FORT WAYNE - Warsaw's varsity boys basketball game at Fort Wayne Canterbury Monday night lacked any sort of electric atmosphere.
That certainly won't be the case Friday, when the Class 4A No. 10 Tigers host the Northridge Raiders in a key Northern Lakes Conference game.Both teams will enter Friday's clash with an 8-0 record.
Warsaw remained perfect on the season by beating the Class 1A Canterbury Cavaliers 76-47 Monday night.
The game was played in a gym that had just nine rows of seating on each side, not exactly the type of venue the Tigers and their fans are accustomed to.
And only a couple hundred people attended the game.
The atmosphere will certainly be different Friday in the Tiger Den.
"We're looking forward to playing Northridge Friday," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "They're good. Northridge is very good. They're the best defensive team we've played in a while. We have to be ready to go. It's a huge game. It's early in the conference season, but you're talking about two teams still being undefeated on Jan. 9. That's late in the season for two undefeated teams to be playing each other."
The Tigers only gave up 32 points through three quarters of play and went on to beat the Cavaliers by 29 points, but there were times during the game when it was evident Warsaw was playing its first games since Dec. 20.
"In the first half, we missed too many shots in the basket area," said Ogle. "I thought we were lethargic at times. In the second half, we played much better. We played unselfishly in the second half. I'm happy with how we played in the second half. We hadn't played in two weeks and two days, and there wasn't much of an atmosphere here. We're going to have to be ready to play Friday."
Warsaw was 14 of 30 (47 percent) from the field in the first half, and then shot much better in the second half, hitting 15 of 25 shots (60 percent).
Canterbury struggled to make shots the majority of the game, finishing the contest just 14 of 56 (25 percent) from the field, including a 5-of-22 effort from three-point range.
The Tigers, who were 7 of 13 from three-point range, led 19-11 after the first quarter and 37-22 at halftime.
Warsaw closed the third quarter with a 15-2 run and led 60-32 going in to the fourth quarter.
"We made simple plays in the second half," said Ogle. "In the first half, I was very disappointed with how we played. We didn't compete well. We played much better in the second half."
While Warsaw kept its record unblemished, Canterbury lost its third straight game and fell to 4-3 on the season.
The Tigers and Cavaliers have met on the hardwood four times, with Warsaw winning those games by margins of 26, 40, 36 and 29.
Junior Justin Clemens led Warsaw in scoring with 17 points, while sophomore Nic Moore chipped in with 16 points and seven assists and junior Andy Conrad added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Junior Zack Linky hit all three three-point shots he took and finished with 10 points, while senior Ryne Robinson chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds, senior Chase Byerly contributed seven points and 12 rebounds and senior Taylor Long scored five points.
Long suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and did not play in the second half.
Sophomore Jason Williams led Canterbury with a game-high 18 points, while senior Josiah Gerardot scored 13 points and sophomore Marquel Cooper added seven points.
