Tyler Metzinger was a force as well, making 4 of 6 shot attempts, including 2 of 2 from the arc, and converting both free throws he shot en route to 12 points.
Metzinger also grabbed six boards, blocked four shots and dished out two assists.
Bishop Walters, who scored five points in the JV team’s 39-27 win, came off the bench and made a free throw late in the varsity game to round out the Tigers’ scoring.
“Blake Marsh getting untracked tonight offensively was huge for us,” said Ogle, whose team snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-2.
“Obviously Amiss really shot well. Metzinger was active. We had four guys in double figures. And I thought Groninger’s defense was very good ... he led us in rebounds with seven. This is a very good win.”
It was a win that was in doubt for much of the first half.
After Amiss’ four-point play to start the game, Lake Central went on a 15-0 run as the Tigers struggled through a scoreless stretch of nearly nine minutes.
A three-pointer by Amiss with 6:27 left in the second quarter ended the drought, and the Tigers found themselves down just 19-17 at halftime.
The third and fourth quarters were all Warsaw, as the Tigers outscored Lake Central 21-6 in the third quarter and 33-16 overall after the break.
“I think our communication was an issue there, losing some shooters,” Lake Central coach Dave Milausnic said of Warsaw’s offensive surge, which included an 11-of-15 performance from the field in the second half.
“We know who can shoot on their team, they’re capable basketball players, and we just lost them early in the third quarter. Obviously they got some confidence and rolled with it, scored 21 points in the third quarter. That’s kind of been our nemesis, being able to bounce back and get stops when offensively we might be struggling.”
Ogle was happy his team was only down two points at halftime, and was proud of the way his players responded in the second half.
“For a stretch there, we weren’t doing much right,” said Ogle. “Then with about six minutes to go in the second quarter we kind of got untracked.
“Honestly, I was pretty happy at halftime for our players to not fold. We go in and we’re only down two, and we had been down 15-4. Obviously we weren’t brimming with confidence at that point. That was hopefully a stretch that as we look back on the season that was pivotal, because we could have easily imploded there, but we didn’t, and I’m really happy.”
The Indians, who fell to 1-4 on the season, shot just 33 percent from the field.
Nick Anderson led Lake Central with 13 points, while Dominic Ciapponi scored eight points, and Jack Davis and Kyly Blum tallied five points each.
The Tigers completed the sweep, winning the varsity, JV and freshman games.
Warsaw is in action again Friday in the Northern Lakes Conference opener at Wawasee.
WARSAW 50, LAKE CENTRAL 35
LC 9 10 6 10 – 35
W 4 13 21 12 – 50
Lake Central – Nick Anderson 5-10 1-2 13, Jerry Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Davis 1-7 2-2 5, Alex James 0-0 0-0 0, Zack Dobos 0-1 0-0 0, Mark Milausnic 0-0 0-0 0, Ami Khatra 0-0 0-0 0, Dominic Ciapponi 3-8 2-4 8, Kyly Blum 1-5 2-2 5, Hunter Zezovski 2-5 0-0 4, Nate Oakley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-36 7-10 35.
Warsaw – Nolan Groninger 3-10 4-5 10, Blake Marsh 4-7 3-4 11, Wyatt Amiss 5-7 1-1 16, Connor Lennox 0-0 0-0 0, Keagan Larsh 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Metzinger 4-6 2-2 12, Jaylen Reese 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Adamiec 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Dawson 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop Walters 0-0 1-2 1, Mason Martz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-32 11-14 50.
Rebounds – Lake Central 16 (Ciapponi 4), Warsaw 29 (Groninger 7); Turnovers – Lake Central 8, Warsaw 11; Fouls – Lake Central 15, Warsaw 12; Records: Lake Central 1-4, Warsaw 3-2
JV – Warsaw 39, Lake Central 27
Warsaw – Jackson Dawson 11, Brock Poe 10, Drew McCreary 6, Bishop Walters 5, Ben Bergen 3, Landon Stanger 2, Mason Martz 2
9th – Warsaw 43, Lake Central 32
Warsaw – Judah Simfukwe 18, Sami Smith 12, Kyle Dawson 5, Hunter Rice 4, Daylan Vermilyer 2, Jack Yeager 2
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The 5-foot-11 junior certainly had the hot hand Friday night in the Tigers’ 50-35 home win over the Lake Central Indians, a 15-point win that gave Ogle his 250th varsity victory.
Making his first varsity start, stepping in after classmate and leading scorer Brian Elliott left the team, Amiss made 5 of 7 attempts from the three-point arc and swished the only free throw he attempted en route to a game-high 16 points.
Amiss, who entered Friday’s contest averaging 8.5 points, converted a rare four-point play in the first 30 seconds and scored 10 of the Tigers’ first 15 points.
“I think it’s an understatement to say that his shooting has been good,” Ogle said of Amiss, who was also 4 of 6 from the arc against Tippecanoe Valley in the season opener.
“I had a meeting with Blake Marsh, Wyatt Amiss and Nolan Groninger after practice this week, because we now have three guys that can play point guard. They’re kind of interchangeable. Moving forward it could be a nice luxury for our team, that we don’t always have to have Nolan bring the ball upcourt.
“Amiss shot well last year. It’s not a fluke. He shot 47 percent (from the arc) over the course of the season last year on the JV team, which is a high percentage.”
The Tigers’ three-pronged backcourt accounted for 37 of the team’s 50 points, as Marsh added 11 points to go along with five rebounds, and Groninger finished with 10 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals.
Six-foot-8 senior frontliner Tyler Metzinger was a force as well, making 4 of 6 shot attempts, including 2 of 2 from the arc, and converting both free throws he shot en route to 12 points.
Metzinger also grabbed six boards, blocked four shots and dished out two assists.
Bishop Walters, who scored five points in the JV team’s 39-27 win, came off the bench and made a free throw late in the varsity game to round out the Tigers’ scoring.
“Blake Marsh getting untracked tonight offensively was huge for us,” said Ogle, whose team snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-2.
“Obviously Amiss really shot well. Metzinger was active. We had four guys in double figures. And I thought Groninger’s defense was very good ... he led us in rebounds with seven. This is a very good win.”
It was a win that was in doubt for much of the first half.
After Amiss’ four-point play to start the game, Lake Central went on a 15-0 run as the Tigers struggled through a scoreless stretch of nearly nine minutes.
A three-pointer by Amiss with 6:27 left in the second quarter ended the drought, and the Tigers found themselves down just 19-17 at halftime.
The third and fourth quarters were all Warsaw, as the Tigers outscored Lake Central 21-6 in the third quarter and 33-16 overall after the break.
“I think our communication was an issue there, losing some shooters,” Lake Central coach Dave Milausnic said of Warsaw’s offensive surge, which included an 11-of-15 performance from the field in the second half.
“We know who can shoot on their team, they’re capable basketball players, and we just lost them early in the third quarter. Obviously they got some confidence and rolled with it, scored 21 points in the third quarter. That’s kind of been our nemesis, being able to bounce back and get stops when offensively we might be struggling.”
Ogle was happy his team was only down two points at halftime, and was proud of the way his players responded in the second half.
“For a stretch there, we weren’t doing much right,” said Ogle. “Then with about six minutes to go in the second quarter we kind of got untracked.
“Honestly, I was pretty happy at halftime for our players to not fold. We go in and we’re only down two, and we had been down 15-4. Obviously we weren’t brimming with confidence at that point. That was hopefully a stretch that as we look back on the season that was pivotal, because we could have easily imploded there, but we didn’t, and I’m really happy.”
The Indians, who fell to 1-4 on the season, shot just 33 percent from the field.
Nick Anderson led Lake Central with 13 points, while Dominic Ciapponi scored eight points, and Jack Davis and Kyly Blum tallied five points each.
The Tigers completed the sweep, winning the varsity, JV and freshman games.
Warsaw is in action again Friday in the Northern Lakes Conference opener at Wawasee.
WARSAW 50, LAKE CENTRAL 35
LC 9 10 6 10 – 35
W 4 13 21 12 – 50
Lake Central – Nick Anderson 5-10 1-2 13, Jerry Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Davis 1-7 2-2 5, Alex James 0-0 0-0 0, Zack Dobos 0-1 0-0 0, Mark Milausnic 0-0 0-0 0, Ami Khatra 0-0 0-0 0, Dominic Ciapponi 3-8 2-4 8, Kyly Blum 1-5 2-2 5, Hunter Zezovski 2-5 0-0 4, Nate Oakley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-36 7-10 35.
Warsaw – Nolan Groninger 3-10 4-5 10, Blake Marsh 4-7 3-4 11, Wyatt Amiss 5-7 1-1 16, Connor Lennox 0-0 0-0 0, Keagan Larsh 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Metzinger 4-6 2-2 12, Jaylen Reese 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Adamiec 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Dawson 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop Walters 0-0 1-2 1, Mason Martz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-32 11-14 50.
Rebounds – Lake Central 16 (Ciapponi 4), Warsaw 29 (Groninger 7); Turnovers – Lake Central 8, Warsaw 11; Fouls – Lake Central 15, Warsaw 12; Records: Lake Central 1-4, Warsaw 3-2
JV – Warsaw 39, Lake Central 27
Warsaw – Jackson Dawson 11, Brock Poe 10, Drew McCreary 6, Bishop Walters 5, Ben Bergen 3, Landon Stanger 2, Mason Martz 2
9th – Warsaw 43, Lake Central 32
Warsaw – Judah Simfukwe 18, Sami Smith 12, Kyle Dawson 5, Hunter Rice 4, Daylan Vermilyer 2, Jack Yeager 2
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