AKRON - Trying to be the best team player he can be, Warsaw standout Nic Moore said he is reading a book on leadership by legendary coach John Wooden.
In the season opener at Kosciusko County rival Tippecanoe Valley Wednesday evening, the 5-foot-9 guard scripted his own lesson in leadership on the court, as he scored scored 25 points and dished out seven assists in the Tigers' 62-49 win over the Vikings."Coach told me to let the game come to me," said Moore, who scored all 25 of his points in the first three quarters. "I hit some shots, but I really wanted to get every one involved in the game. I started dishing the ball to Justin (Clemens), and I was looking to Lucas (Grose) and Jordyn (Coon) and Zack (Linky). I was trying to get every one in the flow of the game."
Moore was able to find open teammates, namely Clemens, as the Tigers turned a four-point halftime lead into a 51-33 lead early in the fourth quarter.
"When you have a player like Nic Moore, life gets easier," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "He really played well, and I thought Justin Clemens was solid. We really got a lot of contributions from different guys."
Clemens, now a four-year starter for the Tigers, added 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
Coon, a sophomore making his first varsity start, made both shots he took and added a pair of free throws for six points, while fellow sophomore starter Lucas Grose chipped in with five points.
Junior Jalen Roscoe came off the bench to score four points, senior starter Andy Conrad made three free throws and Linky, also a senior, came off the bench to score three points. Junior Cody Bragg rounded out Warsaw's scoring effort with a free throw.
"They're deep," Valley coach Bill Patrick said of Warsaw. "Nic Moore is a good player. And they've got other players, too. The Clemens kid is so strong. He really hurt us inside. Grose doesn't play like a sophomore. They played nine or 10 players, and they all contributed. Warsaw's a good team."
The 13-point win gave the Tigers a 27-4 advantage in the all-time series against Valley, and also gave them possession of the Silver Horseshoe.
During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the Silver Horeshoe was a symbol of basketball in the county, and was a traveling trophy that the 14 Kosciusko County teams battled for.
The tradition of the Silver Horseshoe stopped in 1968, with the Akron Flyers the last team to possess the trophy, but was started again Wednesday.
There were 14 county schools that were eligible to win the traveling trophy previously, now the list of schools that will compete for it includes Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko.
Valley stayed right with Warsaw in the first half Wednesday, only trailing 16-11 after the first quarter and 26-22 at halftime.
Senior Taylor Burkhart scored nine of Valley's 11 points in the first quarter.
"Burkhart shot the ball well," said Patrick. "We have to do a better job of doing the little things. We'd like to be a little deeper, but we're going to be better than we were last year. I thought we came out in the first half and competed with them."
Senior Zach Owens, who transferred to Valley from Warsaw a year ago, cut the Tigers' advantage to one, 26-25, with a three-pointer to open the third quarter but Warsaw responded with a 9-0 run and later took a 49-33 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the final frame, Warsaw built its advantage to as much as 18 twice.
"Valley is a much different team, they've improved drastically," said Ogle. "We didn't play horrible, and in the first half they played with us. They definitely have some guys who can shoot. We kind of wore them down in the third quarter. I think we wore Valley down with our inside presence."
The Tigers, who outrebound Valley 28-14 en route to the win, outscored the Vikings 23-11 in the third quarter, as Moore led the way with 12 points in the quarter and Clemens added six.
"Nic Moore is just a good player," said Patrick. "If we keep him to 15 points maybe we're in the game, but he scored 25. He shoots the three, he comes off screens, he passes well. He sees the floor very well. He's the best player we'll see this year. I can't imagine there's 10 players in the state better than Nic Moore. If he was 6-foot-2, he'd be unbelievable. He's awfully good at 5-9."
Senior point guard Caleb Rovenstine led Valley with 13 points, 11 of which he scored in the fourth quarter.
Owens and Burkhart added 11 points each, while freshman Nick Kindig scored six points, senior Jordan Littlejohn chipped in with four points and senior Anthony Tolson and sophomore Jared Gordon scored two points each.
The Tigers are in action again Saturday when they travel to Columbia City, while Valley plays at Argos Tuesday.
WARSAW 61, T. VALLEY 49
W 16 10 23 13 - 62
V 11 11 11 16 - 49
Warsaw - Andy Conrad 0-1 3-4 3, Joey Sparkman 0-1 0-0 0, Justin Clemens 7-9 1-2 15, Brock Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Nic Moore 11-18 2-3 25, Christopher O'Hara 0-0 0-0 0, Jordyn Coon 2-2 2-4 6, Zack Linky 1-3 0-0 3, Lucas Grose 2-3 1-4 5, Cody Bragg 0-1 1-2 1, Jalen Rosco 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 25-41 10-19 62.
Valley - Caleb Rovenstine 3-7 6-6 13, Bret Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Zack Owens 3-9 4-5 11, Taylor Burkhart 4-8 2-2 11, Nick Kindig 2-5 0-0 6, Anthony Tolson 1-3 0-0 2, Gus Lukens 0-0 0-0 0, Jared Gordon 1-1 0-0 2, Dan Kitch 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Littlejohn 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 16-36 12-13 49.
Three-pointers - Warsaw 2 (Moore, Linky), Valley 5 (Kindig 2, Rovenstine, Owens, Burkhart). Rebounds - Warsaw 28 (Clemens 7), Valley 14 (Owens 3). Assists - Warsaw 14 (Moore 7), Valley 8 (Tolson 3). Turnovers - Warsaw 8, Valley 11. Fouls - Warsaw 16, Valley 19. Fouled out - none. Records: Warsaw 1-0, Valley 0-1
JV - Warsaw 33, Valley 18
Warsaw - Rhett Kesler 6, Jay Holladay 6, Jordan Wray 6, Travis Thomas 4, Clay Anderson 4, Zach Rooney 3, Brock Anson 2, Bennett Hollar 2
Valley - Jacob Ritchey 6, Rob Hoffman 6, Nick Kindig 3, Jeffrey Tillman 3
