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Paying too much attention to Warsaw's Michael Wienhorst was costly to Carroll's varsity boys basketball Friday night.
Trying to slow the Tigers' 6-foot-2 senior, the Chargers used a box-and-one defense against Wienhorst - it didn't work.
Wienhorst finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and juniors Shaun Cabrera and John-Wesley Maierle combined for 14 assists as they were able to find teammates open time after time en route to a 65-50 win on senior night at the Tiger Den.
"I thought we played well on offense in the first half," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose Tigers have won four games in a row and enter Tuesday's sectional contest against East Noble having won six of their last eight games. "I thought our execution versus their box-and-one was pretty good."
Warsaw led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and opened the second stanza with a 13-2 run that blew the game wide open. The Tigers led by as many as 24 at one point and the Chargers never got closer than 11 after they trailed 29-18 late in the second quarter.
While Warsaw continued to snowball momentum heading into next week's Class 4A DeKalb Sectional, Carroll fell to 6-14 on the season and lost for the sixth time in the final seven games of the regular season.
"We had really good passing tonight," said Ogle, whose team counteracted 19 turnovers with 19 assists. "We're playing very unselfishly right now. Michael Wienhorst is doing a great job letting the game come to him. He was pretty assertive in the first half, but in the second half when we made a run he did not force the issue."
Wienhorst, who also led the team with nine rebounds, scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. He took just one shot in the third quarter, a three-pointer that was nothing but net.
When Wienhorst wasn't scoring, Cabrera and Maierle were dishing the ball to open teammates for easy shots, many of which came in the paint.
Cabrera led Warsaw with nine assists, while Maierle had five.
"Teams are focusing a lot on Michael Wienhorst," said Ogle. "Cabrera made some really good reads, and John-Wesley Maierle played very well, with five assists and no turnovers. They paid so much attention to Michael and there were others wide open and we were able to find them and make them pay."
Junior Colin Clemens finished the game 7 of 11 from the field and scored 17 points, while pulling down seven rebounds.
Senior Andrew Hollday added eight points, while Maierle scored six, Mitchell Reinholt five, Nelson Conley three and Ben Truman, John Junker and Cabrera two each.
Junker made his first varsity start of the season, joining classmates Conley, Holladay and Wienhost and underclassman Clemens on the court for the start of the game.
While Carroll put up a high number of three-point attempts, Warsaw's ability to find open players for easy baskets led to a 26-of-41 (63.4 percent) effort from the floor for the game. The Tigers were 23 of 33 from two-point range and 3 of 8 behind the arc.
Carroll, on the other hand, shot a respectable 45.9 percent from the field, hitting 17 of 37 attempts. What brought their percentage down like a rock in water was hitting just 9 of 24 three-point attempts.
To go with their long-range shooting woes, the Chargers were out-rebounded 25-12 by Warsw.
"We've been struggling to rebound out of our 2-3 zone defense," said Ogle. "Tonight I thought we did a good job of rebounding. This was a good game heading into the sectional. The team's confidence is about right where it needs to be. I think we're a confident team right now. That's important heading into tournament play."
Carroll, which made 10 assists and turned the ball over 20 times, was led in scoring by sophomore Zach Taylor's 17 points. Deric Faylor added 14 points for the Chargers, while Dom Spadafora scored six and Beau Fulk five.
The Tigers are in action again Tuesday against East Noble in the DeKalb Sectional at 7 p.m.
WARSAW 65, CARROLL 50
Carroll 10 10 14 16 - 50
Warsaw 14 21 15 15 - 65
Carroll FG FT R S Pts.
* Taylor 6-12 2-2 4 2 17
* Faylor 4-12 3-4 0 1 14
*Peterman 1-4 0-0 2 2 2
* Miller 1-3 0-0 1 2 2
* Fulk 1-1 2-2 1 3 5
Waybright 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Edsall 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Wright 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Frane 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Oliphant 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Spadafora 2-3 0-0 0 0 6
Team 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 17-37 7-8 12 10 50
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Junker 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
* Holladay 4-5 0-0 2 0 8
*Wienhorst 7-11 4-6 9 1 20
* Conley 1-1 1-2 0 0 3
* Clemens 7-11 2-2 7 2 17
Cabrera 1-4 0-0 0 3 2
Kleinhans 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Lemasters 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Maierle 3-5 0-0 4 2 6
Fuller 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Reinholt 1-1 3-4 1 0 5
Wood 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Truman 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Team 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 26-41 10-14 25 10 65
Three-point goals - Carroll 9-24 (Faylor 3-10, Taylor 3-7, Spadafora 2-3, Fulk 1-1, Miller 0-2, Peterman 0-1), Warsaw 3-8 (Wienhorst 2-3, Clemens 1-2, Cabrera 0-2, Fuller 0-1). Turnovers - Carroll 20, Warsaw 19. Fouls - Carroll 14, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - none.
JV - Carroll 31, Warsaw 30
