Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
In 6-foot-7 junior forward Sean Kline, Huntington North has one of the top boys basketball players in the state. Schools like Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Purdue are chasing the athletic Kline, who averages 22.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
But with Kline, who has set the school record in points in a season with 579, Huntington North entered Thursday's game at Warsaw with a 9-8 record. As good as Kline is, problem is, the only other Viking who scores more than 4.5 points per game is senior reserve forward Brett Hoopingarner, who averages 8.4.
And once the Tigers grabbed the lead, the Vikings didn't have the offensive firepower to catch up. Warsaw (14-4), which snagged its first lead at 27-26 with 1:56 left in the second quarter, kept it the rest of the way en route to a 72-57 win.
With a former Michael Jordan teammate watching the game, Kline, who wears No. 23, did his part, finishing with 30 points - two shy of his season-high - and 12 rebounds. The rest of the Vikings combined for 27, and no other player scored more than five. Closely watching Kline was distinguished-looking Notre Dame coach Matt Doherty, who played with Jordan at the University of North Carolina.
On the other side, if Warsaw senior Ross Kesler wasn't slashing to the basket for layups, junior reserves Paul Finnegan and Josh Buck were scoring in the paint, and senior guard Chris Wiggins was dropping three-pointers. Kesler led the Tigers with 18, while Buck added 13, Wiggins nine and Finnegan eight. Junior point guard Brad Seiss, who hit six free throws in the fourth quarter, also finished with eight.
"This is rewarding," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said, "because in Sean's two first years, Huntington won both games.
"Sean Kline is a tremendous athlete, very unselfish and a good passer. When I saw him as a freshman, I said that was the best player I had seen since Shawn Kemp, in terms of a combination of loves basketball, basketball sense, athletic ability and skill. My mind hasn't changed."
After the game, Huntington North coach Eric Foister and five other coaches formed a semi-circle as he talked with them before entering his locker room. Bemoaning the lack of a perimeter scoring threat to complement Kline inside, Foister asked his assistants, "Did we hit a shot outside the paint all night?" The answer was no, as the Vikings, 20 of 44 from the field (45 percent), scored all 20 field goals in the paint.
"Look at our scorebook," Foister said. "We had one guy with more than five points. It comes back to our offense. I've harped on that again and again."
The Tigers, who settled on a 30-26 halftime lead, pulled away in the second half after a defensive change. In the first half, Warsaw double-teamed Kline and had him shoved out on the perimeter, catching the ball 18 feet away from the basket. While Kline's eight teammates combined for only 27 points, they scored 19 of these in the first half by continually driving to the basket for layups. Kline scored just seven of his 30 in the half.
"I thought Warsaw's weakness was guarding the dribbler, and we exploited that in the first half," Foister said. "Then they went to a zone, and we couldn't get the seams we wanted."
In the second half, Warsaw switched to a 2-3 zone. While Kline went off with 23 second-half points, his teammates combined for just eight. The zone shut down the paint and stopped the Vikings' layup clinic.
"We didn't help each other enough in the first half, and when a guy drove, it was one-on-one," Rhodes said, "instead of a good help-side defense. I knew I wanted to play zone because it's hard to dribble-penetrate against it, but usually we do that in the second half after we get the lead.
"I thought we did a good job of putting a crowd around Kline in the zone. Usually when he caught it, there were two guys around him. He earned his points."
Warsaw's defense stopped the Vikings. Warsaw's offense couldn't be stopped, hitting 14 of 18 field goals (78 percent) and scoring 42 points in the second half. Warsaw finished the game 25 of 41 (61 percent) from the field.
The Tigers overcame early foul trouble to starting frontcourt players Zach Nelson and Steve Siebenmorgen. Each picked up two fouls halfway through the first quarter and did not return until the third quarter.
With Kline's teammates chipping in, Huntington North led 15-8 after the first quarter. Buck and Finnegan sparked Warsaw's offense in the second quarter, combining for 11 points in the second quarter as the Tigers outscored the Vikings 22-11 in the quarter and grabbed their first lead at 27-26.
Notes: The outgoing Doherty, who signed autographs before the game and at halftime, spent much of the game chatting with Kokomo coach Basil Mawbey. Mawbey was scouting Warsaw, as the Tigers host Kokomo March 3. ... Kline's career-high is 36 points in a game during his sophomore year. ... Kline set Huntington North's freshman and sophomore scoring records. If his pace continues, he will become the school's all-time scoring leader. After last night's game, he has 1,280 points, third all-time. Brian Reeder (1986) holds the school record with 1,508 points.
WARSAW 72, H. NORTH 57
H. North (9-9) 15 11 13 18 - 57
Warsaw (14-4) 8 22 20 22 - 72
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Kesler (F) 7-11 4-6 4 0 4 18
Siebenmorgen (C) 3-4 4-5 0 0 3 10
Wiggins (G) 3-7 0-0 4 3 4 9
B. Seiss (G) 1-2 6-10 3 2 1 8
Nelson (F) 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 2
Buck 5-6 3-4 1 2 2 13
Finnegan 4-5 0-0 0 0 5 8
Henthorn 0-1 2-2 1 0 4 2
Walmer 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
G. Seiss 0-0 0-0 0 0 4 0
Martin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 25-41 19-27 13 7 27 72
H. North FG FT A S R Pts.
Kline (F) 9-15 12-16 2 1 12 30
Mitchell (G) 2-5 1-2 2 1 0 5
Ransom (C) 2-6 0-0 0 0 3 4
Scheiber (F) 2-4 0-0 1 0 1 4
Burris (G) 1-3 1-2 2 0 2 3
Hoopingarner 1-7 2-4 2 1 0 4
Blackburn 1-1 1-1 0 0 0 3
Mast 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2
Thompson 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Totals 20-44 17-25 9 3 19 57
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 3-5 (Wiggins 3-5), H. North 0-3 (Kline 0-1, Mitchell 0-1, Hoopingarner 0-1). Turnovers -ÊH. North 7, Warsaw 9. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 20, H. North 21. Fouled out - none.
JV - WARSAW 49, HUNTINGTON NORTH 33
Warsaw (18-0) - Chris Clay 17, David Fawley 10, Brian Johnson 8, Greg Clay 6, Jerad Shaw 4, Suraj Datta 2, Nick Bolesky 2.
Huntington North (10-2) - Adam Thompson 7, Craig Smith 6, Brad Berghoff 6, Robbie Toll 5, Brent Manges 4, Joel Kennedy 3, Joel Kline 2.
