SOUTH BEND - Scoring a game-high 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, Donovan Campbell did all he could for South Bend Clay's varsity boys basketball team Tuesday night.
The Warsaw Tigers just more firepower.
With 5-foot-9 junior point guard Nic Moore running the show, the Class 4A No. 9 Tigers beat the host Colonials 55-45, improving to 15-2 on the season with their eighth-straight win."With Nic playing as well as he is, we're not a bad basketball team," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle.
Moore, currently eighth on the all-time scoring list at Warsaw with 1,096 career points, scored 20 points, made four steals, pulled down four rebounds and dished out two assists.
Senior Justin Clemens added 11 points and six assists in the win, while sophomore Lucas Grose contributed with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The play of Moore, Clemens and Grose trumped the career-high scoring effort of Campbell, who finished the game 6 of 8 from the field and 13 of 14 from the free throw line.
"He's the toughest kid I've coached," Clay coach Joe Huppenthal said of Campbell. "I can't say enough good things about him. He did all he could to keep us in the game."
While Warsaw had the luxury of having Moore, a three-year starter, on the floor, Clay was playing its third game without four-year starting point guard Kameron Stevens because of a knee injury.
"The kids played hard again," said Huppenthal, whose team fell to 4-15. "Our play on the defensive end kept us in the game, but we just couldn't get over the hump offensively. Every time we made a run, Warsaw answered with one of their own."
The Colonials cut Warsaw's advantage to eight four different times in the fourth quarter, but each time the Tigers responded with a bucket to push the lead back to double digits.
"I don't know how to describe our play tonight," said Ogle. "This was a trap game for us, and we played well in stretches, and other times we didn't play well. We put a lot of emotion and energy into the Plymouth game, and it's hard not to talk about Friday's game with Luers. So this game being mid-week, it was a trap game for us, and I didn't know how we'd come out and play."
The Tigers, who wrapped up an undefeated Northern Lakes Conference season by beating Plymouth Thursday, welcomes Mr. Basketball candidate and Ohio State signee Deshaun Thomas and the two-time defending Class 2A state champion Bishop Luers Knights into the Tiger Den Friday.
How did Warsaw play against Clay?
The Tigers had three players score in double figures and shot 61 percent from the field for the game.
Senior Zack Linky hit a pair of treys and chipped in with six points for the Tigers, while sophomore Jordyn Coon added four points and juniors Joey Sparkman and Jalen Roscoe scored two points each.
The Tigers were 20 of 33 from the field overall and 5 of 9 from three-point range.
Outside of Campbell, the Colonials struggled shooting the ball against the Tigers.
Clay finished the game 14 of 38 (37 percent) from the field overall and 3 of 17 from the arc.
Take Campbell's stats away, and the Colonials were 8 of 30 from the field.
Jurod Wooden was the only other Clay player in double figures with 12, while Adrian Easton and Taron Miller scored four points each.
The Tigers led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter, 30-18 at halftime and 39-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
With the 10-point win over Clay, Warsaw has won 33 of its last 37 regular season games.
WARSAW 55, S.B. CLAY 45
W 14 16 9 16 - 55
C 9 9 10 17 - 45
Warsaw - Andy Conrad 0-0 0-0 0, Joey Sparkman 1-2 0-1 2, Justin Clemens 4-5 3-3 11, Nic Moore 6-11 5-7 20, Jordyn Coon 1-4 2-4 4, Zack Linky 2-4 0-0 6, Lucas Grose 5-6 0-1 10, Jalen Roscoe 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 20-33 10-18 55.
