The Goshen Redskins kept themselves in the game with a barrage of threes. The Warsaw Tigers won it with No. 3 at the free throw line. In a Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball game Friday night, the host Tigers squandered a 13-point first-half lead but escaped with a 45-43 victory after junior Jared Bloom cashed in two charity tosses with one second remaining. Bloom missed a three-point attempt from the corner seconds earlier, but was fouled after rebounding his miss. "A shooter is supposed to follow his shot," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "(Jordyn) Coon found Bloom for a good look at a three, and then Bloom ends up with the rebound. I'm happy he made those free throws in a pressure situation like that." Bloom' heroics at the free throw line came nearly 10 years to the day after then-senior Jerad Shaw hit two free throws in the closing seconds to lift Warsaw over Goshen 50-49. With Friday's win, the Tigers improved to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the NLC with their eighth straight win. The Redskins, who made 10 of 18 three-point attempts, fell to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play with their fourth straight loss. "Defensively, we just weren't with it in terms of knowing where (Austin) Henke was, first of all," said Ogle. "I credit Goshen for having a good gameplan and executing it. Henke had a heck of a game." Henke, a 5-foot-8 junior, made six three-pointers and led the Redskins with a game-high 20 points. He made a trio of treys in the second quarter as Goshen closed the half with a 12-2 run that turned a 26-13 hole into a 28-25 deficit. Henke scored all six of the Redskins' points in the fourth quarter, all from the arc. Goshen led 40-36 early in the final frame, but a 7-0 run that included a bucket from senior Jordyn Coon and an old-fashioned three-point play and a pair of free throws from senior Lucas Grose gave the Tigers a three-point lead with 48 seconds remaining. Henke tied the game with a trey with 23 seconds to play. "A game like this makes you realize you didn't play well, but you made plays when you had to," said Ogle. Warsaw has won 21 of its last 22 conference games, and has come out on top in 15 of its last 17 meetings with Goshen. Grose led the Tigers with 12 points, while Bloom added 10. Coon and fellow senior Rhett Kesler scored six points each, while classmate Jay Holladay finished with five points. Louis Kissinger added 11 points for the Redskins, while Warren Kay and Jesse Good chipped in with five points each. The Tigers are still in a two-way tie for the conference lead with Class 4A No. 7 Elkhart Memorial, which survived an unexpected scare from a short-handed Wawasee team Friday night. Warsaw and Memorial are 3-0, while Plymouth is 2-1, Concord, Goshen, Northridge and NorthWood are all 1-2 and Wawasee is 0-3. The Tigers, in search of their third straight conference championship, host Culver Military Academy tonight, and then return to NLC action Friday with a trip to Concord.
WARSAW 45, GOSHEN 43 G 13 12 12 6 – 43 W 16 12 8 9 – 45 Goshen – Austin Henke 7-14 0-0 20, Sam Stegelmann 1-7 0-0 2, Warren Kay 2-5 0-0 5, Cristian Barron 0-0 0-0 0, Jesse Good 2-4 0-0 5, Louis Kissinger 3-7 3-3 11, Isaac Huerta de la Vega 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Gill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-37 3-3 43. Warsaw – Brock Anson 1-1 0-0 2, Jared Bloom 3-6 2-2 10, Jordyn Coon 3-7 0-0 6, Rhett Kesler 2-3 1-1 6, Lucas Grose 4-5 4-5 12, Kevin West 0-1 0-0 0, Jay Holladay 2-3 0-0 5, Taylor Cone 2-3 1-2 5, Jordan Stookey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-29 7-9 45. Three-pointers – Goshen 10 (Henke 6, Kissinger 2, Kay, Good), Warsaw 4 (Bloom 3, Kesler, Holladay); Rebounds – Goshen 15 (Kissinger 4), Warsaw 19 (Coon 6); Turnovers – Goshen 10, Warsaw 13; Fouls – Goshen 13, Warsaw 13; Fouled out – Stegelmann; Records: Goshen 5-6 (1-2 NLC), Warsaw 10-1 (3-0 NLC) JV - Warsaw 37, Goshen 33 Warsaw – Darren Walcott 8, Rashaan Jackson 8, Jake Mangas 6, Jason Ferguson 4, John Swanson 3, Peyton Long 3, Nate Pearl 3, Michael Miller 2
