FORT WAYNE - Even after a game in which he didn't play, Warsaw senior Nic Moore was still the center of attention.
Sporting a red Illinois State shirt, the 5-foot-9 Mr. Basketball candidate could only cheer from the bench as his teammates cut a 12-point deficit to two before falling 54-51 at Class 2A No. 5 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Friday night."The guys stuck together," said Moore, who missed the game because of what he called a second-degree MCL sprain in his left knee. "We were down eight at halftime and came back and had a chance to win it."
The Class 4A No. 7 Tigers trailed 32-24 at halftime and 41-29 late in the third quarter but cut the Knights' advantage to just two, 48-46, on junior Jordyn Coon's bucket with 31 seconds remaining in the game.
Bishop Luers senior Kenny Mullen was fouled with 26 seconds left and hit the first of two free throws, giving the Knights a three-point advantage.
Mullen missed the second charity toss, but teammate Jaylon Smith, a 6-3 sophomore, scored on the rebound and was fouled. Smith converted the old-fashioned three-point play and led 52-46.
A basket by Coon brought the Tigers within four, 52-48, and freshman James Blackmon Jr. pushed the Knights' advantage back to six when he cashed in a pair of charity tosses with 11 seconds left.
Warsaw sophomore Jared Bloom hit a three-pointer as time expired to account for the final score.
"It feels good to get a win anytime you can," said Bishop Luers coach James Blackmon Sr. "You take your leading scorer out, and you take your ball handler out, and you take your leader out, that's going to change your team. Nic (Moore) didn't play, but we were still playing Warsaw."
Bishop Luers improved to 15-4, while Warsaw fell to 17-3.
The Knights led 19-12 after one quarter of play, 32-24 at halftime and 41-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
"The fact that we were almost there at the end is encouraging," said Ogle. "If we had gotten the rebound on Mullen's missed free throw, we would have had a shot at it. I'm encouraged we hung in there. We competed. We were down 12, and we got it down to two. That part was good."
Despite playing without the focal point of the offense, who also happens to be the team's best defender, Warsaw still shot 54 percent from the field and held Bishop Luers 22 points below their average of 76 points per game.
"We knew it would be a difficult task to come in here and win the game," said Ogle. "We still thought we could do it. I'm disappointed we didn't win. We got down, but we fought back and had a chance to win. We needed to play better in the first and third quarters."
The Knights outscored the Tigers 28-19 in the first and third quarters.
Moore injured his knee in Tuesday's 79-56 win over South Bend Clay, a game in which he scored 35 points, dished out seven assists and made six steals.
In 19 games this season, Moore has scored 546 points, an average of 28.7 points per game.
The Illinois State-bound point guard is 163 points shy of tying 1996 Mr. Basketball Kevin Ault's Warsaw record of 2,028 career points.
Moore said he could miss "two to three weeks."
The draw for the 101st IHSAA boys basketball state tournament is Sunday. Ogle said he expects Moore to play in the sectional.
In Moore's absence, the Tigers got 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists from Coon.
"He was really good," Ogle said Of Coon, who was 8 of 13 from the field and 4 of 6 at the free throw line. "This is good confidence builder for him."
Junior Lucas Grose added nine points, while Bloom chipped in with eight points and senior Jalen Roscoe and junior Clay Anderson scored five and four points, respectively.
Blackmon Jr., who committed to Indiana University prior to the state of his freshman year, scored seven points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 22 points, while his cousin, senior Evan Blackmon, scored 13 points and Smith added seven points and five rebounds.
Warsaw is in action again Wednesday at Marion in a game that was postponed from Feb. 5 because of the weather.
The Tigers will then close out the regular season Friday by hosting Carroll.
