Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MISHAWAKA - Talking about Saturday's seven-point loss at Penn, fourth-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle hit the nail on the head.
If only the players on his team had been that accurate shooting the ball.
"You can't have long lapses where you don't score against a team like Penn," said Ogle.
The Tigers did, however, have a long scoreless stretch Saturday at the Penn Palance and fell 46-39 to the host Kingsmen, who beat Warsaw for the third consecutive year.
After holding Penn to seven points in the second quarter and taking a 29-26 lead into the break, the Tigers were scoreless for the first seven minutes and two seconds of the third quarter.
Senior Colin Clemens finally broke the ice for Warsaw, scoring the team's only two points of the quarter with 58 seconds remaining in the frame.
The saving grace for the Tigers, if there was one for a team that converted just four field goal attempts for 10 points in the second half, was that Penn only scored five points in the third quarter and the two teams were knotted at 31 heading into the fourth quarter.
"We had a bad third quarter," said Ogle, whose team fell to 2-3 on the season. "We had six turnovers in the third quarter. We could have maybe gotten somewhat of a cushion but we didn't. Neither team did very well in the third quarter."
The Kingsmen, however, took control of the game in the fourth quarter while Warsaw struggled.
Using a 7-of-9 performance at the free throw line, Penn outscored the Tigers 15-8 in the fourth quarter en route to winning its home opener and improving its overall record against Warsaw to 5-9.
The Tigers finished the game 14 of 37 (37.8 percent) from the field, including a dismal 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) performance in the second half.
Penn, on the other hand, was a little better, finishing the game 17 of 45 (37.8 percent). The Kingsmen were 6 of 21 (28.6 percent) from the field in the second half but converted 10 of 14 free throw attempts in the win.
Warsaw shot just five free throws the entire game, making four of them. The Tigers did not attempt a free throw in the second half.
"We couldn't get to the free throw line in the second half," said Ogle, whose team's game at Rochester Friday was postponed until Dec. 21 because of snowy weather. "We shot five free throws in the first half and zero in the second half. I thought a couple times we got fouled, but we had nothing to show for it."
Another area where the Tigers didn't have much to show for was their second-half three-point shooting.
After connecting on 5 of 9 long-range jumpers in the first half, Warsaw hit just 2 of 9 three-pointers through the second and third quarters.
Penn struggled from the arc as well, hitting just 2 of 16 three-point attempts in the game.
But while Warsaw turned the ball over 15 times, the Kingsmen turned the ball over just six times and dished out 11 assists.
Penn took a 38-36 lead with 3:52 remaining in the game when Danny Williams converted an old-fashioned three-point play.
Caleb Laidig gave the Kingsmen a four-point lead 19 seconds later, but a three-pointer by Tiger junior Steve Lemasters cut the lead to one, 40-39, with 1:37 left to play.
Penn finished off the game and the Tigers by hitting 6 of 6 free throw attempts in the final 50 seconds of play.
Tyler Brown led the Kingsmen with 13 points, while Brent Dunaway scored 11 and Williams eight.
Clemens paced the Tigers with 11 points and nine rebounds. Clemens dished out three assists but was charged with five of Warsaw's 15 turnovers.
Shaun Cabrera had nine points, six rebounds and four assists for the Tigers. He scored all nine of his points in the first half, as he was 0 of 2 from the field in the final 16 minutes of play.
Warsaw will try to end a two-game losing skid Friday when it hosts rival Wawasee in the Northern Lakes Conference opener for both teams. With a 17-point win over Whitko Saturday, Wawasee is 4-0 on the season.
PENN 46, WARSAW 39
Warsaw 15 14 2 8 - 39
Penn 19 7 5 15 - 46
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Cabrera 3-7 1-1 6 1 9
* Maierle 2-7 0-0 3 1 4
* Lemasters 2-4 0-0 4 0 6
* M.Reinholt 3-4 2-2 5 1 8
* Clemens 4-11 3-6 9 1 11
Truman 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Mi. Plumlee 0-3 0-0 2 0 0
T. Reinholt 0-1 1-2 0 0 0
Ma. Plumlee 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 14-37 4-5 30 4 39
Penn FG FT R S Pts.
* Williams 3-4 2-3 3 1 8
* C. Laidig 1-7 0-0 2 0 2
* Brown 5-13 3-4 6 0 13
* Dunaway 3-9 4-5 5 0 11
* W. Laidig 2-2 0-0 2 0 4
Kurth 1-6 1-2 3 4 3
Klujsza 2-4 0-0 1 1 5
Team 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Totals 17-45 10-14 25 6 46
Three-point goals - Warsaw 7-18 (Clemens 3-6, Cabrera 2-5, Lemasters 2-3, Maierle 0-4), Penn 2-16 (Klujsza 1-3, Williams 1-1, Brown 0-6, C. Laidig 0-4, Kurth 0-2). Turnovers - Warsaw 15, Penn 6. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Penn 8. Fouled out - M. Reinholt.
JV - Penn 42, Warsaw 37 OT
Warsaw scoring - Plumlee 12, Harman 9, Higgins 6, Waikel 4, Poe 2, Perry 2, Spears 2
