Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
FORT WAYNE -ÊStrong first and third quarters led the Warsaw Tigers boys basketball team to a 62-47 victory over Carroll (Allen) Friday night in Fort Wayne.
The win is the fifth in the row for the Tigers.
Although Scott Bushong hit the first basket of the game to give Carroll a 2-0 lead, Warsaw went on a 10-0 run to take a 10-2 advantage at the 4:46 mark in the first frame.
Ross Kesler was responsible for four of those 10 points.
"I thought that the start of the game was very good for us," said Warsaw coach Al Rhodes. "Kesler got off to a good start, but I have to give Carroll credit, they got him in foul trouble early."
But by the end of the quarter, Carroll had cut Warsaw's lead to five, 15-10.
Carroll got as close as two points in the second quarter when Luke Amstutz nailed a three-pointer with 5:34 left in the half to make the score 17-15, but as quickly as Carroll cut the deficit, Warsaw rebuilt it.
"We missed some rebounds and let them creep back in and make a game of it," said Rhodes.
Steve Siebenmorgen hit 1 of 2 free throws and Zach Nelson, who saw limited playing time due to an ankle sprain earlier in the week, netted a basket to restore the five-point lead.
The Tigers' lead fluctuated between two and six points through the rest of the second frame, but Chris Wiggins hit a three-pointer with just over two seconds left in the quarter to give Warsaw a seven-point advantage at the half, 31-24.
"Wiggins hit the three at the end of the quarter to stretch the lead to seven at the half," said Rhodes.
Wiggins and Siebenmorgen hit the first two field goals of the third quarter to give Warsaw it's first double-digit lead of the game at 35-24.
The Tigers went on to outscore the Chargers 17-12 in the third stanza to take a 48-36 lead into the final quarter of play.
In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Warsaw pummelled the Chargers, scoring 10 points to Carroll's two. Josh Buck, Paul Finnegan, Brad Seiss and Wiggins combined for three field goals and four free throws for the 10 points.
Three Tigers finished the night in double figures. Wiggins led the Warsaw scoring drive with 12 points and four rebounds. Siebenmorgen added 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while Josh Buck chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.
David Mahlen led the Chargers with 14 points, and Bushong added 12 points while pulling down 11 rebounds for Carroll.
Warsaw finished the game by outscoring Carroll 14-11 to earn the 62-47 win.
Warsaw is now 15-4 overall, while Carroll falls to 10-8 on the season. The Tigers will host Kokomo Friday.
"This has been a crazy year for us," said Rhodes. "It's been very interesting. This is the first game we have been able to play with our whole team. We are finally getting healthy.
"The team did a good job, they hustled and played well."
WARSAW 62, CARROLL 47
Warsaw 15 16 17 14 - 62
Carroll 10 14 12 11 - 47
Warsaw FG FT R S PTS.
*Siebenmorgen (C) 5-13 3-4 8 2 11
*Nelson (F) 3-7 0-0 4 0 6
*Wiggins (G) 4-7 2-2 4 2 12
*B. Seiss (G) 0-0 3-4 5 4 3
*Kesler (F) 3-5 0-0 2 0 6
Rhodes 1-2 0-2 2 0 2
Buck 5-6 0-0 3 0 10
Finnegan 2-4 0-0 2 1 4
Henthorn 2-2 2-2 0 0 6
Martin 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
G. Seiss 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Walmer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 25-47 10-14 29 9 62
Carroll FG FT R S Pts.
*Mahlen (G) 6-19 0-0 3 4 14
*Ogle (F) 1-5 0-0 1 0 2
*Miller (F) 1-10 4-4 4 0 7
*Bushong (C) 5-10 2-5 11 0 12
*Amstutz (G) 2-6 2-2 1 2 7
Auer 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Christman 1-1 1-1 2 0 3
Poston 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Striggle 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Conner 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 17-54 8-9 23 8 47
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 2-4 (Wiggins 2-3, Siebenmorgen 0-1), Carroll 4-17 (Mahlen 2-6, Ogle 0-2, Miller 1-3, Bushong 0-1, Amstutz 1-3, Poston 0-1, Striggle 0-1). Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 14, Carroll 13. Fouled out -ÊNone. Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 16, Carroll 12.
JV Score -ÊWARSAW 64, CARROLL 30
Warsaw scoring -ÊJohnson 8, C. Clay 8, G. Clay 12, Shaw 14, Foster 5, Bolesky 4, Datta 1, DeGeeter 4, Fussle 4, Knepper 4.
Carroll scoring -ÊLochmueller 9, Wynn 6, Popagiannis 7, Schortgen 1, Oxley 2, Weber 3, Myers 2.
