A quick glance at the season stats for Warsaw’s varsity boys basketball team and the names Riley Rhoades and Evan Schmidt don't exactly grab your attention. Neither do Jeremy David, Ross Johnson, Jaceb Burish or Braxton Minix. Fact is, none of them average more than four points per game. Only one of them, David with 107, has scored more than a total of 100 points in the Tigers’ 24 games this season. They are what the experts call “role players.” While their numbers in a boxscore aren’t eye-popping, their worth to the Class 4A No. 5 Tigers, who are a buzzer-beater away from being undefeated and who play South Bend Riley in Saturday's Michigan City Regional, is virtually immeasurable. “Doing the little things, I think we do that well,” Schmidt, a senior, said at Wednesday's media day at the Tiger Den. “Handling the ball, not turning the ball over, rebounding, boxing out ... just doing the little things. Doing the little things is what makes a good role player a great role player.” In a day when so much emphasis and pressure is put on players to score as many points as they can to draw attention from college scouts, or to get mentioned in the newspaper, on the radio or via social media, Warsaw’s players have bought in to the team-first concept. The reason is simple. “We just want to win,” said Schmidt. “We really don't care who gets the credit or attention. We just want to win. We know our roles, and we go out and do what we have to do, whether it's score points, get rebounds, play defense. We just want to win.” The Tigers have certainly figured out how to win this season. Warsaw takes a 23-1 record into Saturday's 11 a.m. EDT regional semifinal against Riley (22-5), the defending regional champion. Junior Kyle Mangas leads the Tigers with 458 points this season, an average of 19 per game, while senior Paul Marandet has scored 291, an average of 12 per game. But as Gene Hackman's character coach Norman Dale said in the movie Hoosiers, “there's more to the game than shooting ... there's fundamentals and defense.” Warsaw's role players have been a big part this season of the Tigers being fundamentally sound and defensive-minded. The Tigers are second in the state in fewest points allowed at 38.4 per game, trailing only 3A No. 13 Angola (37.9) in that category. Only five times in 24 games this season, has Warsaw allowed more than 45 points. In the Tigers’ last 10 games, only one opponent has managed to score 40 points ... Hamilton Southeastern, who Warsaw beat by 20 points. It's fair to say, the majority of high school players would rather see their name in the paper for scoring bundles of points. This group of Warsaw Tigers has proven otherwise. “It's fun to play defense,” said David, a junior. “Honestly, when we're playing defense on some of those long possessions, it's fun to see the other team get frustrated, and to see the looks on their faces when they struggle to score or get a shot off. It's fun to see them kind of break down a little bit.” The Tigers will need to play their stingy style of defense Saturday against the Wildcats, who are averaging 72 points per game. Riley won its second-straight sectional title by beating LaPorte (53-48), Mishawaka (80-64) and the host Plymouth Pilgrims (60-54). Warsaw's highest score of the season was 79 against Wawasee. It's the only time the Tigers have scored more than 65 points in a game this season. Riley, on the other hand, have scored 65 points or more in 20 of its 27 games. Reontre Lawrence, the only senior on Riley's roster, leads the Wildcats with 18.1 points per game, while junior Damezi Anderson averages 17.8 points per game. Sophomore Shamar Dillard (251 points this season), and juniors Nate Marino (222) and Maurice Scott Jr. (221) are also capable scorers for the Wildcats, whose normal starting lineup includes three sophomores, a junior and a senior. Scott is the brother of former Indiana All-Star and Notre Dame All-American Skylar Diggins. “Just being patient, just being solid,” said Rhoades, a senior, when asked what the Tigers have to do defensively against Riley. “We know they're gonna push the ball and take quick shots, but for us it's about rebounding and being solid on offense ... ball fakes and all that stuff, just being fundamental.” Just being fundamental ... that's why the Tigers are 23-1 and still alive in the state tournament.
