The more things change, the more they stay the same.
While coaches and seasons have come and gone, and the uniforms have changed from time to time, in some cases the name have remained.
Not only is Warsaw Community High School's boys basketball program rich in success - 37 sectional championships, 13 regional titles, four semistate crowns and the 1984 state championship - but it's family roots also run deep."It's hard to have tradition if you don't have second- and third-generation players on the team," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose Class 4A No. 6 Tigers play Carroll in the semistate Saturday at Huntington North High School. "Tiger Basketball is rich in success, and there have been a lot of great families that have been a part of it."
Saturday's semistate game between Warsaw (22-2) and Carroll (21-3) is scheduled to tip off at approximately 3:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to next week's Class 4A state championship game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Third-ranked Indianapolis North Central (23-3) and Jeffersonville (22-4) play at Southport Saturday in the Class 4A southern semistate.
Warsaw's three leading scorers this season all have family ties to the Tigers' success of days gone by.
Junior point guard Nic Moore, who is up to fourth on Warsaw's all-time scoring list with 1,265 points, is the brother of former Tigers Michael and Kyle Moore, both of whom played for Ogle, though they finished their prep careers at Concord.
Moore averages nearly 21 points, five assists and four rebounds per game this season for Warsaw, which defeated Merillville and Munster Saturday to win the program's first regional championship since 2000.
Senior Justin Clemens, a four-year starter who averages 12 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 63 percent from the field, is the son of former player Gordy Clemens and the brother of former Tiger Collin Clemens.
All three of the Clemenses played on sectional championship teams as seniors, with Gordy on the 1976 sectional title team that went on to win the program's first regional title since 1937.
Collin was the leading scorer on the 2006 sectional championship team, while Justin started on the 2008 team that won sectional, as well as the current team.
"Tiger Basketball definitely runs deep, especially in our family," said Gordy Clemens, who averaged 17 points per game as a senior and scored 673 points in his three-year varsity career. "All three of us made it to the regional, and that's very special to us. I guess now we're living our lives through Justin. As a father, I'm very proud of Justin, and I know Collin is pulling for his little brother. We're just all about the Tigers."
Collin was a two-year starter and finished his varsity career with 571 points. He went on to play at Indiana Tech before transferring to Manchester College.
Going into Saturday's semistate game, Justin has scored 797 points in his varsity career, and a win over the Carroll Chargers would put the Tigers in the state championship game for just the second time in school history.
While the three Clemenses have enjoyed success playing hoops for the Tigers, Gordy admitted that his wife, Dana, is the best athlete in the family. She was a three-sport athlete at Westfield High school, starring in basketball, volleyball and track.
Dana Clemens pulled down 22 rebounds in one game, and also advanced to the state track meet in the 100 hurdles.
She shows off her athletic ability at her son's games these days, doing summersaults and the splits to get the Warsaw crowd excited.
"This is as deep as it gets," said Gordy. "Tiger Basketball is a big part of our family, and it's very special to this community. The players who have played for Warsaw have been very fortunate to play for a school and a community that really supports them."
Sophomore Lucas Grose, who averages nine points and seven rebounds per game this season, is the son of former standout Jeff Grose.
The elder Grose is second on Warsaw's all-time scoring list with 1,751 points. He helped lead Warsaw to the 1984 state championship and was named Mr. Basketball in 1985.
"I grew up in this program," said Lucas Grose. "Now we're just carrying on the tradition that players before us built. It hasn't really set in that we're playing in the semistate."
Senior Andy Conrad, a three-year varsity player for Ogle's Tigers, is the son of Tim Conrad, who played on coach Jim Miller's 1976-77 varsity team as a junior.
On this year's junior varsity team, four players were sons or brothers of former Warsaw varsity basketball players.
Rhett Kesler, who many Tiger fans may remember dribbling the ball around the gym as youngster, is the brother of Rob and Ross Kesler.
Ross Kesler was a standout on Warsaw's last regional championshp team in 2000.
Bennett Hollar, also a standout golfer for the Tigers, is the son of Steve Hollar, who hit two free throws in the waning seconds of the 1984 state championship game to lift the Tigers to a 59-56 win over Vincennes Lincoln.
The elder Hollar went on to star as Rade Butcher in the motion picture Hoosiers.
Jay Holladay is the brother of former Warsaw varsity players Andrew and Luke Holladay.
Jordan Wray is the son of former Tiger Dan Wray, a science teacher at Lakeview Middle School.
