A battle of one-loss teams turned into a 27-point blowout Saturday night, as the Class 4A No. 6 Warsaw Tigers beat the visiting Fort Wayne Northrop Bruins 72-45 in boys basketball action.
Improving to 9-1 on the season, the Tigers outscored the Bruins 36-16 in the first and fourth quarters combined and finished the game with a 36-23 advantage on the boards.Northrop fell to 8-2 on the season.
"Our confidence level continues to grow," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team beat Northridge 56-28 the night before. "Our guys were ready to go. I thought we played well."
Mr. Basketball hopeful Nic Moore led the way with a game-high 30 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Lucas Grose added 12 points and seven rebounds in the win, while Clay Anderson scored eight points, Jared Bloom chipped in with seven points, Jay Holladay finished with six points and Jordyn Coon tossed in five points.
"Nic does a great job scoring," said Ogle. "Tonight we had better offensive balance, and that balance is big for us. Between Jared Bloom and Jay Holladay, they were 4 of 5 from three-point range. That extra outside shooting is big."
Bloom's seven-point performance came in the sophomore's first varsity start.
For Northrop, sophomore twins Brenton and Bryson Scott scored 18 and 10 points, respectively.
Both Scotts were whistled for two fouls in the first two minutes of the game.
Bryson Scott, who has already made a verbal committment to Purdue coach Matt Painter, who was in attendance Saturday night at the Tiger Den, was whistled for three fouls in the first quarter and spent more than half the game on the bench.
As a team, the Bruins were whistled for 27 fouls in the 27-point loss. Both Jason Jordan, who scored seven points, and Bryson Scott fouled out of the contest.
The Tigers, who were whistled for 20 fouls, took advatage of the situation and converted 26 of 35 free throw attempts.
While Moore was 14 of 16 at the charity stripe, Northrop was 10 of 17 as a team.
The Tigers led 18-9 after the first quarter, 33-23 at halftime and 54-38 going into the fourth quarter.
Saturday's game marked the second time this season that Warsaw has had its way with a Summit Athletic Conference team that featured a Purdue University recruit.
On Dec. 3, the Tigers beat Fort Wayne South 90-72, as Moore scored 50 points and outplayed 6-foot-6 standout Raphael Davis.
Warsaw will be in action again Tuesday when it plays Elkhart Central at North Side Gym. It will be the Tigers' third game in five days.
"It's like an NBA schedule," Ogle joked about his team's schedule, which also features a game at conference foe Goshen Friday, meaning the Tigers will have played four games in seven days. "Instead of a lot of practices, we're playing games."
WARSAW 72, NORTHROP 45
N 9 14 15 7 - 45
W 18 15 21 18 - 72
Northrop - Brenton Scott 5-16 4-6 18, Jourdan Love 0-1 2-2 2, Jason Jordan 2-8 2-2 7, Josh St. Clair 0-0 0-0 0, Dominck Hougue 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Scott 5-12 0-2 10, Chris Cammack 1-3 1-2 3, Sam Mikobi 1-1 0-0 2, Spencer Cowherd 0-0 0-0 0, Jacoby Claypool 0-1 0-0 0, Daeronne Halcrombe 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett Snyder 1-1 0-0 2, R.J. Edwards 0-0 1-1 1. Totals 15-43 10-17 45.
Warsaw - Brock Anson 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Bloom 2-4 1-2 7, Joey Sparkman 0-1 0-0 0, Brock Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Nic Moore 7-19 14-16 30, Christopher O'Hara 0-0 0-0 0, Jordyn Coon 1-5 3-6 5, Rhett Kesler 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Grose 3-5 6-7 12, Jay Holladay 2-2 0-0 6, Jalen Roscoe 0-1 2-4 2, Travis Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Clay Anderson 4-4 0-0 8. Totals 20-43 26-35 72.
