Mangas, Tigers Open Season In Big WayWhile the election season ended a couple weeks ago, Kyle Mangas started his own campaign Wednesday night with a strong opening statement. In the boys basketball season opener for the Class 4A No. 5 Warsaw Tigers, the 6-foot-3 senior and Indiana All-Star hopeful poured in 30 points and added six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in a 75-27 win over the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings. Mangas finished the game 13 of 18 from the field and brought the crowd to its feet with a fourth-quarter dunk on an alley oop pass from teammate Asher Blum. “That transition where Blum tossed the ball over for the alley oop to Mangas, that was kind of fun,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team dished out 20 assists in the win to just five turnovers. “He did some things in this game, he had a couple moves tonight that I’ve never really seen him do. He kind of went George Gervin on them on one play. And then for him to pull the ball back and fool the defender on another one ... he doesn’t usually do that stuff in practice. He was feeling it tonight. He actually smiled after the dunk. He doesn’t always show a lot of emotion.” There was plenty of emotion in the Tiger Den Wednesday. It started with a 47-12 Warsaw win in the junior varsity game, carried over into a Final Four ring ceremony for last year’s 25-2 Tiger team, and then carried over into a 48-point thrashing in the varsity contest. Warsaw was 32 of 48 from the field as a team, 8 of 13 from three-point range, and made 3 of 6 free throw attempts. The Tigers, who outrebounded the much-shorter Vikings 30-13, got seven points and five assists out of senior Jeremy David, and five points each from seniors Braxton Minix and Jaceb Burish, as well as juniors Ross Johnson and Zach Riley. A total of 14 players saw the court for Warsaw, with 12 of them scoring at least two points. “In a game like that, sometimes it’s easy to lose your focus and things can get a little ragged,” said Ogle. “I think 20 assists to five turnovers is impressive, any way you slice it. I was happy that our offense didn’t become loose through a game that wasn’t close.” While Ogle, who passed out Ring Pop suckers to the cheerblock after the players received their rings, had plenty to smile about, the disappointment was evident in Valley coach Bill Patrick’s voice. The Vikings trailed 17-5 after one quarter of play, 33-16 at halftime and 54-22 at the end of the third. “We just weren’t ready for the difference in competition, compared to what we’ve had in practice,” said Patrick, who entered his 48th season Wednesday with 755 career wins. “Hopefully they’ll realize now they’ve gotta go harder in practice. It doesn’t make any difference who they’re going against, we’ve just gotta go harder.” The Vikings finished the game 9 of 32 from the field overall, 2 of 17 from the arc, and 7 of 11 from the charity stripe. Seniors Jarod Duzenbery and Keith Wright combined to score 21 of Valley’s 27 points. Duzenbery led the way with 11 points, while Wright chipped in with 10. Freshman Tanner Trippiedi scored four points, while sophomore Alex Morrison rounded out Valley’s scoring with two points. One of the big storylines in the game was Valley senior Alec Craig being held scoreless. Craig led the Vikings in scoring last season with 13 points per game. Against the Tigers he was 0 of 8 from the field overall and 0 of 4 from the arc while playing 28 of the game’s 32 minutes. “That makes it tough,” Patrick said when asked about having to overcome Craig not scoring. “I’m not sure what you attribute that to. Obviously Warsaw has size and good defense. I’m not gonna make any excuses for Alec, but he’s had ankle and leg problems. We just haven’t gone as hard in practice as what we need to go. We show up and we’re up against really good competition and we have to pick up the pace ... and we just weren’t ready.” The Tigers are in action again Saturday when they host Columbia City, a 60-41 loser to Whitko Wednesday night. The Vikings host Argos Tuesday.
WARSAW 75, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 27 TV 5 11 6 5 – 27 War 17 16 21 21 – 75 Valley – Tanner Trippiedi 2-3 0-0 4, Dakota Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Keith Wright 2-8 5-7 10, DeSean Heckman 0-0 0-0 0, Alec Craig 0-8 0-0 0, Alex Morrison 1-2 0-2 2, Cameron Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Jarod Duzenbery 4-9 2-2 11, Wes Melanson 0-1 0-0 0, Ivan Santiago 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 9-32 7-11 27. Warsaw – Kyle Mangas 13-18 1-2 30, Jeremy David 3-4 1-1 7, Sam Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Jack Rhoades 1-1 0-0 3, Aaron Sandoval 0-1 0-0 0, Ross Johnson 2-2 0-0 5, Zach Riley 2-3 0-0 5, Jaceb Burish 2-5 0-0 5, Braxton Minix 2-2 1-2 5, Jack Grose 0-1 0-0 0, Asher Blum 2-5 0-0 4, Kyle Skeans 2-2 0-0 4, Shane Powers 1-2 0-0 2, Nolan Groninger 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 32-48 3-6 75. Three-pointers – Valley 2 (Wright, Duzenbery), Warsaw 8 (Mangas 3, Miller, Rhoades, Johnson, Riley, Burish); Rebounds – Valley 13 (multiple with 2), Warsaw 30 (Mangas 6); Turnovers – Valley 12, Warsaw 5; Fouls – Valley 11, Warsaw 13; Fouled out – none; Records: Valley 0-1, Warsaw 1-0 JV – Warsaw 47, Valley 12 Valley – Luke Prater 6, Jalen Potter 2, Cameron Parker 2, Jaydin Conley 1, Dwight Conley 1 Warsaw – Landen Ferber 13, Nolan Groninger 12, Brian Elliott 8, Trevor Rumple 6, Tyler Metzinger 4, Jaylen Reese 4
