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HUNTERTOWN - Rob Irwin may coach Carroll's boys basketball team, but he is all too familiar with Warsaw's program.
Irwin and his family live in Warsaw, but each day he drives 45 minutes each way to the school located outside of Ft. Wayne. "And I'm not about to move," Irwin said. "My friends are in Warsaw."
Irwin knows Warsaw's tradition, and he also knows his team, which lost 64-37 to the Tigers, is not the first or the last to be dismantled by the Tigers.
Carroll (11-9) may have played four players between 6-foot-4 and 6-6, but Warsaw (17-3, No. 10 4A) won the game by dominating inside, offensively and defensively. Three of those Carroll players - 6-5 Matt Ogle, 6-6 Scott Bushong and 6-6 Gabe Miller - are sophomores, all as of now scrawny lads who top out at 195 pounds.
Warsaw 6-foot-5 junior Steve Siebenmorgen scored 24 on 9-of-10 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. Junior guard Chris Wiggins added 17 points and seven rebounds.
Chatting in his office earlier in the week, Warsaw coach Al Rhodes focused specifically on two players: Siebenmorgen and Wiggins.
Siebenmorgen's production had fallen off recently, including only four points in the last game, a 73-64 loss to Huntington North. Rhodes talked with Siebenmorgen and guaranteed Tuesday whatever obstacles were in his way had been removed and he would have a big game against Carroll. As for Wiggins, Rhodes said, "it was scary" how good he was in practice.
"Steve had two off games where I think he was trying too hard," Rhodes said.
Defensively, Warsaw's one goal was to contain Sam Gensic, Carroll's main scoring threat at 16 points per game. They kept him below his average, as he finished with 12 on 5-of-13 shooting.
"We wanted to make Sam earn everything he got," Rhodes said. "Ross Kesler and Jason Barrett did that."
Said Irwin: "Gensic didn't get any looks, but we expected that to happen going up against coach Rhodes."
After the game, Irwin looked much more relaxed on his couch in the coach's office than he did just minutes before on the bench on the court.
"Warsaw is pretty dang good," he said. "They gave us a lesson on how to get the ball into the post."
Warsaw shot 61 percent from the field, making 25 of 41 field goals. Of the 25 field goals, 18 came in the paint. Carroll shot 27 percent from the field, hitting just 12 of 44 field goals. Warsaw mixed and matched defenses, playing zone and playing man-to-man, all the while making sure Gensic could not find openings. The Tigers outrebounded Carroll 32-12.
Watching the game from the top row in Carroll's crackerbox gym was DeKalb coach Cliff Hawkins, scouting in case his Barons would meet Warsaw in the regional. Asked if Carroll's offense always scuffled this bad, he said: "Not like this. Warsaw's defense is just so good."
Dealing with widebodies Siebenmorgen and 6-6 center Zach Nelson did his team in, Irwin said. Siebenmorgen weighs 215 pounds, Nelson 230 pounds.
"The number one thing with Warsaw is, they are physically bigger than us, plus they throw so many guys at you," Irwin said. "By the second quarter, we were physically worn out."
Said Rhodes: "Our interior defense was very aggressive. We just had a strong performance inside. We had good feeds to get the ball inside. That starts with point guard Rob Kesler. Siebenmorgen and Nelson controlled the boards."
Offensively, Wiggins carried Warsaw in the first half, while Siebenmorgen took care of the second half. Wiggins scored 14 of his 17 in the first half, while Siebenmorgen scored 14 in the second half.
The Tigers settled on an 11-6 lead after one quarter, but Wiggins opened the second quarter with two three-pointers. His two baskets triggered a 16-5 run that put Warsaw ahead 27-11 with 1:12 left in the first half.
Carroll answered with its one and only run at the Tigers, scoring five unanswered to slice the lead to 27-16 with 44 seconds to go in the half. But Siebenmorgen answered for the Tigers. With four seconds left before halftime, he retrieved a rebound after a Wiggins miss, put it back in and drew a foul. He converted the three-point play to give the Tigers a comfortable 30-16 halftime lead.
They led by 14 or more the rest of the way.
"I thought we had some looks, but we just didn't shoot the ball well," Irwin said. "Our confidence got down, and Siebenmorgen and Wiggins took over."
Only last Friday Warsaw lost at Huntington North. Two things concerned Rhodes about the loss: One, his defense couldn't contain either one of Huntington's stars, Ricky Hall or Sean Kline. Two, Huntington North disrupted Warsaw's timing on offense.
By beating a Carroll team with 11 wins on the road by 27, Rhodes feels much better about entering the tournament. The timing was back - witness 61 percent shooting - and the Tigers kept the other team's big gun under wraps.
"Our effort tonight demonstrated we have lost any negative baggage," Rhodes said. "This may have not been one of their better games, but we went after Carroll."
This is the first year Carroll and Warsaw have faced - Carroll replaced Indianapolis North Central - and while Irwin may not have liked the result, he was still glad his team added the Tigers to the schedule.
"We are a growing school," he said. "We have to get to that next level so when teams like Warsaw come in, we're used to it. This is the first year where we have started to play perennial powerhouses.
"I hate to see what Warsaw will be like next year. They lose what, one starter (Rob Kesler), and their JV team is the best I've seen all year."
WARSAW 64
CARROLL 37
Warsaw (17-3) 11 19 14 20 - 64
Carroll (11-9) 6 10 10 11 - 37
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Siebenmorgen (F) 9-10 5-5 1 1 9 24
Wiggins (G) 7-13 0-0 0 2 7 17
Nelson (C) 2-4 3-4 2 0 7 7
Rs. Kesler (G) 3-3 0-0 1 1 1 6
Rb. Kesler (G) 0-2 2-2 5 0 4 2
Seiss 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 4
Henthorn 1-2 0-0 1 0 0 2
Compson 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Barrett 0-1 0-0 3 1 0 0
Donkers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Grossnickle 0-0 0-0 5 1 0 0
Rhodes 0-0 0-1 1 0 2 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0
Totals 25-39 10-12 20 7 34 64
Carroll FG FT A S R Pts.
S. Gensic (G) 5-13 0-0 3 3 1 12
Maifield (F) 1-3 5-6 0 3 1 7
Miller (C) 2-8 0-0 1 0 3 4
Amstutz (G) 1-7 1-1 2 1 0 3
Bushong (F) 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Ogle 3-6 0-1 0 0 3 7
Mahlan 1-4 0-0 0 0 2 2
Shippy 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
P. Gensic 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
Conner 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Poston 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Wynn 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Auer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 12-44 8-12 6 7 12 37
Three-point goals - Warsaw 4-7 (Wiggins 3-6, Siebenmorgen 1-1), Carroll 3-14 (S. Gensic 2-6, Ogle 1-3, Amstutz 0-2, Maifield 0-1, Miller 0-1, Mahlan 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 18, Carroll 11. Total fouls - Warsaw 15, Carroll 16. Fouled out -ÊNone.
Officials - Bob Plummer, Jim Mettler.
JV: WARSAW 51, CARROLL 37
Warsaw (19-1) scoring - Brooks Stogsdill 13, Brad Seiss 13, Josh Buck 9, Paul Finnegan 8, Trent Martin 3, Matt Payton 2, Jared Scrafton 2, Jon Dock 1.
Carroll (13-7) scoring - Paul Gensic 10, John Conner 6, Troy Striggle 5, Kent Christman 4, Zach Weber 4, Tim King 3, Andy Popagiannis 2, Kyle Wynn 2, Eric Shippy 1.
