No. 5 Warsaw to battle No. 4 McCutcheon for trip to state finals
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
Coach Doug Ogle believes Saturday's Class 4A semistate championship game is a toss-up. On paper, it certainly looks like fans will be treated to a dandy of a state tournament game, as No. 4 McCutcheon puts its high-scoring offense against the stingy defense of Ogle’s fifth-ranked Warsaw Tigers. The Mavericks (27-3) and Tigers (25-1) are scheduled to tip of at approximately 6:45 p.m. at the Crawley Center at Lafayette Jeff High School. The game will follow the Class 3A semistate between Marion and Griffith, and the winner will advance to the state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to face either No. 1 New Albany or No. 9 Southport. “With McCutcheon, you start with Robert Phinisee, who averages 19 points a game, but then, kind of like South Bend Riley, they're very prolific offensively,” Ogle said of the Mavericks, who average 74 points per game. “They shoot more threes than Riley, they average 22 three-point attempts per game. They have four guys averaging double-figures. “Eddy Collins, the guy who made the shot to force overtime against Carmel in the regional championship, is a very good shooter. He’s left-handed and scores 11 points a game. Haden Deaton is their other shooter, he averages 15 points a game, and Darnell Butler averages 13 points a game.” McCutcheon, a 56-54 winner over Carmel in overtime in the regional semifinal and then an 85-66 winner over Homestead in the final, has lost three games this season by a total of just six points. The Mavericks are playing in the semistate for the first time since 2001 and are looking for the program’s first trip to the state finals. Warsaw has won five semistate championships in program history, most recently in 2010. The Tigers, who overcame an 11-point deficit to beat Riley 79-74 in double overtime of the regional semifinal before beating Crown Point 46-33 in the title tilt, give up an average of just 39.5 points per game. Only six times in 26 games have the Tigers given up more than 45 points. “It’s gonna start with the rebounding, right off the bat,” said Evan Schmidt, one of three Warsaw seniors, all of whom are in the starting lineup. “We’re going to have to limit their offensive rebounds. “Against Riley, we didn’t come out strong, as far as defensive rebounding goes. The first six or seven possessions, they got offensive rebounds, and then they’d score. We definitely have to get defensive rebounds and get stops.” Senior Paul Marandet, the hero in last week’s regional after scoring a career-high 37 points against Riley and then 18 against Crown Point, will draw the defensive assignment of guarding Phinisee, a 6-foot sophomore guard who is getting looks from major Division I schools. It’s an assignment Marandet relishes. “He’s good,” Marandet said of Phinisee. “He’s no joke. He’s getting Big Ten looks. He’s good, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I don’t think he’s seen a defender like me yet.” Offensively, junior Kyle Mangas leads Warsaw with 19 points per game. With a total of 46 points in last week’s regional games, Mangas became the 15th player in Warsaw history to score 500 points in a season. He’s scored 504 points this season and 798 in his varsity career. It’s a single-season feat that has now been accomplished 20 times in a Tiger uniform, as Warsaw greats Whitey Bell, Steve Reed, Jeff Grose, Kevin Ault and Nic Moore each did it twice. “We’re really confident and highly-motivated,” said Mangas of the team’s mental approach. “We’re really excited about the opportunity ... one more game and then hopefully a trip to state. We’re going to have to play our game to win Saturday, take care of the basketball, limit turnovers, and then defensively, slow them down.” Marandet averages 13 points per game for the Tigers, who shoot 52 percent from the field overall, 39 percent from the arc, and 75 percent from the free throw line. McCutcheon shoots 50 percent from the floor overall, 37 percent from the arc, and 73 percent at the charity stripe. The Mavericks have made 228 treys this season, two more than the Tigers have attempted. McCutcheon has played on the court at Lafayette Jeff four times this season, while Warsaw hasn’t played there since the 2000 semistate. “We’re not really worried about that, maybe we’ll use it as motivation,” said senior Riley Rhoades. “We’re going to go in there and play our game. A court is a court, a basket is a basket. We’re just gonna go and do our thing.”
