With Wednesday night's game against Lafayette Jeff on the line, Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team won by getting to the line.
The host Tigers outscored the Bronchos 31-4 at the free throw line, cashing in at the charity stripe and pulling out a 74-63 win in the final game of the Tiger Holiday Hoops Classic."We haven't been shooting free throws that well," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team was 17 of 30 at the free throw line in a 71-58 win over Fort Wayne Blackhawk in Wednesday's first game. "Our goal was to shoot more than 24 free throws. Wow. Between Lucas Grose and Nic Moore, those guys were 21 of 24 at the free throw line. That was the difference in the game tonight."
In a back-and-forth battle that featured 16 lead changes and eight ties, Warsaw trailed 12-10 after the first quarter, 30-27 at halftime and 42-41 at the end of the third quarter.
Yes, the difference in Wednesday's 11-point win for the Tigers was the free throw line, where Warsaw was 31 of 36 (86 percent) and Lafayette Jeff was just 4 of 6.
Junior Nic Moore was 13 of 14 at the charity stripe for the Tigers, while sophomore Lucas Grose was 8 of 10.
Moore, who scored a game-high 31 points in the win over Blackhawk, nearly had a triple double against Lafayette Jeff, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
A number of Moore's assists went to Grose, who scored 26 of his career-high 28 points in the second half.
Grose, whose previous career high was 12 points against Wawasee on Dec. 18, finished the game 10 of 12 from the field and also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
"What a game for Lucas Grose," said Ogle. "He has improved so much since the fall (when practic started). It's almost unfathomable how much he's improved."
Sophomore Jordyn Coon added 12 points and seven rebounds in the win, while senior Justin Clemens chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds and senior Andy Conrad contributed five points and six rebounds.
"I thought all of our players played well, especially Lucas Grose and Nic Moore," said Ogle. "We did just enough of several little things to get the win. I was pleased with the way we played in the second half. We finally got more patient. When we were patient, we got good shots."
After a 9-of-25 effort (36 percent) from the field in the first half, Warsaw was a bit better in the second half, hitting 12 of 25 (48 percent) field goal attempts.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Tigers, who improved to 7-1, while the Bronchos fell to 5-4 with their third-straight loss.
"I thought this was a tremendous win for our team in the circumstance this being our second game today and it only being their first," said Ogle. "Our confidence continues to grow. We're getting better right before your eyes."
Because of a scheduling conflict, the four-team Tiger Holiday Hoops Classic wasn't played as traditional four-team tournament in which there were semifinal games and consolation and championship contests.
Instead, Warsaw and Blackhawk each played two games, while Garrett and Lafayette Jeff played one game each.
Blackhawk (5-3) defeated Garrett (2-6) in Wednesday's first evening contest.
Blackhawk's Russell Byrd, a Michigan State recruit, and Seth Kisler were named to the all-tournament team, as was Garrett's David Parsell.
Grose and Moore also picked up all-tournament honors, as did Lafaytte Jeff senior Jesse Berry, a University of Dayton recruit who scored a team-high 22 points.
Senior Roddy Richardson added 14 points for the Bronchos, while junior Nick Stacy chipped in with 11 points.
The Bronchos, who were outrebounded 49-27 by Warsaw, finished the game 24 of 67 (36 percent) from the field overall and 11 of 42 (26 percent) from three-point range.
"I'm really proud of our rebounding effort tonight," said Ogle. "Lafayette Jeff is a good team. For us to beat them straight up would a good thing, but for us to play two games in one day and beat them, I'm very proud of our players. We were tired and lethargic. We made some mental mistakes early, but we kept our composure."
Wednesday's game was just the second meeting between the two tradition-rich basketball programs.
The Bronchos won the only other meeting, beating the Tigers 71-58 in the morning game of the 1992 final four at the RCA Dome.
Warsaw will try to push its winning streak to six games Saturday when it plays in the Super Hoops Classic at Purdue's Mackey Arena.
The Tigers are scheduled to play Noblesville at 7:15 p.m.
"We're all looking forward to playing Noblesville at Mackey Arena," said Ogle. "They're a very good team. We're going to have to play our best game of the year to have a chance. We're looking forward to it."
WARSAW 74, LAFAYETTE JEFF 63
LJ 12 18 12 21 - 63
W 10 17 14 33 - 74
L. Jeff - R.J. Layton 0-0 0-0 0, Rashard Richardson 2-7 0-0 4, Courtney Waldon 0-4 0-0 0, Nick Stacey 5-15 0-0 13, Roddy Richardson 5-12 1-2 14, Colin Bultinck 3-6 0-0 8, Jesse Berry 8-20 2-4 22, Jason Washington 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 24-67 4-6 63.
Warsaw - Andy Conrad 2-5 1-2 5, Justin Clemens 2-6 4-4 8, Nic Moore 1-11 13-14 15, Jordyn Coon 4-9 3-4 12, Zack Linky 1-6 2-2 4, Lucas Grose 10-12 8-10 28, Jalen Roscoe 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-50 31-36 74.
Three-point goals - Jeff 11 (Stacey 3, Ro. Richardson 3, Berry 3, Bultinck 2), Warsaw 1 (Coon). Rebounds - Jeff 27 (Washington 7), Warsaw 49 (Grose 9, Moore 8). Turnovers - Jeff 12, Warsaw 18. Fouls - Jeff 25, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - Berry. Records: Jeff 5-4, Warsaw 7-1.
All-Tournament Team - Russell Byrd (Blackhawk), Seth Kisler (Blackhawk), Nic Moore (Warsaw), Lucas Grose (Warsaw), Jesse Berry (Jeff), David Parsell (Garrett).
Warsaw Beats F.W. Blackhawk
In the first varsity contest of the day, Nic Moore led the Warsaw Tigers past highly-touted senior guard Russell Byrd and the Fort Wayne Blackhawk Braves 71-58.
Moore, Warsaw's 5-foot-9 standout, scored 17 points in first half and finished with a game-high 31 points. He also made four steals, pulled down three rebounds and dished out three assists.
"Nic has been shooting the ball really well in practice," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "I wasn't surprised by his performance. He's really been shooting the ball well."
Senior Andy Conrad chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds for the Tigers, while sophomore Lucas Grose added eight points and seven rebounds.
Senior Justin Clemens and junior Joey Sparkman contributed six points each in the win, while sophomore Jordyn Coon added five points, five rebounds and four assists.
The 6-foot-7 Byrd, a Michigan State recruit, led the Braves with 28 points and six rebounds, while classmate Seth Kisler added 21 points and six rebounds.
"Byrd scored 28 points, but most of them came after the game had already been decided," said Ogle.
The rest of Blackhawk's roster accounted for nine points, four of which were scored by junior Connor Desmonds.
The host Tigers led 18-13 after one quarter of play and outscored the Braves 14-2 in the second quarter to take control of the game.
