Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Third-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle challenged his team. He even had it written on the wipe-away board in the locker room.
Ogle challenged his Tigers to block out and rebound, and they responded in a huge way Friday night, outrebounding an athletic Fort Wayne South Side team 39-16.
Host Warsaw also turned in its best offensive performance of the season, hitting 20 of 39 shots and had three scorers in double figures, en route to a 67-46 win over the visiting Archers.
"I put an emphasis on rebounding," said Ogle, whose Tigers improved to 3-0 on the season with the 21-point win. "We knew rebounding would decide the game. I challenged the team to start rebounding like we're capable of, which we didn't do in our first two games."
Ogle said defense carried the team in its first two wins, as the Tigers gave up an average of 36 points per game.
After Friday night's win over the Archers, Ogle said his offense is gaining confidence and the Tigers are starting to play like they're capable of.
"I think our confidence is getting better," said Ogle. "Coming into the season, we didn't have much varsity experience. We're starting to get more experience and confidence. Shaun Cabrera, J.W. Maierle and Colin Clemens played more tonight what they're capable of. Michael Wienhorst got hot in the third quarter, and Nelson Conley and Jordan Fuller did some good things."
The Tigers led 29-25 at halftime, but had no trouble completely taking control of the game in the third quarter as Wienhorst hit three three-pointers and scored 15 points in the frame.
Hitting 10 of 14 shots in the third quarter, Warsaw turned a four-point halftime lead into a 54-38 advantage going into the final frame.
"Their gambling defense can be disruptive, but there's holes in it," Ogle said of the Archers. "We knew if we could be strong with the ball and keep our vision on the basket area we'd be in good shape. We came into the game hitting 17 percent behind the three-point line. Tonight we were 38 percent. That's a huge difference."
Warsaw connected on 6 of 14 three-point attempts and 21 of 30 free throw opportunities in the win.
After scoring just five points in the first half, Wienhorst led all scorers with 23 points. He scored 22 and 26 points, respectively, in the Tigers' first two games.
Maybe more impressive was that the talented 6-foot-2 senior also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
"His rebounding was really big," said Ogle. "And it was nice to see Shaun Cabrera shoot better tonight."
Cabrera, who scored 10 points combined in the first two games, had 11 points by halftime Friday and finished with 16. He also ripped down five rebounds.
Maierle, in just his third game starting at point guard on the varsity team, scored 10 points, dished out eight assists and had just one turnover in 26 minutes of action.
Other scorers for the Tigers included Clemens with seven, Conley and Fuller with four each, Erik Kleinhans with two and Mitchell Reinholt with a free throw.
For South Side, which fell to 2-2 on the season, Justin Hairston scored 13 points, while Robert Wade and Fred Ford scored nine each.
The Archers finished the game 16 of 44 (36.4 percent) from the field, 3 of 14 (21.4 percent) from the three-point line and 11 of 21 (52.3 percent) at the charity stripe.
Warsaw is in action again Friday when it hosts Rochester and Saturday when it hosts Penn.
WARSAW 67, SOUTH SIDE 46
South Side 13 12 13 8 - 46
Warsaw 16 13 25 13 - 67
South FG FT R S Pts.
* Simmons 1-6 0-0 0 1 3
* Harper 2-6 0-2 1 2 4
* Wade 3-5 3-4 3 1 9
* Hairston 5-6 3-5 3 0 13
* Ford 3-8 1-2 2 2 9
Hunter 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Schneider 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
McGraw 1-5 2-4 3 1 4
Evans 1-4 2-2 1 4 4
Reese 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Heingartner 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 16-44 11-21 16 12 46
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Cabrera 5-9 5-6 5 0 16
* Holladay 0-3 0-0 4 1 0
* Maierle 3-4 3-4 2 0 10
* Wienhorst 7-13 6-10 12 1 23
* Clemens 3-8 0-0 1 0 7
Kleinhans 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Junker 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Conley 1-1 2-2 1 0 4
Fuller 1-1 2-2 6 0 4
Reinholt 0-0 0-2 1 0 0
Wood 0-1 1-2 2 0 1
Totals 20-39 21-30 39 2 67
Three-point goals - South 3-14 (Ford 2-6, Simmons 1-5, Harper 0-1, McGraw 0-1, Heingartner 0-1), Warsaw 6-14 (Wienhorst 3-6, Cabrera 1-4, Clemens 1-3, Maierle 1-1). Turnovers - South 11, Warsaw 14. Fouls - South 21, Warsaw 20. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 37, South Side 33
