Fans in attendance at Saturday afternoon's high school boys basketball game were guaranteed to see the eighth-ranked Tigers win.
Mr. Basketball candidate Nic Moore made sure it was the Warsaw Tigers who came out on top.
The 5-foot-9 Illinois State-signee scored 24 of his team's first 35 points and finished the day with a game-high 32, as the Class 4A No. 8 Warsaw Tigers beat the Class 3A No. 8 Peru Tigers 61-50 in a matchup that got physical and heated at times.
"It was a tough game to play in from a poise standpoint," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team improved to 16-2 on the season.
There were 40 fouls called in the contest, and officials had to stop the game and talk to players on more than one occassion.
Warsaw finished the game 21 of 29 at the free throw line, while Peru - coached by Tippecanoe Valley graduate Eric Thompson - made good on 14 of 20 charity tosses.
"I was disappointed with our effort in the first half," said Ogle, whose team led 13-10 after one quarter of play and trailed 27-26 at halftime. "We did a better job in the second half, especially defensively."
Warsaw held Peru to just 25 percent from the field in the second half, as the vistors went from making 10 of 20 shots in the first 16 minutes of action to converting just 5 of 20 attempts from the field in the third and fourth quarters.
With Moore scoring Warsaw's first nine points of the third quarter, the home team outscored Peru 17-9 in the third and 35-23 over the final 16 minutes.
With the 11-point loss, Peru fell to 11-5, having lost four of its last five games after starting the season 10-1.
Senior Taylor Smith led Peru with 17 points, while senior Luke Primerano added 15 points and junior Travis Smith chipped in with 14 points.
Seniors Jamie Wright and Josh Hobson accounted for the remainder of Peru's offensive output, scoring two points each.
With Warsaw leading 35-31, junior Lucas Grose pushed the lead to two six points when he converted a pair of free throws with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter.
It was the first two points of the game from either Grose or classmate Jordyn Coon, who are Warsaw's second- and third-leading scorers on the season.
Through 18 games, Grose averages 11 points and seven rebounds per game, while Coon adds eight points and four boards per contest.
Grose took just two shots from the field in Saturday's game, making them both, and finished with eight points as he was 4 of 8 from the charity stripe.
The 6-5 frontliner pulled down a game-high 10 boards and helped Warsaw out-rebound Peru 31-22, including an 8-4 edge on the offensive glass.
Junior Rhett Kesler scored seven points for Warsaw, while classmates Clay Anderson and Jay Holladay added five and three points, respectively.
Seniors Jalen Roscoe and Travis Thomas, and Coon accounted for the rest of Warsaw's points, scoring two points each.
Warsaw finished the game 18 of 39 (46 percent) from the field overall and 4 of 15 from three-point range.
"We just didn't shoot well," said Ogle. "We missed some good shots, especially some wide-open threes. We're shooting 47 percent from three-point range for the year, and today we go 4 of 15."
Warsaw has four games remaining in the regular season, with its next game being Tuesday at home against South Bend Clay (10-7).
"We now have four good opponents left on the schedule, Clay, at Luers, at Marion, and Carroll," said Ogle. "We have two weeks to go. We're going to keep chipping away on the areas we need to improve so we can get ready for the sectional."
Sectional pairings for the 101st annual IHSAA boys basketball state tournament will be announced Sunday evening.
WARSAW 61, PERU 50
P 10 17 9 14 - 50
W 13 13 71 18 - 61
Peru - Jamie Smith 0-1 2-2 2, Travis Smith 3-10 6-10 14, Ian Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Primerano 5-12 4-5 15, Taylor Smith 6-13 2-3 17, Josh Hobson 1-4 0-0 2, Joe Comerford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 14-20 50.
Warsaw - Jared Bloom 0-0 0-0 0, Joey Sparkman 0-2 0-0 0, Nic Moore 9-19 12-12 32, Jordyn Coon 1-2 0-0 2, Rhett Kesler 1-2 4-6 7, Lucas Grose 2-2 4-8 8, Jay Holladay 1-6 0-0 3, Jalen Roscoe 1-1 0-1 2, Travis Thomas 1-1 0-0 2, Clay Anderson 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 18-39 21-29 61.
Three-pointers - Peru 6 (Ta. Smith 3, Tr. Smith 2, Primerano), Warsaw 4 (Moore 2, Kesler, Hollday); Rebounds - Peru 22 (Primerano 5), Warsaw 31 (Grose 10); Turnovers - Peru 10, Warsaw 8; Fouls - Peru 21, Warsaw 19; Fouled out - Tr. Smith; Records: Peru 11-5, Warsaw 16-2.
JV - Warsaw 48, Peru 39
Warsaw - Kevin West 14, Tim Ahlersmeyer 10, Cameron Barrett 7, Jared Lemler 6, Jason Ferguson 5, Shay Hepler 2, Josh Hueber 2, Drew Schramm 2
