Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
After playing seven of its first 11 games on the road, the Tiger Den was certainly home sweet home Friday evening for Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team.
A team meeting following a 20-point loss last Friday at Fort Wayne South didn't seem to hurt either.
The Tigers hosted Northern Lakes Conference foe Goshen Friday and, with an active zone defense that held the Redskins to 11 points in the first half and an unselfish style of offense, Warsaw came away with a 57-42 win.
"It was nice to be in front of an enthusiastic Tiger Den crowd and a faithful student body," said fourth-year Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. "I thought we played a more solid game all around, offensively and defensively."
With the win, Warsaw is 4-1 at home this year, while on the road the Tigers are 3-4.
In their last outing, the Tigers were far from playing team basketball.
The result was a 64-44 loss to South Side, as well as Ogle calling a meeting with his five seniors.
The seniors, Ogle said, then called a meeting Monday with the underclassmen.
While Ogle didn't say what was said behind closed doors, whatever was said seemed to be put to good use against the Redskins.
Warsaw played with heart and desire, diving for loose balls and fighting for rebounds.
And on the offensive end, the Tigers were unselfish and balanced.
Warsaw made good on 20 shot attempts from the field. Seventeen of those buckets were assisted.
Eleven Tigers saw varsity action Friday, 10 of them scored.
"I met with the seniors after the loss at South Side," said Ogle. "I thought it was productive. And then the seniors met with the underclassmen Monday. We had a good conversation. I was happy with the way the week went."
Colin Clemens, though he struggled to find his shooting touch in the second half, led Warsaw's balanced scoring attack with 11 points. The 6-foot-4 senior made good on four of his first five shot attempts but missed his final seven.
Senior John-Wesley Maierle and junior Steve Lemasters, both playing new roles, scored nine points each in Friday's win, while senior Mitch Reinholt scored seven points, freshman Mason Plumlee six, juniors Tommy Reinholt and Miles Plumlee four points each and seniors Shaun Cabrera and Jordan Fuller two points each.
Ogle switched Maierle to point guard Friday, and the talented three-sport athlete responded by turning the ball over just once.
He shot 3 of 5 from the field, scoring all nine of his points in the third quarter, dished out three assists and made two steals.
As a team, the Tigers shot 20 of 44 from the field, including a 5-of-11 performance from three-point range, and converted 12 of 15 free throw attempts.
Warsaw comitted just seven turnovers - while Goshen comitted 13 turnovers - and outrebounded the Redskins 27-24.
"We wanted to be patient and make the simple play," said Ogle. "For the most part, I thought we did that. I thought John-Wesley Maierle played a good game. We moved him to point guard and he only turned the ball over once. Steve Lemasters came off the bench to score nine, and Mason (Plumlee) gave us six points, five rebounds and four blocks."
Plumlee, a 6-foot-7 freshman, had been splitting time between junior varsity and varsity. Friday he suited up for just the varsity game, and in 16 minutes of action was 3 of 4 from the field. His only miss was a three-point attempt in the fourth quarter.
Through 12 games, Plumlee has played in 10 varsity contests, averaging just under eight minutes of playing time per game.
For the season, the talented freshman is 11 of 14 from the field and 5 of 7 from the free throw line. He has 20 rebounds, eight blocked shots and six assists to his credit.
Warsaw led 14-8 after one quarter of play Friday and 24-11 at halftime.
The Redskins scored 20 of their 42 points in the fourth quarter but never got closer than 11 points of the Tigers in the second half.
Goshen, which shot 15 of 36 from the field overall and 5 of 14 from three-point range, was led in scoring by Andrew Headings' 15 points. He also added eight rebounds.
P.J. Hussey and Jeremy Woodford scored nine points each, while Zach Wolfe added five points.
Friday's 15-point win improved the Tigers to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in NLC play, while Goshen fell to 1-10 and 0-3.
The Tigers are tied for second in the NLC with Elkhart Memorial and NorthWood. Plymouth, which had four starters suspended for breaking the athletic code, beat Concord Friday and sits atop the NLC standings with a 3-0 record.
Wawasee, Concord and Northridge are all 1-2 in the conference standings.
Warsaw will try to keep pace in the NLC Friday when they travel to Concord.
"We're looking at it as an NLC championship game," Ogle said of the upcoming game at Concord. "It's one we need to win if we're going to be conference champions."
WARSAW 57, GOSHEN 42
Goshen 8 3 11 20 - 42
Warsaw 14 10 14 19 - 57
Goshen FG FT R S Pts.
* Wolfe 2-5 0-0 4 1 5
* Zepada 3-6 0-9 3 2 9
* Woodford 2-7 4-4 1 1 9
* Headings 6-11 3-7 8 0 15
* Parson 2-4 0-0 3 1 4
Clemens 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Oversen 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hussey 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Snyder 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Overpeck 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Byrd 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Totals 15-36 7-11 24 5 42
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Cabrera 1-3 0-0 4 2 2
* T. Reinholt 2-5 0-0 6 0 4
* Maierle 3-5 2-2 2 2 9
* M. Reinholt 1-4 4-4 2 0 7
* Clemens 4-12 2-2 1 2 11
Truman 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Mi. Plumlee 1-4 2-2 3 0 4
Blanton 1-2 1-2 0 0 3
Lemasters 3-4 1-2 2 1 9
Fuller 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Ma. Plumlee 3-4 0-1 5 0 6
Totals 20-44 12-15 27 7 57
Three-point goals - Goshen 5-14 (Zepeda 3-5, Wolfe 1-3, Woodford 1-3, Hussey 0-2, Byrd 0-1), Warsaw 5-11 (Lemasters 2-3, Clemens 1-3, M. Reinholt 1-2, Maierle 1-1, T. Reinholt 0-1, Ma. Plumlee 0-1). Turnovers - Goshen 13, Warsaw 7. Fouls - Goshen 15, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 30, Goshen 26
