Defense Does The Trick For Unbeaten Tigers
WARSAW – Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle said he knew his team was a good defensive unit.
He got plenty of confirmation of that Tuesday night.
The Tigers rode a healthy dose of defense to remain undefeated on the season with a 47-38 overtime win over Mishawaka Marian.
On a night when points were sometimes as scarce as a warm summer breeze, Warsaw got plenty of fine work on the defensive end and enough offense from star Kyle Mangas to turn back the Knights in a matchup of ranked teams.
Junior guard Mangas popped in 20 points as the Class 4-A No. 7 Tigers improved to 13-0. Marian, ranked No. 5 in this week’s Class 3-A poll, drops to 11-3.
Warsaw held the Knights, who entered the game averaging 63 points-per-game, to a season-low point total. Marian, whose previous low was 46 points in a five-point win over Goshen, shot just 13-40 from the field overall and managed to score just 17 points in the second half and the four-minute overtime session.
“Our defense was good tonight and we have Kyle Mangas,” summed up Ogle perfectly after the grind it out win. “I knew that we have a good defensive team and tonight was proof of that. Our defense has been consistently good this year.”
Ogle also credited Marian’s work on the defensive end, where the undersized Knights played their trademark 2-3 zone the entire contest.
“Their zone defense is really good,” said Ogle about the Knights. “I was impressed with their defense. They are quick and physical and very smart with what they do.”
The Tigers dominated the overtime session after the Knights’ Jair Rodgers had hit a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to force the extra frame. Warsaw got a 3-point play from Jeremy Davis on a layup and a free throw 26 seconds into the overtime to take a 39-36 lead and then Mangas drained a trey to make it 42-36. Paul Marandet then hit three free throws and Mangas two as the Tigers scored the first 11 points of the overtime. The lone Marian score in overtime came with just 24 seconds to play as Zach Lattimer converted a layup for the Knights.
“I thought that Jeremy David’s three-point play off a great pass from Evan Schmidt was big to get us going in the overtime,” noted Ogle. “And then Kyle hits that three in transition. We kept Rodgers in check. He’s the best guard we’ve faced this season. We shot better than they did and we got to the free throw line more.”
Warsaw came out strong to open the contest. Mangas scored nine points in the opening frame and the Tigers used a 7-0 run to lead 18-10 after the first quarter. The second quarter was a much different tale as Warsaw was outscored 11-6 to see their lead shrink to 24-21 at halftime. The Tigers had just one basket in the second period and had seven of their nine first-half turnovers in the period.
“I couldn’t believe that we were up three at halftime playing that bad of offense in that second quarter,” Ogle stated. “We were flat emotionally in the first half. I don’t know why. We were just lethargic and our focus was not good.
“We had a lot of turnovers and zero offensive rebounds against a zone. That’s bad. That second quarter was our worst quarter of the season.”
The Tigers’ largest lead in the final half was just six points. The hosts led 36-30 on a layup by David with 4:33 to play. Rodgers then hit a trey with 4:23 to play to make it 36-33 and tied the game with another triple with 38 ticks left after a Marian offensive rebound.
Warsaw shot 16-32 overall from the field and went 12-13 at the free throw line. Marian was just 7-9 from the charity stripe.
Rodgers, who entered the game averaging 20 ppg., finished with 13 points. The smooth southpaw senior guard was just 4-13 from the field and played just 25 minutes due to foulr trouble. Rodgers poured in 67 points in a pair of Marian wins last week, including 36 versus South Bend Riley Friday night. He was also 24-24 from the line in the two wins.
Marandet finished with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. David had seven key points, while Riley Rhoades and Braxton Minix each had four and Evan Schmidt three.
Jake Whitfield added 11 points for the Knights, who had won seven of their last eight game coming into Tuesday night.
Warsaw won the junior varsity game 46-34. Jack Rhoades led the Tigers with 11 points. Asher Blum had 10, Landon Ferber eight and Zach Riley seven for Warsaw. Daniel Schafer led Marian with 10 points.
Marian beat Warsaw 26-15 in a freshman B team game. Joel Light had six points to lead Warsaw. Eli Owen had four points, Will Dye three and Bryce Garner two for the Tigers.
Warsaw plays at conference foe Concord Friday night. Marian plays at Bremen next Tuesday night.