With three underclassmen in the starting lineup for Warsaw's Northern Lakes Conference and Class 4A sectional championship boys basketball team, the cupboard will be far from bare next season.
Seniors Justin Clemens, Andy Conrad and Zack Linky, however, will be hard to replace."Justin Clemens, Andy Conrad and Zack Linky have been a part of two sectional championships and a conference championship in the past three years as varsity player," said Ogle, whose sixth-ranked Tigers take a 13-game win streak and 20-2 record into Saturday's Michigan City Regional. "All three are also very good football players. They've accomplished a lot of things in their high school careers. I think they will be hard to replace."
Clemens is a four-year varsity player in both basketball and football, while Conrad played four years of varsity football and has been a solid contributor on the varsity basketball team for three seasons.
Linky has been a part of both the varsity football and basketball teams for three seasons.
When the winter sports awards are passed out, Clemens, Conrad and Linky will have earned a combined 24 varsity letters in their prep careers.
Having played on two sectional championship basketball teams and two sectional runner-up football teams, the trio has enjoyed quite a bit of succes at Warsaw Community High School.
"The time has gone by fast," said Clemens, who will play football for the University of Indianapolis in the fall. "It's hard to believe we're seniors. We had a lot of success in middle school, and we've done pretty well in high school. And we're not done yet."
Going back to Sept. 25, when the Warsaw football team began a six-game win streak with a victory at Goshen, and including their current success on the basketball team, Clemens, Conrad and Linky have been on the winning side 26 of the last 29 times they've donned an orange, black and white uniform.
They'll take to the court again Saturday, as the Tigers play Merrillville (20-3) at 1 p.m. EST in the second semifinal game of the Michigan City Regional.
Fourth-ranked Munster (23-2) plays South Bend Washington (15-9) in the first semifinal game at 11 a.m. EST.
The semifinal winners play in the regional championship game at 8:30 p.m. EST.
"Last time we were there, it was fun, getting to the regional as sophomores," said Conrad, who rushed for 1,458 yards this past football season, trailing only 2002 grad Brad Seiss on WCHS's career rushing list. "This year we're expecting to win. We're going over there to win the regional."
Winning a regional championship, something the Tigers haven't done since 2000, would only add to the senior trio's legacy.
"We're hoping we'll be able to practice next week, that would mean we're regional champions," said Linky, a two-time Times-Union All-Area wide receiver who will attend Indiana University to study business. "This is really special, especially since it's my senior year. We won the conference championship and the sectional championship, and Saturday we're going to Michigan City to play for a regional championship. We're two games away from going to the semistate, and I think we can do it."
Clemens, whose father Gordy won a sectional title with the Tigers as a senior in 1976 and whose brother did the same with the Tigers in 2006, averages 12 points and five rebounds per game.
Linky, probably more effective on the defensive end of the floor than the offensive end, averages five points and two rebounds per game.
Conrad, who swapped roles with Linky and now comes off the bench, chips in with four points and three rebounds per game. Conrad will attend Coastal Carolina University.
Junior Nic Moore leads the Tigers with 21 points, five assists and four rebounds per game.
Sophomore Lucas Grose adds nine points and seven rebounds per contest, while classmate Jordyn Coon, who scored the final four points in Warsaw's 55-50 win over Elkhart Memorial in the sectional championship game, averages nearly seven points and four rebounds per game.
"We're not going up there thinking this is just for fun," said Ogle. "Our core group, the three seniors and Nic, have all played in the regional. This is a group that doesn't get rattled very easily."
Warsaw and Merrillville last met on the basketball court in 2000 in the semifinal game of the Lafayette Jeff Semistate. The Tigers, then coached by Al Rhodes, beat the Pirates 50-42.
