Tigers Too Much For MinutemenWith a dominant first-half performance Friday night, the Warsaw Tigers crushed Concord and extended their Northern Lakes Conference win streak to 18 games. Warsaw, playing in the Tiger Den for the first time in two weeks, led 36-16 at halftime and cruised to a 65-48 victory that was definitely more lopsided than the final score. The Minutemen, who fell to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the NLC, scored 22 of their 48 points in the fourth quarter – long after the outcome had become evident. Warsaw improved to 11-4 this season with its fifth straight win and set up a showdown in the Tiger Den Friday with Class 3A No. 1 NorthWood. The Panthers, coached by longtime Warsaw assistant Aaron Wolfe, edged Goshen 51-50 Friday night and improved to 13-0, and like the Tigers are 4-0 in the NLC. “I thought our first half was really strong in every way,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “We didn’t really practice pressing this week like we did against Goshen (last week), but we decided at the last minute to start in it, matter of fact it was a deadball. The press got us started, and (Concord) struggled with it. “Our players were glad to be back in the Tiger Den. It just felt good to be back here. We had a really good practice on Wednesday, and I was gonna be pretty surprised if we didn’t play well.” The Tigers, who led by as many as 28 points early in the fourth quarter, never trailed in the game and there were no ties. While Warsaw was the epitome of team basketball, dishing out 15 assists on 22 made baskets, Concord struggled handling the ball. The Minutemen committed 20 turnovers in the loss, and the Tigers turned those miscues into 28 points. Warsaw also outrebounded Concord 28-16, including a 13-3 advantage on the offensive glass that led to 14 second-chance points for the Tigers. “The turnovers killed us,” said Concord coach Steve Austin. “It’s been the same M.O. for us. We can be a really good team if we wanna be, but we don’t play together and we don’t play for each other. When we do that against good teams like Warsaw, it shows. I mean, we make silly turnovers ... players that shouldn’t be making turnovers. “Warsaw is so well-organized and they execute so well that if you make one mistake on defense they’re going to take advantage of it, it doesn’t matter who. (Kyle Mangas) is a great player, but then he also passes the ball, and they see each other very well. “In the first half it just got out of hand. I thought we had a great gameplan, but sometimes we’re not smart enough to figure out where we’re supposed to be, and that has killed us with this senior group. They’re great kids, I love ‘em to death, but at this point we’ve just got to get better within the game of basketball.” Senior standout and Indiana All-Star hopeful Kyle Mangas scored a game-high 21 points for Warsaw, to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steels. The 6-foot-3 Mangas was 6 of 8 from the field for 15 points in the first half, including a fastbreak dunk early in the first quarter that brought the home crowd to its feet. Senior Braxton Minix tallied 10 points and six boards, while classmates Jeremy David and Jaceb Burish chipped in with seven points each. David added five rebounds, an assist and a steal to his statline. Senior Sam Miller and junior Asher Blum scored five points each, as the Tigers improved their lead in the overall series with Concord to 45-20. Brandon Emerick led the Minutemen with 16 points, while Nathan Hermon scored 10 points – all in the fourth quarter. Warsaw is in action again tonight with a game at Crown Point that was postponed on Dec. 17 because of the weather. “Saturday night is a chance to play against a team that is a regional-level opponent,” said Ogle. “When I say that, I mean a team that can win the sectional. It’s nice to play them again after we played them in the regional final last year. They’re good, so it’ll be a good test for us to see how we can do. “If we can get through this stretch ... if we can go over there and win, which we’ll have to play really well, but we can do it. To get through this stretch of five games in nine days, and cap it off with a win at Crown Point would be pretty good. We would be happy with that.”
