Warsaw improves to 13-0 with 47-38 win over Marian
Posted
Mark Howe-mhowe@timesuniononline.com
Team defense was the star of the game in No. 7 (Class 4A) Warsaw’s 47-38 overtime win over No. 5 (3A) Mishawaka Marian at the Tiger Den Tuesday night. Other than Warsaw’s 18-point first quarter, it was hard for either team to get shots all night long. Evan Schmidt got Warsaw on the board with an early three, but he didn’t crack the scorebook the rest of the night. Kyle Mangas had nine of his game-high 20 points in the opening eight minutes. What followed was what Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle said “had to be” Warsaw’s worst quarter of the season. In the second period the Tigers were held to one field goal and four Mangas free throws. Still, Warsaw led 24-21 at halftime. The home team managed but 12 points in the second half, then found the range in the four-minute overtime, scoring 11 points and shutting out Marian until the final second of the extra time. The overtime began with Schmidt finding Jeremy David on the low block with a lob pass that was just out of reach of Marian’s R.J. Decker, and David converted a short jumper. Then on the next trip Warsaw forced a turnover and Mangas hit a three on the fast break. “Marian’s zone defense is really good, and our defense was really good tonight as well. So both teams’ defenses were better than the other teams’ offense, so you get a low-scoring game,” Ogle said. “We shot 50 percent from the field, but we didn’t get enough shots. “I couldn’t believe we were up three playing like we did in the second quarter, as bad as we were in the second quarter. Sometimes you have a game where things aren’t clicking. It wasn’t our rebounding; we didn’t do anything special and got outrebounded. Paul Marandet had a rough night handling the ball, but Kyle Mangas made that three. The pass Evan Schmidt made in to Jeremy David at the beginning of overtime for the ‘and one’ that’s a heck of a play by both of them, then Kyle makes his three in transition. “Credit Marian’s defense. For an undersized team, they’re very difficult to function against in the basket area. We missed a lot of shots that either got blocked or we just couldn’t finish against a team that’s not really that big, but man, they’re quick and they’re physical.” Marian’s Jair Rodgers kept the game going with two key three-pointers, the first out of a timeout that cut the Warsaw lead to three midway through the fourth quarter, then a long three from the right corner on a follow shot off his own miss that tied the contest with 40 seconds left. Mangas tried to win it in regulation, but his driving shot down the lane bounced twice off the iron before falling away. “We held (Rodgers) under control. He’s averaging 20, but he got those two threes late, the one at the top (of the key) and then the one from the corner that tied it.” For an undefeated team playing a ranked two-loss squad in a non-conference game, Ogle said he felt his team played less-than-inspired basketball. “We did seem flat emotionally in the first half. But we’re playing an 11-2 team that’s really good. That, to me, should be enough,” he said. Rodgers finished with 13 points on the night for Marian, and Jake Whitfield had 11 for the Knights. Marandet had nine points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Tigers, and David was 3 of 3 from the field and scored seven points. It was Warsaw’s third overtime game this season. The 13-0 Tigers travel to Dunlap to take on Concord in a Northern Lakes Conference contest Friday night. With a win, Warsaw will match the best start to a season in school history.
WARSAW 47, MARIAN 38, OT M 10 11 9 6 2 – 38 W 18 6 8 4 11 – 47 Marian – Jake Whitfield 4-10 2-2 11, Michael Hemingway 1-7 2-2 4, Anthony Blum 2-4 1-3 5, Zach Lattimer 1-4 0-0 3, Jair Rodgers 4-13 2-2 13, Matt Bernard 0-0 0-0 0, R.J. Decker 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 13-40 7-9 38. Warsaw – Kyle Mangas 6-15 6-6 20, Paul Marandet 3-6 3-4 9, Riley Rhoades 1-2 2-2 4, Jeremy David 3-3 1-1 7, Ross Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Burish 0-0 0-0 0, Evan Schmidt 1-3 0-0 3, Braxton Minix 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 16-32 12-13 47. Three-pointers – Marian 5 (Rodgers 3, Lattimer, Whitfield), Warsaw 3 (Mangas 2, Schmidt); Rebounds – Marian 19 (Whitfield 3, Hemingway 3, Decker 3), Warsaw 26 (Marandet 7); Turnovers – Marian 9, Warsaw 13; Fouls – Marian 17, Warsaw 8; Fouled out – Rodgers; Records: Marian 11-3, Warsaw 13-0 JV – Warsaw 46, Marian 34 Warsaw – Jack Rhoades 11, Asher Blum 10, Landen Ferber 8, Zach Riley 7, Shane Powers 4, Kyle Skeans 4, Tristan Frye 2
