For more than 20 years, Al Rhodes' Warsaw boys basketball teams dominated opponents that ventured into the Tiger Den.
Saturday night, Rhodes was with the opposition, and his Penn Kingsmen were outmatched against a Warsaw team that beat them 65-43."We were outplayed the whole night," said Rhodes, who won 405 games coaching the Tigers before stints at Logansport, Fort Wayne Northrop and now Penn, his high school alma mater. "They beat us with their outside play, and they beat us with their inside play. That made it difficult for us to win."
Improving to 6-0 on the season, Warsaw got 22 points, five rebounds and five assists from sophomore point guard Nic Moore and 20 points and 13 rebounds from junior forward Justin Clemens.
"Warsaw had balanced scoring," said Rhodes, who guided the Tigers to five Final Four appearances, including the 1984 state championship. "Too many people think balanced scoring is four or five guys scoring. Balance is when you can score inside and outside, and Warsaw did that."
The Tigers also got 10 points each from junior Andy Conrad and freshman Lucas Grose.
"People know about Nic Moore," said seventh-year Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, who worked under Rhodes for 17 years. "Justin Clemens has arrived on the landscape."
A night after scoring a career-high 25 points in a win over Rochester, the 6-foot-3 Clemens was a force inside against the Kingsmen, scoring 11 of Warsaw's 12 points in the second quarter.
The Tigers led 27-21 at halftime and then opened the third quarter with a 13-0 run.
"That was huge," Ogle said of his team's start to the second half. "We really got control of the game with the way we started the third quarter. We were already without Ryne Robinson, and then to lose Chase (Byerly), I didn't know how we'd respond. I thought both Lucas Grose and Zack Linky came in and did a nice job and gave us quality minutes."
Robinson was serving the second game of a suspension for violating team rules.
Byerly left Saturday's game in the first quarter after being elbowed in the face by Penn junior Jordan Brady.
The errant elbow left Byerly picking a few of his teeth off the Tiger Den floor, while Brady left the game with Blood running down his arm and onto the court.
Brady re-entered the game with heavy wrap on his elbow and with a new jersey, while Byerly paid a visit to the dentist before returning to the bench in street clothes in the second half.
"He got his two front teeth knocked out," Ogle said of Byerly. "He was picking his teeth up off the floor. I haven't had my two front teeth knocked out, but I know it wouldn't feel good."
To listen to Rhodes and Ogle talk after the game, nothing about Saturday's contest was a comfort zone.
"I don't ever like coaching against my friends," said Rhodes. "As much as I wasn't looking forward to this game, I will say I was touched by the support from the Warsaw fans."
Warsaw's fans gave Rhodes a standing ovation when he was introduced as Penn's coach, but the Tigers themselves weren't so hospitable to the Kingsmen.
Ogle was excited about another victory, but also glad the highly-anticipated contest was over.
"I felt uncomfortable all day," said Ogle. "Normally I look forward to the game, I didn't look forward to this one, I wanted to get it over."
A three-pointer by Penn senior Tommy Kurth cut Warsaw's lead to six, 44-38 in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers used another 13-0 run to finish off the Kingsmen.
"We battled hard and got back in it," said Rhodes, whose team fell to 3-1 on the season. "The kid never quit."
Rhodes said Warsaw more physical than his team, and that the Tigers gave him a road map of where the Kingsmen need to be.
Kurth led Penn with 17 points, while Chris Chaffee scored 12 points and Brady finished with six points.
The Tigers will be in action again Friday at Northern Lakes Conference rival Wawasee.
