HUNTINGTON - Warsaw Community High School boys basketball coach Doug Ogle was right.
It was only a matter of time before Ryne Robinson had a breakout game.
After scoring 15 points in the Tigers' season opener against Tippecanoe Valley, the 6-foot-4 senior found himself in a shooting slump, scoring just a total of four points in wins over Columbia City and DeKalb.Robinson broke out of his slump in a big way Saturday night, scoring 25 points - all of which came in the first three quarters of play - to lead the Tigers to a 72-56 win at Huntington North.
"I told Ryne in practice that I have all the confidence in the world in him," said Ogle, whose team improved to 4-0 on the season with its third double-digit win. "I didn't know when it was going to be, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he had a breakout game. I'm happy it was tonight."
Robinson scored 12 points in the first quarter and finished the game 8 of 9 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
Robinson's first two points of the third quarter came on a breakaway dunk that gave Warsaw a 42-26 lead.
Sophomore Nic Moore also came up big for the Tigers, as the explosive 5-9 point guard netted 22 points.
Moore finished the game 7 of 12 from the field and 8 of 9 from the charity stripe.
Like Robinson, Moore wowed the Warsaw faithful and silenced Huntington North's fans with his ability to put points on the board in a variety of ways.
With four minutes remaining in the game, Moore went in for a breakaway dunk.
Those in attendance will never know if Moore would have converted the dunk, as he was fouled hard from behind.
Either way, it left Warsaw's fans with something to talk about, and it left the host Vikings with a 63-50 deficit.
"I know that Nic Moore and Ryne Robinson are a powerful offensive duo," Ogle said when asked if his talented guard tandem were among the best guard combos in the state. "Our team was ready to go tonight. We were a little disappointed in how we played at DeKalb."
The Tigers won 46-40 at DeKalb Friday night, but Ogle said his players felt they could have played better.
They had to be excited about how they played Saturday night at Huntington North, as the Tigers finished the game 22 of 32 from the field (69 percent) from the field and 23 of 28 (82 percent) from the free throw line.
Warsaw turned the ball over just nine times.
"This gives us some momentum going into an important week of practice," said Ogle. "Rochester is very good and the Penn game is drawing a lot of excitement."
The Tigers host Rochester Friday and then entertain the Al Rhodes-coached Penn Kingsmen Saturday.
Joining Robinson and Moore in double-figure scoring for the Tigers Saturday was super-sub Andy Conrad, who scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high five rebounds.
Senior Taylor Long added seven points, while classmate Chase Byerly scored three points, junior Justin Clemens scored two points and freshman Jordyn Coon made a free throw after Ogle cleared his bench in the fourth quarter.
"We can talk a lot about what Ryne and Nic did, but you really have to appreciate the way Andy and Taylor played tonight," said Ogle. "Those are the types of efforts you're going to win a lot of games with."
Rob Sands led Huntington North with 18 points, while Tannan Peters finished with 14 points and Kyle Bradburn and Jordan Beaver chipped in with eight points each.
Warsaw led 21-10 after the first quarter, 40-24 at halftime and 57-37 after three quarters of play.
The Vikings got as close as 11, 61-50, when Sands hit a three-pointer with 4:08 remaining in the game, but Moore pushed the lead back to 13 with a pair of free throws after he was fouled hard on his dunk attempt.
Huntington North, now 1-2 on the season, finished the game 19 of 48 (40 percent) from the field and 10 of 13 from the free throw line.
