FORT WAYNE — The Homestead Spartans started as strong as they finished in a 75-62 home win over Warsaw Friday night. “We came out with a lot of energy,” Homestead coach Chris Johnson said. “In the first quarter it showed. We hit a lot of shots, and that helps. Anytime you can hit shots, you’re going to look pretty good. Anything we were throwing up there was going in.” That is indeed what seemed to be happening. Making their first nine field goals, including four three-pointers, the Spartans (2-1) held a 23-6 lead over the Tigers (1-2) before they committed a turnover with 3:48 left in the first quarter. That turnover was the first time Homestead didn’t score on a possession and built its lead to 25-6 with 3:23 remaining in the quarter. Luckily for Warsaw, senior Jared Bloom began to heat up, scoring eight-straight points to cut a 27-9 Homestead lead to a more manageable 27-17 mark with 33 seconds left in the quarter. With Bloom heating up and Homestead cooling down, Warsaw clawed its way back into the contest. “I thought the Warsaw kids hung in there, played extremely hard and continued to stay in the game,” Johnson said. With his team leading 43-33 at the half, Johnson was happy with the lead, but unhappy with the 19 points Bloom scored in the first 16 minutes, making five of the six three-point attempts he took. “He’s a very good player, and for some reason, we lost him,” he said. “I don’t understand how we lose him and (Warsaw junior Jordan) Stookey.” The defense on Bloom improved in the second half, as he made just 2 of 10 shots, finishing the game with 24 points. According to Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, it wasn’t the Homestead defense that took away Bloom, it was the Warsaw offense. “It was just our own impatience and not taking the time to find him,” Ogle said. Despite Bloom being limited in the second half, Warsaw stayed within striking distance, cutting the lead to 54-51 early in the fourth quarter. But just when the Tigers got within one possession, Homestead’s shifty senior point guard Nick Gamble sank a three-pointer, then tracked down a missed three-pointer from Bloom and took it to the rack for a layup. In just 17 seconds, Homestead was back on top 59-51. “Each time we got back into the game, there were too many instances where our players were not solid enough in their decisions,” Ogle said. After a Bloom three-pointer and a pair of free throws from senior Taylor Cone, the Tigers were back within 65-62 with 2:34 remaining, but then Homestead’s talent took over. Up three, Gamble missed a layup in the lane, but 6-foot-7, 285-pound freshman Caleb Swanigan was there for the tip in, recording one of his 18 rebounds and scoring two of his 18 points. “He’s going to be someone to reckon with,” Johnson said of the big man, who had nine fourth-quarter rebounds. “He has great footwork, great hands. He’s going to keep on learning the game. Being 14, 15 years old, being able to do what he can do with the big boys at the varsity level – I’m very proud of him.” The putback bucket ignited a 10-0 run by the Spartans, which included six points from Gamble as well as an assist and a steal. “He really took over the game when we needed him tonight,” Johnson said of Gamble, who scored 15 in the final quarter and had a 21 in the game, as well as six assists and three steals. Homestead’s 10-0 run to close the game actually only took a minute and 24 seconds, as the Spartans were able to dribble out the last 30 seconds of the game. “We outscored them in the middle quarters,” Ogle said of his team, which did outscore Homestead 31-24 in the second and third quarters. “Then, just became unpoised. I know we have an inexperienced team, but we have got to learn from this fourth quarter. The next time we get a chance, we have to be more poised. We can’t do whatever the heck we feel like.” Warsaw’s next time on the court is tonight at Huntington North, which is coached by former Whitko coach Rob Irwin. Going into that game, Ogle is hoping his team’s latest loss can serve as a teaching tool on what to do in crunch time. “I take away from (the loss) that we can be a good basketball team, but we are not going to be if Bloom and Stookey are not more patient,” Ogle said. “The loss is not on those two guys, it’s on everybody, but they’re our primary ball handlers. We just took too many bad shots and rushed too many plays in the fourth quarter when we had every chance to get back in it.” Stookey finished the game with 12 points and six assists, while Cone was strong with a 13-point, seven-rebound effort.
