Warsaw’s varsity boys basketball team built a big lead, fell behind, then came back for a 55-54 win Tuesday night. Hosting South Bend Clay (12-7), the Tigers (10-8) used a strong defense to take a 27-17 halftime lead, but after Clay made 5 of 6 treys in the third quarter, things turned around for the Colonials. “We were getting the ball pushed up the floor better,” Clay coach Joe Huppenthal said about the turnaround. “It created open looks. In the first half, we didn’t have open looks. We also weren’t very patient in the first half.” Getting outscored 24-10 in the third quarter, Warsaw found itself behind 45-37 with seven minutes remaining. Instead of wondering what went wrong, the Tigers rallied, ending with senior Jared Bloom hitting 1 of 2 free throws with 4.3 seconds left in the game “I was proud of how we did not give up when we got down,” Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said. “We just, kind of survived that one,” he added. Warsaw was able to survive thanks to balance throughout the lineup, led by junior Jordan Stookey. In Warsaw’s previous game, Stookey suffered a wrist injury at Plymouth Thursday, which resulted in him going to the hospital for X-rays. Cleared to play, Stookey took to the court with a wrap around his shooting wrist, but still led Warsaw with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting. “Stookey just keeps playing and that’s a good thing,” Ogle said. During the fourth-quarter comeback, Stookey went 2 of 2 from the field and 2 of 2 at the free throw line, while also posting three rebounds and an assist. In all, Stookey had a team-high six rebounds, five assists and two steals to go with his team-high 14 points. Also for Warsaw, Bloom had 10 points and five assists, senior Taylor Cone posted 10 points and five boards and senior John Swanson finished with eight points. The balanced attack helped the Tigers get a needed win, as they had lost four of their previous five games and have a trip to Fort Wayne Bishop Luers coming Friday. “It’s nice to win this one,” Ogle said. “It gives us a little boost – emotionally. Especially to come back like we did.” And while he liked the comeback, Ogle does wish it wasn’t necessary. “We only had five turnovers in the first half, then we have 13 in the second half,” he said. “I was disappointed with our ball handling in the second half, and it was a lot of guys. If we don’t get that fixed, we have no chance to win the sectional.” In fairness to the Warsaw players, Clay did play with a great sense of urgency in the third quarter. That quarter could only leave Huppenthal wondering what may have been if his guys weren’t in a daze the opening half. “There was no energy, emotion or enthusiasm,” Huppenthal said about his team’s first half, when it scored 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting. “We talked about it at halftime and got it corrected in the second half.”
