Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Fifth-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle said Tuesday evening his team seemed tired.
Playing their third game in six days, which also was the first game of three-game stint in five days, the Tigers still had enough energy to pull away from visiting South Bend Clay over the final three quarters and post a convincing 57-31 win.
"We didn't practice well Monday," said Ogle, whose Tigers improved to 2-1 on the season. "I thought we seemed tired. Thanksgiving was not very restful for the team."
The 26-point victory was the second-largest margin by an Ogle-coached varsity team.
The Tigers beat Gary Wirt by 30 in 2003 and Fort Wayne Canterbury by 26 last season.
Warsaw led 17-14 after the first quarter Tuesday and broke the game open by closing the first half with an 11-0 run.
With the Tigers trailing 18-17, senior Tommy Reinholt banked in a three-pointer to give Warsaw a lead it didn't relinquish the rest of the game.
Senior point guard Ben Truman followed that up with six consecutive points, the first three on an old-fashioned three-point play and the next three from beyond the arc.
Truman was fouled on his three-point attempt but missed the free throw.
Freshman Justin Clemens closed out the first half with two free throws, pushing Warsaw's advantage to 28-18.
"Tommy Reinholt gave us a lift in the second quarter when he banked in that three-pointer," said Ogle. "We didn't really shoot that well. We missed a lot of good shots in the first half."
The Tigers were 9 of 21 from the field in the first half and finished the game 21 of 45 (46.7 percent) from the field.
Clay, which opened the season Friday with a 44-point loss to Class 2A John Glenn, was 8 of 17 from the field in the first half but just 12 of 36 for the game.
The Colonials, who turned the ball over 31 times in their season opener, committed 21 turnovers against the Tigers and fell to 0-2 on the season.
Warsaw finished the game with 14 turnovers, the most the Tigers have turned the ball over in three games this season.
"I know we have to execute better in both our man and zone offenses," said Ogle.
Both teams struggles shooting from the free throw line and three-point line.
Clay was just 2 of 13 from the arc and 5 of 14 from the charity stripe.
The Tigers were 4 of 13 from three-point range and 11 of 19 from the free throw line.
Warsaw, which outrebounded the Colonials 32-27, gave up just three points in the third quarter and outscored Clay 29-13 in the second half en route to the win.
The Tigers are 10-4 all-time against the Colonials.
Reinholt led all scorers with 15 points, while Truman scored 14 and classmate Steve Lemasters scored 12.
Both Reinholt and Lemasters pulled down a game-high six rebounds.
Truman had four rebounds and three assists to go with his 14 points.
"This game is a confidence builder for Ben Truman," said Ogle. "He's gotten better each game. When your point guard is as steady as he's been you have a good chance to be successful. Ben paid his dues over the summer and is becoming a much better player. I'm happy for him."
Senior Eric Blanton scored five points, while Clemens scored four, sophomore Ryan Robinson scored three, junior Brad Waikel scored two and seniors Scott Harman and Spencer Plummer each hit a free throw.
George Jones led Clay with 10 points and five rebounds. Antonio Capers scored five points for the Colonials. No other Clay player scored more than four points.
After playing their first three games at home, the Tigers will hit the road for a game at DeKalb Friday and a contest at Huntington North Saturday.
"We're there first game this week," Ogle said of DeKalb, which will enter Friday's game with a 2-0 record. "Huntington North doesn't play Friday. We have a tough row to hoe in terms of keeping our energy up in both games. It'll be more of a factor Saturday. We have two long road trips. We need a couple good days of practice."
WARSAW 57, S.B. CLAY 31
SB Clay 14 4 3 10 - 31
Warsaw 17 11 12 17 - 57
Clay FG FT R S Pts.
* Stevens 1-7 1-2 1 2 4
* Capers 2-7 1-3 1 1 5
* Jones 4-5 1-2 5 1 10
* Cameron 0-3 0-0 5 0 0
* Yngquist 2-5 0-2 2 0 4
Moore 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Diggins 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Rector 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
Batteast 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Smith 0-0 0-3 1 1 0
Sutherland 1-2 2-2 2 1 4
Onderdonk 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 12-36 5-14 27 8 31
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Clemens 1-2 2-2 2 2 4
* Truman 6-12 1-2 4 0 14
* Reinholt 6-8 2-5 6 1 15
* Blanton 2-5 0-0 2 0 5
* Lemasters 4-12 3-5 6 2 12
Perry 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Robinson 1-3 1-1 4 0 3
Waikel 1-1 0-0 4 0 2
Harman 0-1 1-2 1 2 1
Plummer 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
Totals 21-45 11-19 32 8 57
Three-point goals - Clay 2-13 (Stevens 1-3, Jones 1-1, Capers 0-4, Rector 0-2, Cameron 0-2, Batteast 0-1), Warsaw 4-13 (Lemasters 1-5, Truman 1-4, Blanton 1-3, Reinholt 1-1). Turnovers - Clay 21, Warsaw 14. Fouls - Clay 14, Warsaw 12. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 47, S.B. Clay 39
Warsaw (3-0) - Andy Conrad 21, Jesse Sharp 10, Taylor Long 9, Chase Byerly 5, Luke Holladay 2
