Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
HUNTINGTON - He called basketball "the ultimate game of confidence," and Friday night at Huntington North third-year Warsaw boys coach Doug Ogle's team had it.
Behind the one-two scoring punch of senior Michael Wienhorst and junior Colin Clemens, the Tigers scored 42 points in the second half, shot 65 percent from the field for the game and knocked off the host Vikings 64-55.
The nine-point win improved the Tigers to 11-7 on the season and, with just two games left in the regular season, guaranteed Warsaw its 17th consecutive winning season. Huntington North, which has now lost six straight contests to the Tigers, fell to 12-7.
"To win a game like this on the road is just what we needed in terms of our confidence," said Ogle, whose team was out-rebounded 14-3 in the first half but overcame it in in the second half by hitting a plethora of clutch shots. "Basketball is the ultimate game of confidence and our confidence is building right now."
The Tigers trailed 26-22 at halftime but used a 12-0 run in the third quarter - with the first 10 points in the spurt coming from Clemens and the final two from Wienhorst - to take a two-point lead, 41-39, going into the fourth.
With 2:15 to play in the game, Wienhorst hit a field goal for a 54-50 Tiger lead, and then pushed the advantage to seven when he drilled a deep three-pointer with 1:27 remaining.
Junior standout and Purdue University recruit Chris Kramer scored for Huntington North, and then Warsaw was whistled for a five-second call while trying to inbound the ball. Tiger point guard John-Wesley Maierle made up for the turnover, however, jumping high for a steal that turned into a Wienhorst three-pointer with 48 seconds to play.
"I thought Maierle's steal was huge," said Ogle. "John-Wesley also hit two big free throws in the fourth quarter. Free throws were big for us. We were able to get in the double bonus and we were shooting free throws pretty early in the third quarter. We did a good job at the free throw line."
Called the charity stripe, the Tigers certainly cashed in on their free throw opportunities Friday night, hitting 14 of 16. Huntington North, on the other hand, was 9 of 16.
While the host Vikings got a game-high 29 points from Kramer, who verballed to soon-to-be head coach Matt Painter and the Boilermakers, it was the Tigers' Wienhorst and Clemens who were able to get it done.
Clemens did his damage in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in the frame on his way to 22 points, while Wienhorst poured in 13 in the fourth quarter en route to a team-high 23 points.
"What a performance by those two guys," said Ogle. "Michael Wienhorst knows how to hit big shots. He has a knack for hitting big shots. Colin is really gaining confidence. What a great game he played tonight. He gives us another scorer. His play tonight was, wow."
Clemens, who scored a career-high 26 against Plymouth but came out and scored just eight in the Tigers' game Tuesday at South Bend Washington, wowed the Warsaw faithful by hitting his first eight shots, the latter of the two being nothing-but-net three-pointers.
Clemens finished the game 9 of 10 from the field, his last two points coming on a reverse layup via an assist from senior Nelson Conley, and added three rebounds and three assists.
Wienhorst, who in Warsaw's last three games has scored 45 points in the fourth quarter alone, was 7 of 12 from the field overall. In the fourth quarter when his team needed him, he was 4 of 4 from the floor, hitting all three of his shots behind the arc, and swishing both free throws.
As a team, the Tigers were 22 of 34 from the field (64.7 percent), while Huntington North was 22 of 45 (48.9 percent).
Ogle said after the game that he thought if his team could commit 15 or fewer turnovers Warsaw could win. The Tigers turned the ball over 14 times, while the Vikings were guilty of 18 turnovers.
Junior Shaun Cabera added seven points for the Tigers, while Maierle had six, Andrew Holladay four and Conley two.
To go with Kramer's 29-point performance, the Vikings got seven points from Neil Stoffel, six from Felix Smith and four from Matt Kaufaman.
After being out-rebounded 14-3 in the first half, the Tigers out-rebounded Huntington North 14-11 in the second half.
The Tigers host Gary Wirt Tuesday and Carroll Friday.
WARSAW 64, HUNT. NORTH 55
Warsaw 10 12 20 22 - 64
H. North 12 14 13 16 - 55
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
*Holladay 2-2 0-0 1 1 4
* Maierle 2-3 2-3 5 3 6
*W'horst 7-12 6-7 4 3 23
* Conley 0-1 2-2 0 0 2
* Clemens 9-10 2-2 3 3 22
Cabrera 2-6 2-2 2 1 7
Fuller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Reinholt 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 22-34 14-16 17 11 64
H. North FG FT R S Pts.
* Kaufman 2-3 0-0 1 0 4
* Ousley 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
* Smith 2-4 2-2 5 1 6
* Kramer 12-17 4-6 4 2 29
*Hnncutt 1-1 0-1 2 0 2
Simon 1-3 0-0 1 1 3
Kaiser 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hensley 0-0 1-2 0 1 1
Stoffel 3-5 1-3 5 1 7
Wall 1-3 0-0 0 0 2
Frieden 0-7 1-2 4 2 1
Team 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Totals 22-45 9-16 25 8 54
Three-point goals - Warsaw 6-15 (Wienhorst 3-7, Clemens 2-2, Cabrera 1-5, Conley 0-1), Hunt. North 2-11 (Simon 1-3, Kramer 1-2, Frieden 0-3, Ousley 0-2, Wall 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 14, Hunt. North 18. Fouls - Warsaw 14, Hunt. North 17. Fouled out - none.
JV - Hunt. North 45, Warsaw 44
Warsaw scoring - Steve Lemasters 17, Ben Truman 12, Eric Blanton 7, Chas Simpson 3, Tommy Reinholt 3, Joe Ahlersmeyer 2
