Tigers Take 10-Point Road WinST. JOHN – After a long road trip, the Warsaw Tigers boys basketball team defeated the Lake Central Indians 71-61 in non-conference play.
The Tigers shot 59% from the field and 57% from three-point land, led by Blake Marsh (10-of-13 for 24 points) and Wyatt Amiss (six-of-eight for 19 points, including five-of-seven from deep).
The Tigers opened up the game at a blistering pace. They missed only a handful of shots in the first quarter, hitting six of their first seven shots from beyond the arc en route to a 23-14 lead.
Lake Central’s Nick Anderson and Nate Oakley kept their team in the game during the opening period, scoring six and four points, respectively, without missing a shot.
Warsaw cooled slightly in the second quarter, but Marsh’s barrage of midrange jumpers allowed Warsaw to take a 35-29 lead into the half.
Although Warsaw’s defense stifled Lake Central for much of the second, 10 made free throws during the quarter allowed the home team to stay competitive.
One thing Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle was not satisfied with was his team’s defensive efficiency.
“At halftime, we spoke about coming into the second half and playing tougher,” he said. “We were scoring really well in the first half, but we could never break away because of the defense. (Lake Central’s Nick) Anderson kept them in the game by himself.”
Anderson had 37 of his team’s 61 points, hitting 10-of-10 free throws and 12 of his 21 shots overall.
After a back-and-forth third quarter, they found themselves with a five-point lead heading into the fourth.
Fortunately for the visitors, Warsaw stayed in control for the entire final quarter. At one point, Lake Central seemed to have momentum and was only down four points, but a press-breaking cherry pick for a layup by Marsh seemingly gave Warsaw the push it needed to pull away.
“That big play by Marsh was huge,” said Ogle. “That layup to extend the lead was where we broke through.”
The offense gave up only one turnover over the last several minutes of the game, using free throws to push their lead to 10; it would remain so until the end of the game.
Ogle said that he was proud of his team’s poise in the game.
“There were multiple times where we could have lost a little bit of control, but we never did,” he said. “This was a good win. It always feels good to come away with a win like that, against a good team, after a long road trip.”
Ogle added his primary complaint with his team’s performance was foul trouble for multiple players. The Tigers committed 17 fouls, giving Lake Central 23 shots at the line while only managing 18 themselves.
