FORT WAYNE – Inconsistency doomed the Warsaw Tigers Friday.
At times, the Warsaw boys basketball team was sharp offensively.
At others, the Tigers were turnover-happy, leading to a 53-44 loss in a non-conference game at Homestead.
“You can’t do anything if you’re not balanced, and we were just rushing 100 miles an hour at times,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle.
Warsaw (2-1) started the game slowly, committing four turnovers while the Spartans (2-0) jumped out to a 9-2 lead early in the first quarter.
“The start of the game wasn’t good, so we dug a hole (for ourselves),” Ogle said.
Homestead stretched the advantage to 11 midway through the second quarter.
That’s when the Tigers showed flashes of the team they were in the first two games of the season.
Wyatt Amiss nailed a three-pointer.
Tyler Metzinger followed with back-to-back buckets, and suddenly it was a five-point game.
“We knew it was gonna be a battle tonight,” said Homestead coach?Chris Johnson.
Homestead’s Zac Bradtmiller hit a shot to send the Spartans into the break up by seven.
The Spartans stretched their lead to nine before the Tigers again showed a spurt of excellence.
They took advantage of consecutive Homestead turnovers to make the score 29-24, and a trey by Brian Elliott cut Homestead’s lead to two.
Warsaw had the ball with the chance to tie, but turned it over .
Homestead’s Zac Kreuger, who finished with a team-high 15 points, hit a trey, and Warsaw never got that close again.
“If your team has the best player in the game, then you’re gonna win that game almost every time,” Ogle said. “And Kreuger was the best player in the game tonight.”
Elliott played valiantly in the fourth quarter by scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points, but Homestead maintained the lead until the Tigers had to resort to fouling late in the game.
The?Spartans sank their free throws to emerge victorious. They were 45 percent from behind the three-point arc.
“Any time you hit shots, you look pretty good,” Johnson said.
Ogle noted his team did not play to its capabilities.
“We have enough experience to be more patient than what we were,” he said.
The?Tigers will play today at 7:30 p.m. at Huntington North, as Warsaw will again try to get Ogle his 250th varsity coaching victory.
