Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - NorthWood High School's boys basketball team hasn't won a Northern Lakes Conference championship since 1972.
A win over Class 4A No. 10 Warsaw Friday night would move the Class 3A No. 8 Panthers to 3-0 in league play.
And that's exactly what NorthWood did, topping the Tigers 75-66.
NorthWood, who has now beaten the Tigers in two of the last three seasons, improves to 9-2 overall with the win. Warsaw falls to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in league play.
Chris Wiggins made good on a three-point attempt 10 seconds into the game to give Warsaw its only lead of the first half. Sparked by five consecutive points from sophomore Rory Clouse, the Panthers answered with a 9-0 run. NorthWood led by as much as nine, 20-11, in the first quarter. After one quarter of play Warsaw trailed 20-13.
"I wasn't concerned at that point," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "They (NorthWood) were shooting a good field goal percentage and we knew that would come down. We seemed oblivious to the scouting report and left them some wide open shots."
The Panthers were 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from the field in the first quarter, including four three-pointers. For the game NorthWood shot 53.6 percent (22-41) from the field. Warsaw was 6 of 9 (66 percent) from the floor in the opening frame and 25 of 42 (59.5 percent) for the game.
When NorthWood coach Dan Gunn was asked about the spurt his team started the game with, he said he thought that's how Warsaw would start the game.
"Warsaw always starts the game well," said Gunn. "That's a point of emphasis for Rhodes. We wanted to start the second half with a burst. They got theirs, but we didn't get ours."
After cutting NorthWood's lead to 33-32 at halftime, the Tigers started the thrird quarter with a 6-0 run, giving them a five point lead, 38-33.
"I felt like in crucial stretches NorthWood outcompeted us," said Rhodes. "There were several loose balls that could have turned the tide. NorthWood seemed to get all of them, specifically Charlie Roeder."
Roeder scored 16 points in the win. The 6-foot-4 senior also pulled down three rebounds, made steals and was 9 of 11 at the free throw line.
Senior Brock Doty led the Panthers in the scoring column with 22 points on a 6-of-10 shooting performance from the field. He was also 6 of 7 at the charity stripe. Clouse and Ian Reed scored 17 and 13 points, respectively for the Panthers.
Warsaw senior Chris Wiggins led all scorers with 25 points on an 8-of-14 shooting performance from the field. He was also 5 of 8 at the charity stripe and pulled down six boards. Zach Nelson and Ross Kesler added 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Tigers in the loss.
Warsaw was without starting 6'6' starting senior forward Steve Siebenmorgen, who sat on the bench the entire game with his warm-ups on. Siebenmorgen came leading the Tigers in scoring with his 13.5 points per game average. He also averaged 5.4 rebounds per game.
"Steve suffered from dizziness during the junior varsity contest," said Rhodes. "Because of some concern from him, he decided he should not play. We are now looking for further evaluation."
Siebenmorgen suffered a concussion in the Dec. 18 game with Elkhart Central.
Rhodes went on to say that Siebenmorgen's absence did not tell the story of the game. And it didn't.
What clinched the game for NorthWood down the stretch was their ability to make good on charity tosses.
Warsaw committed 23 in the game, 18 coming in the second half. Fort the game, NorthWood was whistled for 18 violations.
The Panthers capitalized on this by hitting 16 of 21 (76.2 percent) free throws in the fourth quarter.
"That's good," said Gunn of his team's fourth-quarter performance at the charity stripe. "I'd rather see them hit 21 of 21. We worked on it this week. Coach Rhodes and coach Austin (Northridge) are two coaches who start fouling earlier when they're down."
The Tigers were as close as three in the final frame, trailing 64-61 with 2:12 remaining.
NorthWood outscored the Tigers the rest of the way, accounting for the nine-point win.
NorthWood has three games left in the conference. Those three teams - Wawasee, Goshen and Plymouth - one conference win between them.
"I don't think anyone can beat them," said Rhodes. "It pretty much looks like the NLC is going to them. Us and Northridge should take our hats off to them. They've been pretty hard to beat the last two weeks."
Said Gunn of taking control of the conference: "Huge. If you're gonna win the conference you gotta beat Warsaw and Northridge. All that's left is Wawasee, Goshen and Plymouth."
NorthWood will be on the court Jan. 21 when it hosts Jimtown. Warsaw will travel to NLC opponent Concord Jan. 21.
NORTHWOOD 75, WARSAW 66
Warsaw (9-3) 13 19 10 24 - 66
NorthWood (9-2) 20 13 14 28 - 75
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
B. Seiss (G) 0-2 0-1 2 2 0
Martin 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Buck 1-2 0-0 3 0 2
Wiggins (G) 8-14 5-8 6 0 25
Henthorn 3-3 0-0 0 0 8
Walmer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Finnegan 2-2 2-2 1 1 6
Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
G. Seiss (F) 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
Nelson (C) 6-6 1-2 7 0 13
Total 25-32 10-14 24 4 66
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.
Will (F) 1-2 5-8 2 0 7
Doty (G) 6-10 6-7 1 0 22
Reed (G) 5-10 3-7 3 1 13
Roeder (F) 3-7 9-11 3 2 16
Clouse (C) 7-12 1-1 3 1 17
Totals 22-41 24-34 15 4 75
Three-pointers - Warsaw 4 (Wiggins 4), NorthWood 6 (Doty 4, Clouse 2). Fouls - Warsaw 23, NorthWood 18. Fouled out - Wiggins, Nelson. Turnovers - Warsaw 10, NorthWood 5.
JV: Warsaw 54, NorthWood 28
