Earning a win over Columbia City in the season opener on Saturday, the Warsaw boys basketball team had to wait six days to play its second contest, the home opener against Homestead at the Tiger Den on Friday night. After battling back from multiple double-digit deficits and a nine-point disadvantage going into the fourth quarter, the Tigers were able to remain undefeated and escape with a 62-56 victory.
The win was Warsaw’s first over Homestead since the 2015-16 season and just the second victory in the series all-time.
“Great teams have to have four characteristics. They have to have great leadership, skill, chemistry and belief,” Warsaw head coach Matt Moore said after the game. “You look at any great team and they have those four things. We have the first three for sure and the last two games we’ve been down heading into the fourth quarter and we’ve won those games. The belief is coming along.”
The Tigers did not start off the game the way they or their fans hoped to. The contest’s opening minutes belonged to the Spartans, as Homestead was able to hit a pair of quick threes to take an early 6-0 lead. It would soon turn into an 8-0 advantage as the visitors were able to take advantage of a Warsaw offense that began the game completely out of rhythm.
The Tigers were held scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, finally getting onto the scoreboard with three minutes left in the opening quarter on a floater by Luke Bricker. This would provide a much needed spark for Warsaw, as the made shot flipped a switch for the home team. The Tigers began getting more aggressive in the paint, fighting through contact on layup and rebounds.
The hard work down low would pay off for Warsaw, giving the Tigers a plethora of free throw attempts to work with. The home team would take advantage of these opportunities from the charity stripe, making all of their attempts in the first quarter and using them to fuel a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the night.
Homestead would retake the lead on a layup in the final seconds of the first quarter, using the make as a big-time momentum boost as the two sides began the second. The Spartans came out firing on all cylinders in the second period, beginning it with a 10-0 to find some separation once again.
It looked as if the Tigers were in some big trouble, but the team was able to anchor down and make the plays necessary to begin mounting a comeback. Leading the charge was junior Brandt Martin. It didn’t matter if Martin was putting up his shot from inside the paint or outside the arc, the forward was able to burn Spartan defenders from all over the court, helping to shrink his team’s deficit while becoming the first Warsaw player in double-figures scoring in the process.
“He’s always been the other guy. We’re trying to get him to understand that he is THE guy,” Moore said. “He’s the face of the franchise in some ways and I think he leaned into that tonight. Two games in a row now he’s accepted the spotlight even though you’ll never get him to talk about it.”
Along with Martin, Bricker and Trai Davis got some vital minutes in this second period, hitting some big shots in key moments to help keep momentum from swinging too drastically. After surviving a Homestead avalanche just moments earlier, the Tigers were able to head into the halftime locker room trailing by only one.

    Junior Carson Gould of Warsaw squares up to the basket for a first quarter shot during Friday night's home game against Homestead. Photo by Gary Nieter

The defensive intensity for both teams turned up a notch to begin the third period. Bricker had the hot hand early for the Tigers in this one, scoring the first five Tiger points in the quarter to help his team get back in front.
After a first half that was dominated by runs by both sides, the second half began with a much different tone. Baskets were much harder to come by, and leads often remained in the realm of one possession. Warsaw’s defense, after struggling mightily during spurts of the first half, looked like a completely different unit here.
The visitors would be the first team to break the game open once again, doing so in the final minutes of the third quarter. With the game tied at 33 all, the Spartans were able to put together another back-breaking run to bring their lead up to eight once more. The Homestead advantage got up into double digits in the final minute of the period, but a pair of jumpers by Bricker and Carson Gould made it a nine-point game heading into the fourth and final quarter.
The Tigers had their work cut out for them as the fourth began and immediately got to work, drawing a pair of quick fouls on Homestead defenders. The Warsaw defense was doing its job and keeping the Spartans from adding on to their lead, but the offense was suddenly having a hard time getting shots to fall once again.
“I thought that our guys were tougher down the stretch, playing through that fatigue,” Moore said. “The defense tonight was as gritty as it could be.”
The drought wouldn’t last long though. With five minutes to go in the game, Warsaw had turned it into a three-point affair. After a relatively quiet third quarter, Martin was at it again, bullying Homestead defenders down low and doing his part at chipping away at the lead. With four minutes to go, Robbie Finlinson made a huge three pointer to make it just a two-point game. Seconds later, Martin would tie the game.
Now, with under three minutes to go, the two teams began anew. Warsaw continued to seize the momentum, with Bricker hitting a three that gave the Tigers their first lead of the quarter while simultaneously bringing the house down. Less than two minutes remained now. After burning a ton of clock with some great passing, Martin made perhaps the biggest play of the game thus far, hitting a layup and drawing a foul to convert a three-point play, making it a six-point game with a minute left.
After a miss by the Spartans, Bricker went to the line and split a pair of free throws to make it a seven-point lead with just half a minute remaining in the game. From there, Warsaw would do enough to stay in front and put the finishing touches on a fantastic comeback victory.
Martin led the Tigers with 23 points while Bricker added 22. Finlinson scored seven while Davis rounded out the top four scorers with six.
Warsaw has a quick turnaround for their next contest, returning to the Tiger Den on Saturday evening for a game against Huntington North.
“We’ve got to reset and find out who our competitors are,” Moore said. “Mydin [Burgher] and Luke Yeager didn’t get too many rotation minutes tonight so those are two guys we may need to lean heavily on tomorrow.”