Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GOSHEN - Like the weather that recently moved into northern Indiana, Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team felt a cold front Friday evening.
And when all is said and done, Friday's 56-48 loss at Goshen may be what put the Tigers' hopes for a second straight Northern Lakes Conference championship on ice.
"I was concerned we would come up here and be in a situation where we might struggle," said third-year Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "Their zone didn't surprise, we just didn't have enough patience. I don't think we overlooked them. Goshen is better than their record indicates."
On paper, Goshen is a bottom-dweller in the NLC. On the court Friday night, however, the Redskins shot 14 of 26 (53.8 percent) from the field and 24 of 27 (88.9 percent) from the free throw line.
"Coming in, they were shooting 63 percent at the free throw line as a team," said Ogle. "Tonight they shot nearly 90 percent. They're a lot better than their record indicates."
The eight-point win, which was just the third Goshen victory over Warsaw since 1984, improved the Redskins to 4-8 overall and 1-2 in the NLC.
Warsaw was at the top of its game last Friday and knocked off a talented Northridge team, but fell to 7-4 overall and 1-2 in NLC play after sluggish play offensively and defensively against the Redskins.
"I was disappointed in our offense and defense," said Ogle. "Our execution in our zone offense was not very good and we let Goshen get to the basket too much on us. Our defense wasn't as good as I thought it has been."
Lapses in defense Friday left Goshen senior guard Anthony Mockler wide open three times behind the three-point line.
He hit all three of them, including one with 2:10 left in the second quarter that gave the Redskins a 19-17 lead after they had trailed by as much as eight in the second stanza.
The Tigers knotted the game at 19 with a basket from senior Michael Wienhorst, but Warsaw never led again.
Goshen held a 23-21 advantage at halftime, led 34-29 after three quarters and converted 16 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
A free throw by senior Nelson Conley cut the Redskins' advantage to three, 43-40, with 3:33 to play, but that's as close as Warsaw got the rest of the game.
While the Tigers were already sluggish offensively, they had to play the final three quarters without junior starting guard Shaun Cabrera, who left the game and went to the locker room with team medical officials.
Ogle said after the game the 5-foot-11 junior had a displaced sciatic nerve and was experiencing discomfort.
"Not having him didn't help us," said Ogle.
On top of that, Warsaw's leading scorer, senior Michael Wienhorst, finished the game with just eight points.
Wienhorst, who came in averaging nearly 20 points per contest, was 2 of 10 from the field, including an 0-of-5 performance beyond the arc.
"Goshen did a really nice job of guarding Michael Wienhorst tonight," said Ogle.
As a team, the Tigers shot 13 of 36 (36.1 percent) from the field, 2 of 10 from three-point range and 20 of 28 from the charity stripe.
Junior point guard John-Wesley Maierle led the Tigers in scoring with 12 points, while Wienhorst added eight, Colin Clemens seven and Cabrera and Conley six each.
Goshen, on the other hand, had three players score in double figures.
Jeremy Woodford led the Redskins with a game-high 19, while Mockler chipped in with 17 and Andrew Headings, 11.
Warsaw is in action again Friday when it hosts NLC foe Concord, the only undefeated team in NLC play after the Class 4A No. 9 Minutemen handed 3A No. 7 Plymouth its first conference loss of the season Friday in Dunlap.
Friday's contest with Concord is surrounded by a plethora of story lines, mainly the return of Michael Moore, who earned all-conference honors for Warsaw as a sophomore and junior before transferring to Concord over the summer.
"I think that we'll be ready for Concord," said Ogle. "I think that the conference champion will have two losses. I think that we still have a chance, but we're going to have to play very well."
GOSHEN 56, WARSAW 48
Warsaw 12 9 8 19 - 48
Goshen 7 16 12 22 - 56
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Cabrera 2-3 1-2 0 0 6
* Holladay 2-4 0-0 1 1 4
* Maierle 3-7 6-8 4 0 12
* Wienhorst 2-10 4-6 5 1 8
* Clemens 2-7 2-2 6 0 7
Kleinhans 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Conley 0-2 6-8 3 3 6
Fuller 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Reinholt 2-3 1-2 3 1 5
Totals 13-36 20-28 23 6 48
Goshen FG FT R S Pts.
* Mockler 3-6 8-8 2 1 17
* Wolfe 0-1 4-4 2 2 4
* Woodford 6-8 6-8 4 0 19
* Headings 5-5 1-1 3 1 11
* Overpeck 0-3 0-0 2 1 0
Coppotelli 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Romo 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Landis 0-2 4-4 2 0 4
Hughes 0-0 1-2 1 0 1
Zepeda 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 14-26 24-27 16 6 56
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-10 (Cabrera 1-1, Clemens 1-2, Wienhorst 0-5, Holladay 0-2), Goshen 4-12 (Mockler 3-6, Woodford 1-3, Coppotelli 0-1, Wolfe 0-1, Landis 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 11, Goshen 13. Fouls - Warsaw 25, T. Goshen 21. Fouled out - Reinholt, Headings.
JV - Goshen 46, Warsaw 40 (2OT)
Warsaw scoring - Lemasters 12, Simpson 11, Truman 9, Blanton 4, Harman 4
