Shooting Woes Continue As Warsaw Loses Third Straight
Shooting Woes Continue As Warsaw Loses Third Straight
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
Shooting Woes Continue As Warsaw Loses Third StraightST. JOHN - As their shooting woes continued Friday night, so did the Warsaw boys basketball team's losing streak.
In a 63-51 loss at Lake Central, the Tigers made just 4 of 18 three-point attempts and were 22 of 50 from the field overall.
In its current three-game skid, which includes a pair of losses in the Tiger Den last weekend to Huntington North and Homestead, Warsaw is 12 of 55 from the arc and 45 of 132 overall.
"We continue to not shoot the ball very well," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team is now 2-3 on the season. "We missed a lot of good shots. We're rushing some. We've got to slow down when we get in the basket area.
"We took too many threes again ... some of them toward the end were desperation, I'm not counting them. They outscored us by 12 at the free throw line, and we lost by 12. Lake Central is a solid basketball team."
The host Indians, who improved to 3-2, made 22 of 43 field goal attempts, and were 4 of 11 from the arc and 15 of 24 at the free throw line.
Lake Central got the majority of its offense from two players - seniors Justin Graciano and Conner Tomasic.
Graciano made 8 of 13 shot attempts and tallied game-highs of 22 points and nine rebounds. Tomasic, who is headed to Purdue University on a baseball scholarship, was 7 of 11 en route to 15 points.
Senior Keon Sellers chipped in with nine points, while junior Dominic Ciapponi and Derek Hobbs finished with five points each in the win.
"That's not a bad basketball team," Ogle said of Lake Central. "They're athletic. Graciano is a good player. Tomasic is going to Purdue on a baseball scholarship. Their coach told me Keon Sellers is the second-best athlete he's over coached, and he's got a 38-inch vertical (leap).
"We're just not solid enough yet. Tonight we rebounded well, we outrebounded them 34-26, which is good. That was a positive. We're just not good enough yet offensively or defensively to beat a team like that."
Senior Jack Rhoades and sophomore Brian Elliott led Warsaw with 10 points each. Both were new to the starting lineup, as junior point guard Landen Ferber is no longer with the team, and junior Jaylen Reese came off the bench after starting the first four games.
Reese finished with nine points and seven boards, while classmate Nolan Groninger tallied eight points, five rebounds and eight assists. Junior Tyler Metzinger had six points and eight rebounds, and senior Zach Riley chipped in with six points.
Lake Central led 17-10 after one quarter of play, 25-20 at halftime and and 46-33 at the end of the third quarter.
A three-pointer by Rhoades made it a two-possession game, cutting Lake Central's lead to 57-51 with 1:56 remaining. The Indians scored the last six points of the game to account for the final margin.
Lake Central won the junior varsity game 51-48 in overtime. Jaylen Coon led the JV Tigers with 14 points, while Tedros Berelsman and Keagan Larsh scored 13 and 10, respectively.
Warsaw is in action again Friday when it puts its 21-game Northern Lakes Conference win streak on the line against the Wawasee Warriors.
Lake Central – Nick Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Derek Hobbs 1-3 3-5 5, Conner Tomasic 7-11 0-2 15, Jack Davis 1-4 0-0 3, Isaac Beatty 0-1 1-2 1, Zack Dobos 0-0 3-4 3, Keon Sellers 3-7 2-2 9, Justin Graciano 8-13 5-8 22, Dominic Ciapponi 2-3 1-1 5. Totals 22-43 15-24 63.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 4 (Rhoades 2, Elliott, Reese), Lake Central 4 (Tomasic, Davis, Sellers, Graciano); Rebounds – Warsaw 34 (Metzinger 8), Lake Central 26 (Graciano 9); Turnovers – Warsaw 11, Lake Central 7; Fouls – Warsaw 22, Lake Central 15; Fouled out – Elliott; Records: Warsaw 2-3, Lake Central 3-2
