No. 4 Warsaw beats Plymouth 46-30, completes another perfect NLC season
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
Warsaw’s formula for success was the same as it’s been all season, and because of that, so was the outcome. Led by the dynamic duo of junior Kyle Mangas and senior Paul Marandet, as well as the team’s familiar stingy defense, the Class 4A No. 4 Tigers beat rival Plymouth 46-30 Friday night and captured a second-straight Northern Lakes Conference championship. Not only did the Tigers repeat as NLC champs, something that hadn’t happened since Warsaw did it during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, they did so with back-to-back perfect league records. Since Elkhart Memorial joined the NLC during the 2000-01 school year, no boys basketball team had gone 14-0 during a two-year span. The Tigers, then coached by Al Rhodes, ran the table in the NLC in 1994 and 1995 with 6-0 records. “I think our guys were a little on edge because of the implications and what we were playing for what was at stake, but we settled down,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team improved to 19-0 and is the only undefeated varsity boys squad left in the state. “It’s remarkable to win one Northern Lakes Conference championship, but to win back-to-back and go 14-0 is a really good accomplishment.” The Pilgrims, who fell to 14-5 overall and 5-2 in the NLC, led 14-10 after one quarter of play, but scored just 16 points the rest of the game as Warsaw clamped down defensively. Plymouth scored just two points in the second quarter, and didn’t do that until senior Cam Eveland made a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining. The Pilgrims followed their second-quarter offensive struggles with more of the same in the third quarter, scoring just three points in the frame. Senior Matt Friar scored from the field with 4:29 left in the quarter, cutting Warsaw’s lead to 25-19 at the time and ending a scoreless drought that was nearing 13 minutes, while senior Jack Barron later scored from the charity stripe. Plymouth was 5 of 9 from the field in the first quarter, but was just 5 of 26 the rest of the way. “I thought we had some good looks, a lot of it was just Warsaw, they’re very physical defensively, and I thought they turned up the heat a little bit in the half-court defense,” said fifth-year Plymouth coach Ryan Bales, who had a 3-1 record against Warsaw entering Friday’s game. “I thought we got a little impatient there, a little tentative, and there’s a fine line of wanting to play aggressive, but you also wanna stay disciplined and play within yourself. When the ball’s not going in, you tend to panic a little bit, and we just weren’t able to finish shots.” The Tigers, on the other hand, were able to finish shots – particularly Mangas and Marandet. Mangas was 5 of 9 from the field overall and 9 of 10 at the free throw line en route to a game-high 20 points. He scored 16 of his points in the second half. Marandet was also 5 of 9 from the field, along with a 6-of-8 effort at the charity stripe. Marandet scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. “Paul Marandet in the first half, offensively, was really good,” said Ogle. “And then in the second half, Kyle Mangas was really good. They tag-teamed them. “But again, our defense was very solid. Our goal was to try and hold (Josh) Anders and (Nick) Felke under 20 (points). They were averaging about 30 points together. We held them to 15. We made it tough sledding for them offensively.” Anders led Plymouth with eight points, while Felke finished with seven. Matt Friar, Barron and Eveland all scored four points each in the loss. Jeremy David pulled down seven rebounds for Warsaw, while teammate Riley Rhoades grabbed five rebounds, as the Tigers held a 26-18 advantage on the boards. The Tigers also outscored Plymouth 19-7 at the free throw line, and had just seven turnovers. “Those are the things, hopefully, that will make us upset-proof,” said Ogle. “You can control those things. You’re not always going to have a good shooting night, but those things, getting to the line, rebounding, not turning it over, we feel like we can control. Those three things are our strengths. “I’m trying to be humble when I say this, but we are a well-rounded team. We don’t have any glaring chinks in our armor.” Warsaw’s current 19-game win streak matches a streak the Tigers had during the 1984 and ‘85 seasons. The Tigers won their final 17 games of the 1984 season, including the state championship, and then opened the 1985 season by winning their first two games. Warsaw will try and push their win streak to 20 tonight when Hamilton Southeastern visits the Tiger Den.
