The Warsaw Tigers weren’t as intense in the fourth quarter Saturday night and their play got a little sloppy at times. In terms of the final outcome, it didn’t matter, as Warsaw did plenty of damage in the first three quarters of a 47-30 high school boys basketball win over the visiting Huntington North Vikings. The Tigers led 13-4 after one quarter of play, gave up just 15 points in the first three quarters and held Huntington North to 33 percent from the field en route to the 17-point win. The only major hiccup for Warsaw was a 13-3 run that the Vikings used to open the fourth quarter and trim the deficit to nine points at 37-28. The Tigers, who outscored Huntington North 10-2 in the closing minutes of the game, had led by as many 20 points in the third quarter. “We kind of let up defensively, actually we let up quite a bit,” Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said of Huntington North’s fourth-quarter run. “Mentally, we just lost our focus, which resulted in some drives ... which resulted in some threes from (Hunter) Hollowell. “They got an offensive rebound on a free throw. It was just three or four different things where we just kind of checked out. There was too much time left for us to let that happen. They got it down to nine, so I was kind of disappointed we didn’t play better in that stretch. We gotta be better than that.” Up to that point, the Tigers were much better, as they built their advantage up to 32-12 late in the third quarter. Warsaw opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run, and the Vikings didn’t make their first field goal in the eight-minute frame until Hollowell swished a three-pointer with 1:42 remaining. Huntington North, which finished the game 11 of 33 from the field overall, 3 of 17 from the arc, and 5 of 9 at the free throw line, fell to 2-2 on the season. The Vikings scored just four points in the first quarter, seven in the second and four in the third. “I thought we got off to a good start,” said Ogle, whose team improved to 4-0 on the season. “We talked about how it was going to be a different atmosphere, as opposed to Friday night with Homestead coming here. There wasn’t the same level of energy in the gym tonight. “I liked our start, and I thought our defense was pretty good through the first three quarters. Huntington North is a high school basketball team that was 2-1, and they only scored 15 points on us through three quarters. I think you can say that was a solid defensive effort, until we kind of quit playing. I was proud of our first three quarters, for sure.” Hollowell led the Vikings with 12 points, while Sam Daughtery and Chazz Bruce scored nine and five points, respectively. The Tigers were 13 of 31 from the field overall, 5 of 12 from the arc, and 16 of 23 from the charity stripe. Kyle Mangas led Warsaw with 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal. Jaceb Burish and Jeremy David scored seven and five points, respectively, while Paul Marandet, Ross Johnson and Evan Schmidt chipped in with four points each. In two wins over the weekend, the Tigers were able to showcase their depth. Warsaw is going to add to that depth this week, as 6-foot-4 senior forward Riley Rhoades is expected to return during Thursday’s game at Manchester. Rhoades, who was expected to be a starter, has missed the first four games after injuring his knee during the football season. “Now that we get Riley back, that’s going to help us even more,” said Ogle. “We gotta figure out how we’re going to work him back into things. Our bench play has been way better than what I had thought, that’s a credit to those guys, and now getting Riley back is going to help us.” This week will again feature consecutive nights of games for the Tigers, who will also play at Lake Central Friday night.
WARSAW 47, HUNTINGTON NORTH 30 HN 4 7 4 15 – 30 War 13 5 16 13 – 47 H. North – Luke Pulver 0-2 0-0 0, Konner Platt 1-7 0-0 2, Sam Daughtery 3-5 3-5 9, Granville Shultz 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Hollowell 4-9 1-2 12, Luke Stroud 0-3 0-0 0, Nolan Betterly 1-3 0-0 2, Chazz Bruce 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 11-33 5-9 30. Warsaw – Kyle Mangas 6-11 5-5 20, Paul Marandet 1-6 2-3 4, Jeremy David 2-2 1-2 5, Sam Miller 0-0 1-2 1, Jack Rhoades 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Sandoval 0-0 0-0 0, Ross Johnson 1-3 1-2 4, Jaceb Burish 2-3 3-5 7, Evan Schmidt 1-6 1-2 4, Braxton Minix 0-0 0-0 0, Asher Blum 0-0 0-0 2. Totals 13-31 16-23 47. Three-pointers – H. North 3 (Hollowell 3), Warsaw 5 (Mangas 3, Johnson, Schmidt); Rebounds – H. North 19 (Platt 5, Daughtery 5), Warsaw 27 (Mangas 6); Turnovers – H. North 9, Warsaw 7; Fouls – H. North 20, Warsaw 9; Fouled out – Hollowell, Bruce; Records: H. North 2-2, Warsaw 4-0 JV – Warsaw 41, H. North 36 Warsaw (3-1) – Zach Riley 12, Jack Grose 12, Asher Blum 10, Landen Ferber 5, Tristan Frye 1, Jack Rhoades 1
