Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
HUNTINGTON - It wasn't hard for Warsaw coach Al Rhodes or Huntington North coach Jack Gabor to figure out what was the key to the game Friday.
Both coaches made it their first thought in post game comments.
"By far the defense of the Vikings was the key to the basketball game, especially in the first half," Rhodes said.
"We played good defense, and that is where it all starts," Gabor said. "We had to be almost picture-perfect because they run their offenses very well. We did some things out there might have confused them."
It was the defense of the Vikings that helped them break a 10-game losing streak to the Tigers with a 56-51 decision.
The physical play of Huntington forced Warsaw out of its offense early, and the Tigers never really recovered.
"There defense seemed to bounce us out everywhere," Rhodes said. "Our guards were not playing in good attack areas, and our postmen just weren't wanting the ball hard enough. They were being banged by good defense by Huntington, and we just didn't compete hard enough."
Huntington became very stingy in the second quarter to gain the upperhand. The Vikings flustered the Tigers with their tight zone defense and seemed to be able to collapse and double the Warsaw post players while also getting out to cover the shooters at the same time. There were times that the Tigers must have thought the Vikings were using more than the allowed five players. But it only seemed that way.
"It was just sluggish execution," Rhodes said. "It wasn't changing defenses that caused us problems."
Warsaw didn't even attempt a field in the second period until three minutes had ticked off the clock. The Tigers, who had 7 turnovers in the quarter, got their first points when P.J. Wiley hit 2 of 2 from the free throw line. By that time, Huntington North held a 10-point lead, 25-15.
The Tigers tried to make a game of it in the second half, eventually trimming the lead to 48-45 with just over two minutes left in the game. But the Vikes made enough free throws and milked the clock to perfection.
Huntington hit on 15 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter.
"Right when it is crucial with two minutes to go, we have 2 or 3 blown defensive assignments in our halfcourt trap that lead to us fouling them," Rhodes said. "That was a critical time, we had to stop them. We have to have people go to the right places. I have to look and find people who will listen better."
Warsaw held an 11-8 lead in the first quarter on a layup by Chris Hill, but Huntington tied the score at 11. It was tied at 13 after the first quarter and Matt Wilson's jumper gave the Vikings at 15-13 lead, one they would not give up.
The Vikings also did the job on offense, breaking out of a shooting slump to hit on 17 of 30 from the field.
"It is a great win, and it should be a confidence booster for us for a couple of tough losses," Gabor said. "We know we can go out there and stroke the ball. If we score 56 points, we will be in the hunt to win some ball games."
Warsaw turned the ball over only 12 times, a season-low, but the Vikings defense limited the possessions of the Tigers with Warsaw still playing with about 30 percent error on offense.
"It is a game that could have went either way, but Huntington by far deserved to win the game compared to us," Rhodes said. "You can not beat good people playing the way we are right now."
Tom Krizmanich led the Tigers with 14 points, all coming in the second half. Tyler Charlton added 12.
Warsaw (3-1) is at Goshen Saturday to open its Northern Lakes Conference part of its schedule.
"We are going to need to play much better than we did tonight," Rhodes said. "We will have to play much smarter and tougher than we did to beat Goshen at Goshen."
