Marsh, Tigers Leave Blazers Feeling Blue
March 2, 2019 at 6:53 a.m.
By Dale [email protected]
Survive and advance is exactly what the Warsaw Tigers did Friday night.
In a Class 4A Sectional 4 semifinal against the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers at historic North Side Gym, junior Blake Marsh hit a jumper in the lane with just under three seconds remaining, and Warsaw beat the tournament hosts 43-41 after trailing by as many as 11 points late in the third quarter.
The 5-foot-11 Marsh, not known for scoring, led the Tigers (15-7) with a game-high 12 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.
None were bigger than his jumper in the waning seconds, a shot that advanced Warsaw to tonight’s 7 p.m. sectional final against the Northridge Raiders, who outlasted Plymouth 58-57 in Friday’s second semifinal game.
The Tigers, looking for their third sectional title in four years, beat Northridge 67-56 on Jan. 4.
“Coach Ogle has been saying ‘get the ball in the paint, get the ball in the paint, there’s going to be open shots,’” said Marsh, who entered Friday’s semifinal averaging four points per game.
“So I got the ball, pass faked ... I knew they’d fall for it and I just rose up and made the shot.”
If only the game was as simple for the Tigers as Marsh’s explanation of his game-winner.
Warsaw led 14-10 after one quarter of play, and later trailed 25-18 at halftime and 31-25 heading into the final frame.
Outscored 15-4 in the second quarter, the Tigers didn’t make a shot from the field in the stanza.
They were scoreless in the second quarter until Marsh made a pair of free throws with 2:25 remaining before halftime.
Elkhart Central (5-17) was that suffocating with its defense.
“We really just don’t wanna allow people to run set plays,” said first-year Elkhart Central coach Barry Singrey, a former Wawasee standout who is married to 2002 Warsaw grad and former Lady Tiger standout Hillary O’Connell.
“That’s kind of our main thing, constant pressure, force them to handle the ball more than what they would like. I think (Nolan) Groninger is an excellent guard, he was the area player of the year, and he did a great job both times we played them but I felt like we were able to make him do it in a tougher way. We don’t wanna come down the court and let Coach Ogle run a set play every time. We don’t wanna let anybody do that.
“Our style of defense is basically based on trying to take away our opponent’s offense and strengths and putting on constant pressure, and I thought we did a good job tonight.”
Warsaw committed 18 turnovers, 12 of which were steals by the Blue Blazers.
Trailing 31-20 late in the third quarter, the Tigers went on a 9-0 run that extended into the final frame.
Warsaw got within one at 32-31 when 6-8 senior Tyler Metzinger hit a bucket with 5:54 remaining.
Metzinger tied the game at 39-all with an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:20 left, and a pair of Marsh free throws gave the Tigers a two-point lead with 53 seconds to play.
Central freshman Cam’ron Daniels knotted the game at 41 when he converted a pair of charity tosses with 42 seconds left, and then Marsh hit the game-winner in the lane to beat the Blue Blazers for the second time this season.
Warsaw topped Central 54-43 in overtime on Jan. 26 at North Side Gym.
“We know that Blake Marsh is a tremendous competitor, and it wasn’t just the last shot where he decided to hang and bang,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “There were several plays mixed in there that he made.
“I thought our team demonstrated incredible grit tonight. It was ugly. It couldn’t have been more ugly for us for most of the game, and yet our guys just kept chipping away and kept fighting. We finally started making some shots and got back in it. Both Marsh and Metzinger were the heros tonight.”
Metzinger scored 11 points, while Groninger added eight points, seven assists and five rebounds, and fellow senior Trevor Rumple finished with eight points.
“None of us are ready to go home ... it’s sectionals our senior year,” said Metzinger. “We knew we could play better, that was not the best basketball we can play.
“We all just came together. We’d been down before earlier in the season and we know how to bounce back as a team.”
Daniels led Central with 12 points, while Olazarus Miller and Ryan Charles scored nine and seven points, respectively, and Titus Rodgers and DuMarrion Williams chipped in five points each.
WARSAW 43, ELKHART CENTRAL 41
EC 10 15 6 10 – 41
W 14 4 7 18 – 43
Central – Kyran Pearson 0-5 0-1 0, Titus Rodgersw 1-4 3-4 5, DuMarrion Williams 1-4 2-3 5, Luke Teich 1-2 1-1 3, Ty Windy 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Charles 2-7 2-2 7, Cam’ron Daniels 4-4 2-2 12, Rodney McGraw 0-0 0-0 0, Olazarus Miller 4-6 0-1 9. Totals 13-32 10-14 41.
Warsaw – Nolan Groninger 3-6 2-2 8, Blake Marsh 4-7 4-5 12, Wyatt Amiss 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Adamiec 2-2 0-1 4, Jaylen Coon 0-0 0-0 0, Keagan Larsh 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Metzinger 3-5 5-7 11, Jaylen Reese 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-31 11-15 43.
Three-pointers – Central 5 (Daniels 2, Williams, Charles, Miller), Warsaw 2 (Rumple 2); Rebounds – Central 16 (Williams 3, Miller 3), Warsaw 25 (Groninger 5); Turnovers – Central 18, Warsaw 18; Fouls – Central 19, Warsaw 15; Fouled out – none; Records: Central 5-17, Warsaw 15-7
Other semifinal: Northridge 58, Plymouth 57
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Survive and advance is exactly what the Warsaw Tigers did Friday night.
In a Class 4A Sectional 4 semifinal against the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers at historic North Side Gym, junior Blake Marsh hit a jumper in the lane with just under three seconds remaining, and Warsaw beat the tournament hosts 43-41 after trailing by as many as 11 points late in the third quarter.
The 5-foot-11 Marsh, not known for scoring, led the Tigers (15-7) with a game-high 12 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.
None were bigger than his jumper in the waning seconds, a shot that advanced Warsaw to tonight’s 7 p.m. sectional final against the Northridge Raiders, who outlasted Plymouth 58-57 in Friday’s second semifinal game.
The Tigers, looking for their third sectional title in four years, beat Northridge 67-56 on Jan. 4.
“Coach Ogle has been saying ‘get the ball in the paint, get the ball in the paint, there’s going to be open shots,’” said Marsh, who entered Friday’s semifinal averaging four points per game.
“So I got the ball, pass faked ... I knew they’d fall for it and I just rose up and made the shot.”
If only the game was as simple for the Tigers as Marsh’s explanation of his game-winner.
Warsaw led 14-10 after one quarter of play, and later trailed 25-18 at halftime and 31-25 heading into the final frame.
Outscored 15-4 in the second quarter, the Tigers didn’t make a shot from the field in the stanza.
They were scoreless in the second quarter until Marsh made a pair of free throws with 2:25 remaining before halftime.
Elkhart Central (5-17) was that suffocating with its defense.
“We really just don’t wanna allow people to run set plays,” said first-year Elkhart Central coach Barry Singrey, a former Wawasee standout who is married to 2002 Warsaw grad and former Lady Tiger standout Hillary O’Connell.
“That’s kind of our main thing, constant pressure, force them to handle the ball more than what they would like. I think (Nolan) Groninger is an excellent guard, he was the area player of the year, and he did a great job both times we played them but I felt like we were able to make him do it in a tougher way. We don’t wanna come down the court and let Coach Ogle run a set play every time. We don’t wanna let anybody do that.
“Our style of defense is basically based on trying to take away our opponent’s offense and strengths and putting on constant pressure, and I thought we did a good job tonight.”
Warsaw committed 18 turnovers, 12 of which were steals by the Blue Blazers.
Trailing 31-20 late in the third quarter, the Tigers went on a 9-0 run that extended into the final frame.
Warsaw got within one at 32-31 when 6-8 senior Tyler Metzinger hit a bucket with 5:54 remaining.
Metzinger tied the game at 39-all with an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:20 left, and a pair of Marsh free throws gave the Tigers a two-point lead with 53 seconds to play.
Central freshman Cam’ron Daniels knotted the game at 41 when he converted a pair of charity tosses with 42 seconds left, and then Marsh hit the game-winner in the lane to beat the Blue Blazers for the second time this season.
Warsaw topped Central 54-43 in overtime on Jan. 26 at North Side Gym.
“We know that Blake Marsh is a tremendous competitor, and it wasn’t just the last shot where he decided to hang and bang,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “There were several plays mixed in there that he made.
“I thought our team demonstrated incredible grit tonight. It was ugly. It couldn’t have been more ugly for us for most of the game, and yet our guys just kept chipping away and kept fighting. We finally started making some shots and got back in it. Both Marsh and Metzinger were the heros tonight.”
Metzinger scored 11 points, while Groninger added eight points, seven assists and five rebounds, and fellow senior Trevor Rumple finished with eight points.
“None of us are ready to go home ... it’s sectionals our senior year,” said Metzinger. “We knew we could play better, that was not the best basketball we can play.
“We all just came together. We’d been down before earlier in the season and we know how to bounce back as a team.”
Daniels led Central with 12 points, while Olazarus Miller and Ryan Charles scored nine and seven points, respectively, and Titus Rodgers and DuMarrion Williams chipped in five points each.
WARSAW 43, ELKHART CENTRAL 41
EC 10 15 6 10 – 41
W 14 4 7 18 – 43
Central – Kyran Pearson 0-5 0-1 0, Titus Rodgersw 1-4 3-4 5, DuMarrion Williams 1-4 2-3 5, Luke Teich 1-2 1-1 3, Ty Windy 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Charles 2-7 2-2 7, Cam’ron Daniels 4-4 2-2 12, Rodney McGraw 0-0 0-0 0, Olazarus Miller 4-6 0-1 9. Totals 13-32 10-14 41.
Warsaw – Nolan Groninger 3-6 2-2 8, Blake Marsh 4-7 4-5 12, Wyatt Amiss 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Adamiec 2-2 0-1 4, Jaylen Coon 0-0 0-0 0, Keagan Larsh 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Metzinger 3-5 5-7 11, Jaylen Reese 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-31 11-15 43.
Three-pointers – Central 5 (Daniels 2, Williams, Charles, Miller), Warsaw 2 (Rumple 2); Rebounds – Central 16 (Williams 3, Miller 3), Warsaw 25 (Groninger 5); Turnovers – Central 18, Warsaw 18; Fouls – Central 19, Warsaw 15; Fouled out – none; Records: Central 5-17, Warsaw 15-7
Other semifinal: Northridge 58, Plymouth 57
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