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It wasn't his best offensive performance of the season, but Huntington North High School senior Chris Kramer found a way to help his team win.
Kramer, a 6-foot-3 guard who will play in the Big Ten as a Purdue Boilermaker, scored 18 points for the Vikings, but it was his defensive presence that Warsaw coach Doug Ogle felt played a big part in Class 4A No. 8 Huntington North beating Warsaw 53-45 Friday night in the Tiger Den.
"By his standards, it wasn't a great game offensively," said Ogle, whose Tigers fell to 8-11 on the season with the senior night loss. "He did a good job guarding Shaun Cabrera. I thought his defensive presence was good. He figured out a way to help his team win. I was impressed with Chris Kramer. He was clearly the difference in the game."
The win was the fifth in a row for Huntington North and improved the Vikings to 16-2 on the season.
Entering Friday's contest, the Tigers had won six straight over the Vikings, who have beaten Warsaw just four times in the last 20 meetings but still hold a 46-38 advantage in the all-time series.
"Huntington North is a good team," said Ogle. "They did not play well in the first part of the game, but they stayed with it. They hung in there and got back in the game."
Junior Miles Plumlee's field goal gave the Tigers a 25-13 lead, Warsaw's biggest advantage of the game, with 2:15 remaining in the second quarter. Huntington North, however, closed out the half with a 9-2 run, closing within five at 27-22 at the break.
The Vikings tied the game at 34-all with 1:47 left in the third quarter when Andrew Drummond converted a three-point attempt and took a 36-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
Warsaw led just one more time, as junior Tommy Reinholt scored the first two points of the fourth quarter on an assist from freshman Mason Plumlee, giving the Tigers a 37-36 advantage.
After that, Kramer and Co. took control of the game and took care of the Tigers.
A steal and dunk by Kramer gave Huntington North a 44-37 lead with 3:42 remaining.
Warsaw responded wtih a three-pointer from senior John-Wesley Maierle but never got any closer than four points the rest of the way.
"We can play well in spurts," said Ogle when asked about other games in which the Tigers played well, namely games against Marion and Elkhart Memorial, but let the lead get away. "We played pretty well in segments. We seemed to lose our patience more than anything. We had guys trying to do too many things individually. This team isn't talented enough to do things individually. They need to do things as a team."
Do things as a team, much like Huntington North did.
Case and point, Kramer.
While his shot wasn't falling, he did other things to help his team win.
To go with his 18 points, which came on a 7-of-16 effort from the field, Kramer dished out seven assists, pulled down five rebounds and made four steals.
Despite shooting just 19 of 47 (40.4 percent) from the field and 12 of 20 (60 percent) from the free throw line, Huntington North won the game because of its defense and its ballhandling.
The Vikings turned the ball over just seven times, while the Tigers turned the ball over 14 times, which led to 12 Huntington North points.
Neil Stoffel chipped in seven points and seven rebounds for the Vikings, while John Wall added seven points and five boards.
For Warsaw, senior Colin Clemens led the way with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Plumlee had nine points and four rebounds.
Senior Mitch Reinholt chipped in with seven points, while Steve Lemasters scored six points, Maierle scored five points, Tommy Reinholt scored four points and Shaun Cabrera scored two points.
The game was the last contest in the Tiger Den for Warsaw's five seniors - Mitch Reinholt, Jordan Fuller, Maierle, Clemens and Cabrera.
The eight-point loss gave Warsaw its first losing record in the regular season since posting an 8-11 record in the 1987-88 season.
Friday's loss guaranteed the Tigers to have a losing record in the regular season, something the Tigers have done just four other times in the last 40 years.
Warsaw finishes the regular season Friday at Carroll.
The draw for the IHSAA state tournament is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. Warsaw, which is looking for its first sectional championship since the 1999-2000 season, plays in the East Noble Sectional.
HUNT. NORTH 53, WARSAW 45
H. North 11 11 14 17 - 53
Warsaw 18 9 8 10 - 45
H. North FG FT R S Pts.
* Kramer 7-16 3-3 5 4 18
* Kaiser 2-5 3-4 0 0 5
* Stoffel 2-2 3-8 7 3 7
* Wall 2-5 2-3 5 0 7
* Freiden 2-5 0-0 6 2 4
Simon 1-4 0-0 3 0 2
Hensley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Drummond 1-6 0-0 1 1 5
Nei 2-4 1-2 2 0 5
Totals 19-47 12-20 29 10 53
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Cabrera 1-4 0-2 5 1 2
* Maierle 2-3 0-0 2 0 5
* Fuller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
* M. Reinholt 2-2 3-4 2 0 7
* Clemens 3-13 5-10 10 0 12
Mi. Plumlee 4-7 0-1 4 0 9
T. Reinholt 2-2 0-0 5 1 4
Lemasters 2-5 0-0 2 1 6
Ma. Plumlee 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 16-38 8-17 30 3 45
Three-point goals - H. North 3-12 (Kramer 1-4, Wall 1-2, Drummond 1-1, Simon 0-2, Kaiser 0-2, Frieden 0-1), Warsaw 5-12 (Lemasters 2-4, Clemens 1-3, Mi. Plumlee 1-1, Maierle 1-1, Ma. Plumlee 0-1). Turnovers - H. North 7, Warsaw 14. Fouls - H. North 14, Warsaw 15. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 41, Hunt. North 34
Warsaw scoring - Waikel 11, Harman 10, Higgins 8, West 7, Chambers 3, Poe 2
