Warsaw Gets Defensive, Posts Win Over ManchesterTaking three charges in the first half was a sign that Warsaw wanted to take charge on the defensive end. And that’s just what the Class 4A 13th-ranked Tigers did Thursday in non-conference boys basketball action at the Tiger Den, beating Manchester 63-36. Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said he was looking for two things coming off last weekend – better defense and more production in the post. “We wanted better defensive positioning, which we did, and we wanted to have more of an inside presence from people other than Kyle Mangas,” Ogle said. “Jeremy David (career-high 12 points to go with eight rebounds) had almost a double-double and that’s hard to do in high school.” Ogle was also happy to see Jaceb Burish set an early tone with a number of offensive rebounds on a night that Warsaw doubled up the Squires on the glass (32-16, including 14-7 on the offensive glass). First-year Squires coach Mark Underwood said he knew his team would have its work cut out for it against the Tigers. “They are extremely good,” Underwood said. “When you play a team like this it will – often times – point out your weaknesses. Our weakness right now is defensive rebounding. “We had a poor shooting night (13 of 38 compared to 24 of 44 for Warsaw) and if we kept them off the board with those second and third opportunities, I really feel like it would have been a closer game.” Ogle came away encouraged with how his Tigers (4-1) are getting better and the way it showed against the out-sized Squires (0-4). “We competed very well from the very start,” Ogle said. “I thought we improved tonight. Yes, we’re better than Manchester, but you can’t take an opportunity and just coast.” Mangas scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. Mason Hamby, who played freshman basketball at Warsaw, paced Manchester with 10 points, while Brayden Casper and David McAtee scored seven each. Warsaw led 14-4 at the end of the first quarter. Led by Mangas, six different Tigers got into the scoring column in the opening period. Struggling against Warsaw’s tight defense, Manchester got first-quarter buckets on shots from the lane by McAtee and Hamby. “We played pretty good defense in the first half,” Ogle said. “We switch a lot and it’s hard because it’s easy to mess that up. We have to have communication, and our communication was better tonight. “Overall, I’m encouraged by how we played.” The Tigers pushed the spread to as many as 20 points in the second quarter at 29-9. Pacing the hosts in scoring during the stanza were David and Braxton Minix with two layups and four points each. The Squires’ six second-quarter points came on a jumper in the lane plus a free throw by McAtee, and a top-side three-pointer by Devon Rooney. Warsaw held a dominating 16-5 rebounding advantage on Manchester in the first half. Lake Central visits Warsaw tonight, and Huntington North goes to Manchester Saturday.
WARSAW 63, MANCHESTER 36 M 4 6 11 15 – 36 W 14 15 14 20 – 63 Manchester – Kohl Fluke 0-7 2-2 2, David McAtee 3-10 1-2 7, Mason Hamby 4-8 0-0 10, Adam Byers 0-0 0-0 0, Brayden Casper 3-4 0-0 7, Kamdyn Lester 0-2 0-0 0, Kane Gable 1-1 1-2 3, Devon Rooney 1-1 0-0 3, Levi Hicks 0-3 2-2 2, Heath Dierks 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 13-38 6-8 36. Warsaw – Asher Blum 2-5 0-0 4, Jaceb Burish 1-1 0-0 2, Ross Johnson 2-4 2-2 6, Jeremy David 5-10 2-3 12, Kyle Mangas 8-12 4-5 24, Zach Riley 0-2 0-0 0, Braxton Minix 2-3 1-2 5, Jack Rhoades 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Miller 1-2 0-0 3, Shane Powers 1-1 0-0 2, Aaron Sandoval 0-1 0-0 0, Jack Grose 1-1 0-0 3, Kyle Skeans 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Groninger 1-1 0-0 2, Jaylen Reese 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-44 9-12 63. Three-pointers – Manchester 4 (Hamby 2, Casper, Rooney 1), Warsaw 6 (Mangas 4, Grose, Miller); Rebounds – Manchester 16 (Gable 3), Warsaw 32 (David 8); Turnovers – Manchester 11, Warsaw 9; Fouls – Manchester 13, Warsaw 12; Fouled out – none; Records: Warsaw 4-1, Manchester 0-4 JV – Warsaw 56, Manchester 16 Manchester – Thane Creager 5, Isaiah Davis 5, Caleb Stout 3, Konrad Borgmann 2, Andrew McAtee 1 Warsaw – Landen Ferber 18, Nolan Groninger 14, Brian Elliott 10, Trenton Sands 6, Tyler Metzinger 6, Trevor Rumple 2
