A blowout win was something the Warsaw Tigers needed Friday, and that's what they got.
Improving to 10-1 on the year, and 3-1 in the Northern Lakes Confer-ence, the Tigers defeated the Concord Minutemen 77-63 at the Tiger Den.
The convincing victory was a welcome sign to a team that began the season 8-0 before losing to Northridge on Jan. 9 and needing an overtime period to dispose of the Goshen Redskins on Jan. 17.
"I think it is a confidence boost for us," Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said. "It's been a while since we've had a game where we've been that productive offensively, and shot that well. It was the type of game we needed."
Warsaw's top shooter was senior Ryne Robinson, who connected on 9 of 14 shots, including 8 for 8 from the free-throw line, on his way to a career-high 31 points.
"We did a good job of finding him," Ogle said about Robinson. "When he gets on a roll, he's a scoring machine."
Warsaw also got 13 points from sophomore Nic Moore, 12 from senior Taylor Long and another 10 out of junior Justin Clemens, forcing Con-cord's defense to pick its poison.
"They shot well," Concord assistant coach Chris Swartout said. "Sometimes, we were out of position, so we just have to play better defense."
Swartout coached the Minutemen in their latest game, as head coach Steve Austin didn't make the trip to Warsaw after his father passed away earlier in the day.
"I called them in the locker room earlier (at Concord), and they were shocked," Swartout said of breaking the news to the team about Austin's loss. "I just wanted to tell them, to try to get their focus on the game. We said a prayer (at Concord) and said a prayer here for him. Our thoughts were definitely with him tonight. He was missed."
With their minds on Austin, Concord came out firing on all cylinders. In fact, both teams did.
Through the first four minutes, neither team missed a bucket, resulting in an 11-9 Warsaw lead with 5:22 to play.
Concord finally succumbed when senior David House missed a shot in the lane at the 5:04 mark. Warsaw then gave in as a Clemens' jumper didn't make it through the net at the 4:30 mark, and his team up 14-12.
Battling back-and-forth through the first quarter, Concord sophomore Coby Eldridge converted an old-fashioned three-point play to open the second quarter, cutting the Warsaw lead to 23-22.
From there, Warsaw responded with a 10-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes, culminating with a Moore three-pointer, giving the Tigers a 33-22 advantage with 5:19 remaining in the first half.
"We're a team, that when we're patient enough to get shots, then we're going to be very efficient," Ogle said. "Northridge pointed out to us what happens when you're not patient enough and start shooting too many three-pointers. Since then, we've done much better at attacking the basket."
Helping Warsaw extend its lead through the first half was Concord being whistled for 17 fouls, resulting in the home team reaching the double-bonus with 6:36 left in the half.
"We're just becoming more patient on offense, and it's paying big dividends," Ogle said. "We're getting to the free-throw line a lot more than we were previously. Tonight, we shot 19 free throws in the first half. That's where we need to be."
Ogle may have enjoyed the fouls, but the Minutemen may not have felt the same.
"There's going to be some calls, that you don't think are the right call, but you have to deal with them," Swartout said. "That was one of the things we talked about when we talked about playing down in this place, which is a tough place to play. You have to play with poise. No matter what happens, you have to keep your poise."
Concord lost that poise, which was showcased in a third-quarter technical foul, and ended up losing the game too, leaving the Minutemen with a 5-5 record, 1-2 in the NLC.
Warsaw takes on its fourth-straight conference opponent Friday when the NorthWood Panthers visit the Tiger Den for a 6:15 p.m. junior varsity tip-off.
