Tigers Pull Out Win Over North Side
December 19, 2021 at 7:40 p.m.
Tigers Pull Out Win Over North Side
By Dale [email protected]
In the final matchup of the six-game Champions of Character Classic at Grace College’s Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center Saturday, Gould scored a game-high 32 points as the Tigers pulled out a 63-60 win over the Fort Wayne North Side Legends.
In the last three games, Gould has scored 32, 31 and 32 points, respectively.
“It’s efficient, and he played every minute, every second essentially of both games this weekend,” Moore said of Gould’s performance, which also included six rebounds and three assists.
“He guarded the other team’s best player in both games this weekend. When you ask your guys to do that, you have to admire their competitive spirit. I’ve said this before, he’s got a different level that some high school guys don’t have. You can look at a lot of flaws that a lot of players have, but his ability to go, and to do it at a high level for a sustained period of time is special.
“I thought he picked his spots well tonight, he only took two 3s, he was getting to the free throw line, and that’s a big difference when you have to guard him going downhill because he can make a lot of plays.”
The Tigers, who opened conference play with a 61-41 win over Wawasee Friday night, improved to 4-2 on the season, while North Side fell to 2-6.
“I thought this was the most complete game we’ve had as a team,” said Moore. “I thought we looked to share the ball. I thought we did a really good job of finding Russ (Winchester) in key moments, and Drew (Heckaman) stepped in in spots and made some big plays, and (twins) Theo and Nick (Katris) did a nice job attacking the glass.
“If you line us up against them, you’re probably picking their guys most of the time, and we have to play together to give ourselves a chance, and I thought we did that tonight.”
Heckaman, who ignited the crowd in Friday’s game with a two-handed dunk, came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grab five rebounds.
Winchester finished with eight points and four boards, while Judah Simfukwe added six points and four rebounds, and Tyler Kuhn chipped in with four points.
The Tigers trailed 15-13 after one quarter of play, and then led 28-27 at halftime and 45-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
For North Side, 6-foot-4 sophomore Brauntae Johson was the storyline.
Johnson, tabbed as the top prospect in the state in the 2024 class in both basketball and football, and who is getting attention from the likes of Ohio State and Notre Dame to play wide receiver, scored 27 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
“I’ll take him … if he likes this area over here, we’ll take him,” Moore joked when asked about the ultra-athletic Johnson.
“We put them on our schedule for that reason. I looked at their roster, I knew what they had coming back, and we picked them up for the next two years. We’ll go to their place next year, and they’ll come to us the following year. We want to measure ourselves against guys like him. We’re looking for teams that will challenge us in ways that maybe teams in the past haven’t, and this was a great test for us tonight.”
Rodney Woods finished with 11 points and six boards for the Legends, and Brashawn Bassett chipped in with nine points.
Saturday’s game was the first matchup between the Tigers and Legends since since Dec. 11, 1999.
Warsaw leads the series 6-4.
The Tigers will be in action again Dec. 28 when they host Pendleton Heights and South Bend Washington in holiday tournament play.
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In the final matchup of the six-game Champions of Character Classic at Grace College’s Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center Saturday, Gould scored a game-high 32 points as the Tigers pulled out a 63-60 win over the Fort Wayne North Side Legends.
In the last three games, Gould has scored 32, 31 and 32 points, respectively.
“It’s efficient, and he played every minute, every second essentially of both games this weekend,” Moore said of Gould’s performance, which also included six rebounds and three assists.
“He guarded the other team’s best player in both games this weekend. When you ask your guys to do that, you have to admire their competitive spirit. I’ve said this before, he’s got a different level that some high school guys don’t have. You can look at a lot of flaws that a lot of players have, but his ability to go, and to do it at a high level for a sustained period of time is special.
“I thought he picked his spots well tonight, he only took two 3s, he was getting to the free throw line, and that’s a big difference when you have to guard him going downhill because he can make a lot of plays.”
The Tigers, who opened conference play with a 61-41 win over Wawasee Friday night, improved to 4-2 on the season, while North Side fell to 2-6.
“I thought this was the most complete game we’ve had as a team,” said Moore. “I thought we looked to share the ball. I thought we did a really good job of finding Russ (Winchester) in key moments, and Drew (Heckaman) stepped in in spots and made some big plays, and (twins) Theo and Nick (Katris) did a nice job attacking the glass.
“If you line us up against them, you’re probably picking their guys most of the time, and we have to play together to give ourselves a chance, and I thought we did that tonight.”
Heckaman, who ignited the crowd in Friday’s game with a two-handed dunk, came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grab five rebounds.
Winchester finished with eight points and four boards, while Judah Simfukwe added six points and four rebounds, and Tyler Kuhn chipped in with four points.
The Tigers trailed 15-13 after one quarter of play, and then led 28-27 at halftime and 45-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
For North Side, 6-foot-4 sophomore Brauntae Johson was the storyline.
Johnson, tabbed as the top prospect in the state in the 2024 class in both basketball and football, and who is getting attention from the likes of Ohio State and Notre Dame to play wide receiver, scored 27 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
“I’ll take him … if he likes this area over here, we’ll take him,” Moore joked when asked about the ultra-athletic Johnson.
“We put them on our schedule for that reason. I looked at their roster, I knew what they had coming back, and we picked them up for the next two years. We’ll go to their place next year, and they’ll come to us the following year. We want to measure ourselves against guys like him. We’re looking for teams that will challenge us in ways that maybe teams in the past haven’t, and this was a great test for us tonight.”
Rodney Woods finished with 11 points and six boards for the Legends, and Brashawn Bassett chipped in with nine points.
Saturday’s game was the first matchup between the Tigers and Legends since since Dec. 11, 1999.
Warsaw leads the series 6-4.
The Tigers will be in action again Dec. 28 when they host Pendleton Heights and South Bend Washington in holiday tournament play.
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