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There were no players with names like Skiles, Fox, Edison, Grose or Ault, but like so many games in the past 25 years between boys basketball rivals Plymouth and Warsaw, Thursday's Northern Lakes Conference battle came down to the wire.
In the end, Plymouth sophomore Randy Davis' perfect effort from the field in the fourth quarter was the perfect ending for the Pilgrims.
Davis, who was 3 of 3 from the field in the final frame, scored seven of his team-high 12 points in the quarter and lifted Plymouth to a 44-41 win over the host Tigers.
Davis, who was 1 of 8 from the field in the first three quarters, hit a three-pointer with four seconds left and the Pilgrims beat Warsaw for the third time in the last four meetings.
"He got into foul trouble early and didn't get going early," Plymouth coach Jack Edison said of Davis. "In the fourth quarter, he made some big shots."
In the last 15 meetings between the Pilgrims and Tigers, Plymouth holds an 8-7 advantage.
Eleven of those 15 games have been decided by six points or less, while seven of them have been decided by three points or less.
"We did have a couple lapses, a couple lulls," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team lost its fifth straight game and fell to 7-10 overall and 2-5 in the NLC standings. "The two threes and the out-of-bounds play were huge. Huge. The out-of-bounds play in the fourth quarter where were supposed to be in zone, I don't know what the players did there. They were all spread out."
The Tigers led 29-22 in the third quarter after senior John-Wesley Maierle's steal and bucket. Plymouth's Chad Clinton hit a three-pointer 20 seconds later and the Tigers'
Tommy Reinholt was called for a foul away from the ball.
The Pilgrims got the ball and Jason Renz hit another three-pointer for Plymouth, which cut Warsaw's lead from seven to one in a matter of seconds.
"That was a point where one or two more stops by Warsaw and we would have been in a deep hole," said Edison, whose team won its third straight game and improved to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the NLC standings. "Just to get one (three-pointer) was big, but we were able to get the second one before we crossed the 10-second line."
And in the fourth quarter, the out-of-bounds play Ogle kept talking about, Davis scored an easy two points.
Davis and Clinton scored 12 points each for Plymouth, while Renz chipped in with seven points, five rebounds and two steals.
The Pilgrims finished the game 15 of 28 (53.6 percent) from the field overall and 6 of 13 from three-point range. Plymouth was 8 of 16 from the free throw line.
The Pilgrims, despite being smaller than Warsaw, were able to use screens and get open shots outside, as well as score in the paint.
Plymouth's roster lists two players at 6-foot-3 and one player at 6-4.
Those three players combined for 10 points.
Warsaw, on the other hand, has three players rostered at 6-3, two listed as 6-4 and two listed as 6-7.
Six-foot-7 freshman Mason Plumlee made his first career start for Warsaw, finishing the game with six points, two rebounds and two blocked shots.
He had an assist, blocked shot and reverse layup and hit two free throws in the first three minutes of the game.
When asked if he was trying to take advantage of his team's size, Ogle said he started Plumlee "because Mitch Reinholt was sick and didn't feel good during warmups."
Reinholt, a senior, played 10 minutes Thursday. He didn't take a shot from the field and finished 1 of 2 from the free throw line.
Miles Plumlee, a 6-7 junior who scored nine of his 11 points against an equally tall Marion team in the fourth quarter Saturday, only played three minutes against a smaller Plymouth team Thursday.
Warsaw finished the game 11 of 23 from the field overall and 0 of 5 from three-point range. The Tigers hit 19 of 26 free throw attempts.
Senior Colin Clemens led Warsaw with 14 points, while classmate Shaun Cabrera scored eight points. Maierle and Tommy Reinholt added five each and Miles Plumlee two.
Plymouth, which graduated all five starters from last year's state runner-up team, had eight turnovers in the game. Warsaw, which returned four starters from last year's team, had 11 turnovers in the game.
"I hope this makes it so real, the things we need to improve on," said Ogle. "The players need to buy in and fix this now or else we're not going to win the sectional. I felt like we were going to win this game. The character of our team is being tested. We're gonna find out how tough and how together the players are."
The Tigers are in action again Tuesday when they host Class 1A Fort Wayne Canterbury.
