Warsaw tops Concord 54-39, matching best start in school history at 14-0
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
DUNLAP – While Concord High School named a Winter Homecoming king and queen during halftime of Friday’s Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball game, it was the Warsaw Tigers who once again proved to be royalty. Led by the scoring punch of junior Kyle Mangas and senior Paul Marandet, as well as a stingy defensive effort from each player on the floor, the Class 4A No. 7 Tigers beat the host Minutemen 54-39 at McCuen Gym. Mangas scored a game-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds, while Marandet tallied 14 points, five assists and four steals. Junior Braxton Minix came off the bench to score eight points, all in the first half, as the Tigers led 26-15 at the break. “I liked how Kyle Mangas played tonight .... I liked how Paul Marandet played tonight ... (Braxton) Minix was pretty solid off the bench,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team improved to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in NLC play. “I thought we were solid tonight. To come in here and win a game ... and I told the players before the game, I’d like this to be not very stressful at the end, kinda looking ahead to (tonight’s) game, and we were able to do that. I’m really happy with how we played tonight. This was one of our better games.” Warsaw is 14-0 for just the second time in program history. The last time the Tigers were 14-0, the 1989-90 season, they went to McCuen Gym ranked No. 1 in the state and lost 98-67 to No. 4 Concord. The Minutemen never really threatened to pull off an upset Friday night. There were three ties in the game, all in the first quarter, at 3-3, 8-8 and 10-10. Concord held one lead in the contest, a 10-8 advantage. Warsaw scored the last six points of the opening frame, however, and went on to lead 26-15 at halftime and 41-25 at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers held Concord to 39 percent from the field and outrebounded the Minutemen 35-16. Of Warsaw’s 14 opponents this season, 10 of them have scored 40 points or fewer against the Tigers, who are giving up just 39 points per game. Warsaw is fourth in the state in fewest points allowed, tops among Class 4A teams. “I have been saying since last summer that we can be an elite defensive team because, really, all of our players can guard the ball,” said Ogle. “Evan Schmidt was solid defensively, he took a charge. Jeremy David took a charge. This game was good for us in terms of being able to muck up the lane and make it difficult for them to get in there, and when they did it was decent pressure. I thought we forced them into some difficult shots.” Concord was just 6 of 18 from three-point range and only 7 of 14 from the free throw line. Denzel Halliburton led the Minutemen with 11 points, while Cedric Mitchell chipped in with nine points and seven boards, and Brandon Emerick finished with six points and three steals. With the loss, Concord fell to 4-10 overall and 1-3 in the NLC. The Tigers are in action again tonight at Fort Wayne North, which improved to 6-8 with a win over Wayne Friday night. Much of the talk surrounding Warsaw, however, is the team’s matchup at Class 3A No. 3 NorthWood Friday. Following Friday’s 69-55 win over Goshen, NorthWood is 13-1 overall and 4-0 in the NLC. “That’s the one we’ve been waiting for, talking about, and I’m appreciative of the fact that through Round 4 (of the NLC) we’re unscathed,” Ogle said of the matchup with NorthWood.
