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The timing was perfect for Warsaw.
If there was ever a game that the Tigers would have picked to turn around their recent late-game misfortunes, this one would be it.
Where the execution and effort have failed the Tigers in the final minutes most of the time this season, it was there when they needed it most against probably their biggest rival - the Plymouth Pilgrims.
Down seven with four minutes to play, Warsaw turned it up a notch and went on a 12-2 tear that resulted in a 51-48 upset of the No. 3 (3A) Pilgrims Friday at the Tiger Den.
The Tigers trailed 46-39 when Mr. Basketball-candidate Brian Wray completed a three-point play with 4:15 left. A timeout ensued for the Tigers.
From that point, the game was in Warsaw's hands. Two free throws each from Rob Kesler and Zach Nelson and a jumper from Chris Wiggins made the count 46-45.
Then Andy Plank hit the first of the two biggest shots of the game. Plank, who missed his first 10 field-goal attempts of the game, drove and got a runner to fall to give Warsaw a 47-46 lead.
Plymouth retook the lead on two free throws from Josh Halon with 1:38 left. Then came big shot No. 2. Just 10 seconds later, Wiggins strolled to the top of the key and nailed a three-pointer to give Warsaw a 50-48 bulge. After Wray missed a jumper, Kesler hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 51-48 lead with 20 seconds left.
Wray, who scored Plymouth's first 11 points of the fourth quarter, got the ball with a chance to take the three-pointer to tie. He chose to drive to the basket and missed a 10-footer. Joel Grindle got the rebound and missed an off-balance trey, and the rebound was tipped away as the Tiger student section stormed onto the floor.
"During the timeout, we talked about how they weren't beating us, but we were beating ourselves with poor decisions on offense," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "From that point on, we executed very well. We did the things we had to down the stretch."
In some ways, the win was bittersweet for Rhodes. Because of the class basketball situation, the two teams won't have a chance for the usual rematch in the postseason, with Warsaw being in 4A and Plymouth in 3A. With the win, the Tigers broke a two-game losing streak to the Pilgrims.
"This is a good rivalry because of the respect we have for Plymouth," Rhodes said. "It is always a battle. Nobody was able to get the upperhand tonight. I hope we did grow up some at the end.
"I always like the idea of playing, and then making corrections and playing them again," he said. "It will be something that will be dearly missed."
Wray, who leads the state in scoring at 28.8 points per game, ended up with 27, but for the most part the Tigers did a creditable job on him. He hit 9 of 19 from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the three-point arc.
"We were trying to hold him to 20," Rhodes said. "We weren't able to do that, but I think we made him earn his points. We were able to force him to drive and at least he would get two points instead of three. And we didn't make an All-American of anybody else."
Nick Chaney, who fouled out early in the fourth quarter, was next for the Pilgrims with eight points.
Wiggins may have shown signs of breaking out of his shell by leading the Tigers with 16 points, including the big three-pointer at the end of the game.
"Chris has excellent potential," Rhodes said. "We have been after him to be more assertive. The shot he took was a huge shot. It was nice to see him get his feet set and take it."
After Warsaw held a 12-7 first-quarter lead, the shooting touch grew cold for the Tigers. Frigid in fact. The Tigers missed all 11 field-goal attempts of the second quarter, but found themselves down only 22-19 at halftime because of good defense and 8 of 9 from the line.
"We go 0 for 11 in the second quarter, and who expects to be down only three against a top-10 team in the state?" Rhodes said. "Our defense was carrying us at that point."
That and the fact that Warsaw had only one - yes one - turnover at halftime.
"In terms of our percent-error, I thought I had the wrong sheet at halftime," Rhodes said. "I thought I must have the junior varsity sheet because we had never played at the low of a percent-error. It was helped out by Coach (Jack) Edison's decision that he was going to take the pressure off the outside and try to crowd the middle."
The Warsaw defense did the job, holding Plymouth to 15 of 33 (44 percent) from the field. The Tigers won the battle of the boards, 25-19, but it was especially big in the second half when Warsaw grabbed 11 rebounds to Plymouth's five.
"I am still not happy with our execution during the game, but our defense and rebounding carried us," Rhodes said. "If we shoot any kind of decent field-goal percentage, we would have really been in control."
The Tigers' offense converted on only 14 of 44 (32 percent) from the field, but made 21 of 25 from the charity stripe, including nine straight in the fourth quarter.
The loss was the first for the Pilgrims (13-2, 4-1) in the NLC. Warsaw (11-5, 4-2) ended its conference portion of the schedule.
Warsaw hosts Gary Wirt Friday.
