He answers to the nickname "Biggish", and Justin Clemens' play lived up to it Saturday night.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore, an All-Northern Lakes Conference tight end for Troy Akers' Warsaw football team, was a force inside for Doug Ogle's Tiger basketball team, scoring 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half.Clemens' big effort, along with 19 points from freshman Nic Moore, 12 points from junior Taylor Long and 10 points from sophomore Andy Conrad, led the Tigers to a 75-59 win over visiting Elkhart Central.
"I'm happy for Justin Clemens," said Ogle, whose team of underclassmen won its third straight game and improved to 5-2 on the season. "He's a great competitor, and he did a lot of nice things for us tonight. He's getting better each game, and our guards are doing a better job finding him."
Clemens, who entered Saturday's contest averaging six points per game, was 7 of 9 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line. He also pulled down five rebounds.
Like Clemens, Moore did most of his damage in the second half, scoring 12 of his 19 points after the break. The 5-foot-8 guard also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out seven assists.
In Friday's convincing 81-58 win over rival Wawasee, the Tigers shot 63 percent from the field. Against winless Elkhart Central (0-7) Saturday, however, Warsaw didn't have the same shooting touch in the first half and clung to a 31-28 lead after two quarters of play.
"In the first half, we didn't have the same energy and enthusiasm we had the night before," said Ogle. "I challenged them at halftime. I told them to appreciate the opportunity they have to play basketball for Warsaw. Our shot selection in the first half was bad. We weren't patient enough on offense. We came out a little flat. I was nervous because Elkhart Central had lost 12 in a row, they're biggest loss was by seven points. At some point they're going to break through, and we only had them down by three at halftime. The good thing is, we responded to the challenge in the second half."
The Tigers certainly responded to Ogle's challenge, especially in the final eight minutes.
After the Blue Blazers cut Warsaw's lead to 51-46 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, the Tigers went on a 16-2 run to put the game out of reach.
The final nine points of the spurt came on a three-pointer from Long, an old-fashioned three-point play from Clemens and another trey by Long.
Warsaw made six three-pointers in Saturday's win, four of them came from Long.
"Taylor made some big shots in the second half," Ogle said of his nephew. "That's what he does."
Also for Warsaw, junior Ryne Robinson had seven points and seven rebounds, while classmate Chase Byerly added four points and six rebounds. Luke Holladay and Alex Nulf both scored two points off the bench.
Mark Sutter led Elkhart Central with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Chris Roberson scored 11 points, Josh Riikonen scored 10 points and Korey Carpenter added nine points.
The Tigers will be in action again Friday when they host Fort Wayne Canterbury and Saturday when they host Huntington North.
