Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
After Warsaw's boys basketball team trailed nearly the entire game and had to play cat-and-mouse much of the fourth quarter to post a win over Plymouth Friday night, surely Al Rhodes was concerned about how his team would respond in Saturday's home game with Gary Wallace, a team that likes to get up and down the court in a hurry.
"Very concerned," said Rhodes. "I'm very proud we didn't have a letdown."
The Tigers didn't have a letdown. They improved their overall record to 15-2 with a 82-69 win over the Hornets on the strength of Chris Wiggins' 30-point, 11-rebound, five-assist, four-steal performance. Zach Nelson and Steve Siebenmorgen chipped in with 16 and 11 points respectively. The Hornets (7-5) were led by Quincy Clark's 16 points and nine caroms. Herman Ezell added 14 points and eight rebounds.
But just how did the Tigers respond?
By shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 81.1 percent from the charity stripe. While Warsaw connected on 24 of 49 field goal attempts, Wallace shot a dismal 27 of 78 (34.6 percent) from the field. The Tigers made good on 30 of 37 free throw attempts, Wallace only shot 17. Of those they only made seven (41.2 percent).
After the game Rhodes was asked how important free throw shooting is to this team.
"Each player shoots a minimum of 50 everyday in practice," said Rhodes. "We knew it would be a strength at the beginning of the year. Lately we've shot around 83 percent as a team. Ross Kesler has made a big improvement."
Though Kesler didn't attempt any charity tosses Saturday night Tom Donkers was 8 of 10 and Wiggins was a perfect 6 of 6.
For the game Warsaw might have shot 45 percent from the field but that's because they shot 76.5 percent (13-17) in the second half. In the first two quarters they shot a very uncharacteristic 11 of 35 (31.4 percent) but still maintained a 10-point lead at the break, 38-28.
"In the second half we played much better offensively," said Rhodes. "We had a little problem with the boards but we shot an outstanding field goal percentage. They (Wallace) had a few too many put backs."
A few too many put backs and the Hornets outscored the Tigers 22-19 in the third quarter cutting the deficit to 57-50 heading into the final frame. Wallace's defense only allowed Warsaw 11 attempts at the basket but the Tigers connected on eight of them as well as three of four from the charity stripe.
Warsaw attempted an even smaller number of field goals in the final frame. The Tigers shot 5 of 6 from the field in the fourth quarter and still managed to outscore Wallace 25-19.
The Hornet defense caused the Tigers a bit of trouble in the final frame but Wallace's defensive intensity finally did them in. Wallace committed 26 fouls in the game while the Tigers were only whistled for 16.
In the fourth quarter alone Warsaw connected on 15 of 19 attempts from the free throw line. Before succumbing to the large number of second half fouls, 16, Wallace had cut Warsaw's lead to 65-64 with just under three minutes remaining.
"They were using a trapping full-court pressure," said Rhodes. "They made a strong run with about two minutes to go. We just had to concentrate and take care of our free throws."
Wallace's defensive pressure forced the Tigers into six fourth-quarter turnovers, they had only committed eight up to that point. But the turnover factor wasn't enough as Warsaw outscored the Hornets 17-7 over the final two and a half minutes of the game accounting for the 13-point victory.
Warsaw (15-2) will host Gary Wirt Feb. 12 with the JV set to tip off at 6:15 p.m.
"Right now we turn our thoughts to the sectionals," said Rhodes. "We have three games left with Wirt, Huntington North, and Carroll. That's one more at home and two on the road. That's good practice for the sectionals. This team needs to push itself to get better for a sectional run."
WARSAW 82
GARY WALLACE 69
Warsaw 17 21 19 25 - 82
Wallace 10 18 22 19 -Ê69
Warsaw (15-2) FG FT A S R Pts.
Wiggins (G) 10-17 6-6 5 4 11 30
Nelson (C) 4-10 7-10 0 0 5 16
Siebenmorgen (F) 4-7 3-4 0 0 7 11
Donkers 1-2 8-10 1 0 7 10
Rb. Kesler (G) 0-5 7-9 2 1 1 7
Barrett 2-5 0-0 1 0 2 4
Seiss 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 4
Rs. Kesler (G) 0-2 0-0 4 2 3 0
Henthorn 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Grossnickle 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Compson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stogsdill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24-49 30-37 14 7 43 82
Wallace (7-5) FG FT A S R Pts.
Clark (C) 8-11 0-1 0 1 9 16
Ezell (F) 6-18 2-5 0 1 8 14
Hogan (G) 4-12 1-2 0 1 7 9
Taylor (F) 3-9 0-0 0 2 1 8
Morris 3-5 0-0 0 0 2 8
Jones 2-11 0-0 1 2 1 6
Gonzales (G) 1-5 0-0 0 2 3 3
Williams 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0
Joiner 0-3 1-3 0 0 1 1
Harris 0-2 1-3 0 0 2 1
Sease 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Morgan 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Cruise 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 27-78 7-17 1 9 35 62
Three-pointers - Warsaw 2 (Wiggins, Rb. Kesler), Plymouth 1 (Grindle). Turnovers - Warsaw 8, Plymouth 11. Fouls - Warsaw 16, Plymouth 16.
JV: Warsaw 69, Wallace 35
Warsaw scoring - Josh Buck 16, Paul Finnegan 14, David Fawley 14, Brian Johnson 8, Jon Dock 5, Trent Martin 4, Brad Seiss 3, DeAndre Forney 3, Jared Scrafton 2.
