Following a high school boys basketball game in which momentum was like a revolving door, Warsaw and Huntington North are still headed in opposite directions.
With a 57-45 win Saturday night, the host Tigers improved to 7-2 on the season and have now won five consecutive games.The Vikings, on the other hand, have lost five consecutive games and fell to 1-6 on the season. Though sixth-year Warsaw coach Doug Ogle was happy to go into the Christmas break with another win, he was also well aware that inconsistency reared its ugly head Saturday night.
"I thought we played well in spurts, but we were really inconsistent," said Ogle, whose team had to overcome a 14-0 run by Huntington North that bridged the third and fourth quarters.
"I thought our poise was good, we didn't panick when Huntington North made a run at us. Huntington North is a lot better than their record would indicate."
Trailing 38-24, the result of a 12-0 run by the Tigers, Huntington North closed the third quarter with back-to-back-to-back three-pointers. The Vikings then opened the final quarter of play with another trey from Garrett McVoy and a pair of free throws from Tannan Peters, cutting the Tigers' advantage to 38-36 with 6:45 remaining in the game.
Warsaw responded with a Justin Clemens basket and a dunk by Ryne Robinson, who was fouled hard and came crashing to the floor.
Robinson, normally a sure-bet from the charity stripe, missed the free throw that would have made it an old fashioned three-point play, but he and his Tiger teammates pushed their advantage to 50-39 with a 12-3 run.
The Vikings, whose six losses this season include three setbacks of six points or less, got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
"It was the type of game where we had to grind it out," said Ogle. "I liked our poise. The guys stuck with it. Yeah, there's a sense of satisfaction going into Christmas break on a roll. If someone had told me we'd be 7-2, I'd have said I'd take it. There were just so many unknowns. I didn't know how Nic Moore was going to play. I didn't know how Ryne Robinson was
going to play. They've both played well for us. And we've got contributions from so many others. I'm pleasantly surprised."
Robinson led the Tigers with a game-high 19 points, while Moore chipped in with 17 points. Taylor Long added nine points, while Justin Clemens scored eight points. Andy Conrad and Chase Byerly rounded out the Warsaw scoring with two points each.
Peters led the Vikings with 17 points, while McVoy finished with 10 points and Ryan Richison and Rob Sands scored eight and six points, respectively.
After playing four consecutive games in the Tiger Den, the Tigers will hit the road Jan 4 for a Northern Lakes Conference game at Northridge, followed by an out-of-conference matchup the following night at Fort Wayne South Side.
"We're looking forward to going to Northridge," said Ogle. "That's a huge conference game for us. They're the best team in the conference right now. We're looking forward to going there and proving ourselves."
3-point goals - H. North 7 (Peters 3, Sands 2, McVoy 2), Warsaw 4 (Moore 2, Robinson 1, Long 1). Rebounds - H. North 32 (Peters 8), Warsaw 24 (Clemens 5, Long 5). Turnovers - H. North 16, Warsaw 9. Fouls (fouled out) - H. North 22 (Sands), Warsaw 11.
JV - Warsaw 38, H. North 25
Warsaw - Tom Daniels 13, Zach Owens 11, Josh Anglin 8, Zack Linky 5, Nick Simpson 1
