On a night where the Warsaw football team was honored before the game, another Tiger team with high expectations going into the season made its 2024 debut. The Warsaw boys basketball team tipped the season off at the Tiger Den against Columbia City, and after battling for the better part of the game, the home side pulled away in the final minutes to win the opener 62-53.
“Sometimes you undervalue what goes into getting a win like this. It’s always been a competitive game,” Warsaw head coach Matt Moore said of beating his old team. “I know we’ve won it recently but they’ve always been relevant in this matchup despite the outcome and that’s not going to change any time soon.”
Brandt Martin scored the opening points of the Warsaw season with a tough layup down low. However, most of the game’s early points were scored by the visitors, as the Tigers struggled to take care of the basketball, allowing for some easy baskets in transition for the Eagles. Midway through the first quarter, Columbia City had opened up a 10-3 lead.
That seemed to wake Warsaw up, as the home side was able to rip off eight straight points to take its first lead of the night. Four of those came from Mydin Burgher, who came off the bench and made an immediate impact on the game.
Now taking better care of the basketball, the Tigers were able to settle into a half court defense, and the results were night and day. Warsaw defenders were hounding the Eagles, forcing players to get rid of the ball and contesting shots to force misses. The last four points of the quarter were scored by the visitors though, giving Columbia City a 14-11 lead at the end of one.
A three for Burgher temporarily tied things up in the opening seconds of the following period. That began the trend of the first few minutes of the quarter, as both teams were able to seize momentum from each other by trading makes on opposite ends of the court. A three by Carson Gould put Warsaw in front once more, but a pair of buckets by the Eagles gave the visitors the lead right back.
Back-to-back layups by Gould and Sam Lara tied things up at 25 with a little under four minutes to go in the half. Offensively, the Tigers were starting to get in a groove, and it showed in their passing. Guards were getting their wings and forwards open looks right at the basket, and they were converting on them.
“I thought Carson did a great job of controlling this game on both ends of the floor,” Moore said.
Columbia City didn’t seem to mind though, as the visiting offense was doing just fine as well. Heating up from deep, the Eagles were burying their threes at a nice clip, which was enough to keep them in front.
With a little over a minute to go in the second, a steal and score by Martin erased a five-point deficit and tied the game yet again. The senior had the chance to give his team the lead at the break on a buzzer-beating three, but it bounced off the rim, resulting in a 30-30 halftime tie.
After each team scored a basket in the opening minutes of the third quarter to keep things tied, a pair of free throws by Robbie Finlinson put the Tigers back in front once more. Warsaw had done well to this point at drawing fouls and getting to the line, and that continued here. The Eagles continued to stick around, hitting a shot whenever the home side went in front to tie things up again.

    Senior Brandt Martin works under the basket to score during the second quarter...Nieter

After a big three by Luke Bricker, Warsaw had the chance to finally find some separation, but the Columbia City defense prevented the home side from stacking baskets together. Only for a little while though, as the Tigers were finally able to break through in the final minutes of the quarter as they extended their lead to seven, the team’s largest of the night so far. That’s exactly where things sat as the fourth quarter got set to begin.
The Eagles appeared to have one last push in them, scoring seven straight points down nine to tighten things back up to a two-point game and force a Tiger timeout. With a little over five minutes left in the game, it was still anybody’s to win.
A crucial bucket by Gould after the break put him in double figures and gave his team a bit more breathing room to work with. A Finlinson layup about a minute later got the lead back up to six and forced Columbia City to call a timeout of its own.
“I do think we adjusted our pressure and they stopped getting clean looks from three. Early on they were moving the ball really well and in the second half we were able to match that a lot better,” Moore said. “So when you’re trading twos for twos and they’re not answering with threes, we’re able to go on that 5-0 run and stretch it out a bit.”
A Lara layup had the home crowd feeling a little more comfortable as the Tigers had gotten their lead back up to eight with a little over three minutes to go. After a pair of Eagle free throws brought it back down to six, Warsaw began taking its time offensively, draining the clock while passing around the perimeter. With a little under two minutes to go, the lead was extended to double digits by Martin. He’d also add another big shot with 67 seconds remaining to give him 15 points in the game, as well as to finish things off.
Warsaw (1-0) is on the road at Homestead Friday.