Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
During the fourth quarter of Warsaw's game against Concord, the announcer informed Tiger fans of an important NLC score.
Plymouth had been defeated by Northridge 40-36, and when Warsaw defeated Concord 67-46, the Tigers stood alone atop the Northern Lakes Conference.
Warsaw trailed Concord for the first four minutes Friday's game, but a Chris Wiggins three-pointer with 3:40 on the clock gave the Tigers their first lead of the night at 10-8.
Concord tied the score at 10, but by the end of the first quarter, the Tigers held a 15-10 lead over the Minutemen.
"We wanted to keep them out of their half-court offense," said Concord coach Ron Dietz. "We kept the pressure on them and got a couple quick steals that got them in trouble. That defensive effort turned into offensive points and threw them off-balance early."
"They were very disruptive in the first quarter," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "They got some quick turnovers, and we started rushing our offense."
Concord kept up with the Tigers during much of the second quarter but was unable to cut the deficit as Warsaw took a 27-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
Steve Siebenmorgen, Zach Nelson and Wiggins combined for all of Warsaw's first-half points.
Concord's Travis Carter connected on 5 of 5 field goals and 4 of 5 free throws for 14 of 21 Minuteman points in the first half.
Wiggins started the second half by connecting on a three-point basket with just 15 ticks off the clock.
The Tigers continued to add to the Concord deficit in the third quarter as they outscored the Minutemen 17-13 and stretched their lead to 44-34 heading into the final quarter.
"We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to come out and take control in the third and fourth quarters," said Rhodes.
Wiggins scored the first points of the fourth on a slam dunk to jumpstart a 23-point scoring onslaught by the Tigers.
"We had the lead, but the dunk by Wiggins helped swing the momentum in our favor for the rest of the game," said Rhodes.
The fourth quarter was all Warsaw after the dunk as the Tigers outscored Concord 23-12 in the frame to give them their 11th victory of the season and keep them undefeated (5-0) in Northern Lakes Conference play.
"The game slipped away a little at the end," said Dietz. "The score is not really indicative of the effort our guys put into the game tonight."
The Minutemen, now 2-8 and 0-4 in the NLC, connected on 45 percent of their field goals as Warsaw shot nearly 60 percent from the field.
"Our biggest difficulty tonight was that we didn't shoot well," said Dietz. "Each game is a little closer. Tonight we executed our gameplan and played fairly well."
Carter finished the game with 24 points for the Minutemen, but Dietz has higher aspirations for him.
"Carter has good potential, and I know there is more in him," said Dietz. "The other kids keep pushing him, and he continues to improve."
Wiggins led the Tigers in every category of the game with 18 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals.
"Chris had his best overall basketball game of the year," said Rhodes. "It is unusual for one player to lead us in all four categories, but he did it tonight.
"We also had several solid performances off the bench. Greg Seiss broke his foot in gym class Wednesday so we had to shift some players around in the post. The guys adjusted to the changes well."
The Tigers host South Bend Adams tonight with junior varsity play starting at 6:15 p.m.
Warsaw 67
Concord 46
Concord (2-8) 10 11 13 12 - 46
Warsaw (11-1) 15 12 17 23 - 67
Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.
Nelson 7-12 2-3 2 1 0 16
Siebenmorgen 6-6 3-3 3 4 0 16
Wiggins 6-11 2-2 4 5 4 18
Rb. Kesler 0-2 2-2 0 0 1 2
Rs. Kesler 3-3 0-1 1 4 2 6
Grossniockle 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0
Donkers 0-0 4-4 4 0 0 4
Barrett 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Rhodes 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0
Henthorn 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 5
Compson 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24-41 13-17 16 14 9 67
Concord FG FT R A S Pts.
Williams 1-6 0-0 2 1 1 2
Staley 1-3 0-2 1 0 1 2
Myers 2-4 0-0 5 1 1 4
Carter 9-13 4-5 1 1 0 24
McKenzie 0-0 1-2 0 0 5 1
Fowler 1-6 0-0 2 0 2 3
St. Germain 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3
McGraw 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Morningstar 1-2 0-0 1 0 2 2
Dietz 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Martin 2-2 0-0 1 0 2 2
Lyon 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 18-40 5-9 13 3 12 46
Three-point goals - Warsaw 6-13 (Siebenmorgen 1-1, Wiggins 4-8, Rb. Kesler 0-2, Rhodes 0-1, Henthorn 1-1), Concord 5-16 (Williams 0-2, Carter 2-6, Fowler 1-5, St. Germain 1-2, Martin 1-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 13, Concord 12. Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 11, Concord 17.
Officials: N/A
JV Score -ÊWarsaw 50, Concord 32
JV scoring leaders - Warsaw: Johnson 11, Scrafton 10, Finnegan 10; Concord: Casey 10, Rider 9, Kelly 5.
