Jack Grose makes a pass for Warsaw Friday night. The Tigers dropped their home opener to Homestead 56-38.

WARSAW – Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle knew that there would be some growing pains for his very inexperienced team this season.

Homestead was the first opponent to expose that youth and make it a tough night for the Tigers.

The visiting Spartans took control early and went on to dominate Warsaw 56-38 Friday night in the home opener in the Tiger Den.

The Tigers, who fall to 2-1, simply showcased their youth in a big, big way in this one.

Warsaw, which lost eight seniors from last year’s team, struggled on both ends of the floor to the Spartans.

The Tigers shot just 11-31 from the field and had 15 turnovers. Homestead hit on 20-35 shots from the floor, including 8-17 from distance, in the win.

Warsaw led just once at 3-0 to open the game before Homestead used a 10-0 run to take command. The Tigers had nine turnovers in the opening period to fall behind 14-6. The Spartans led 24-11 at halftime as Warsaw was just 3-10 from the field with 11 turnovers.The Spartans hit 9-13 shots in the first half, including 3-5 from 3-point land.

Homestead turned up the heat on the hosts by using a box-and-one defense on Nolan Groninger. The junior guard, who led Warsaw in scoring with 17 points and 14 points respectively in wins at Tippecanoe Valley and Columbia City to open the season, finished with six points and did not have a basket until the fourth quarter.

The Spartans, who beat Warsaw 50-37 last season, responded big time after opening their season with a 69-46 loss to Huntington North on Nov. 22. The Spartans have now defeated Warsaw seven times in eight meetings.

Jack Rhoades tries to keep his balance.

“We knew that No. 3 (Groninger) was their big contributor in their first two games and we went to the box-and-one on him to start,” said Homestead coach Chris Johnson. “We wanted to make sure that someone else other than No. 3 beat us.

“We mixed it up and they had to think. We did what we wanted to do and play the style that I like in hard-nosed defense. We preached to the kids that we have to defend.

“Overall, I’m very pleased. Any time that you come in here and win it’s a good night. We had a tough week of practice on the kids after the loss to Huntington North and they responded well tonight.”

Warsaw hit a trey to open the second half to make it 24-14. That was as close as the hosts would get as the Spartans answered with a quick 7-0 run to build a big lead. Homestead outscored the Tigers 17-12 in the third period to take a 41-23 lead.

“We were just abysmal offensively tonight,” said Ogle. “Our inexperience really showed up tonight. We were too tentative at times, too impatient at times and there was some panic in there too. We didn’t look confident.

“Nolan had a tough night. He rolled his ankle a little early on and that did not help things. He’s our leader and our best player.

“Homestead is by far the best team that we have played and we did not handle it well. I’m disappointed, but we have to move forward from here and focus on getting better.”

The good news for Warsaw is that they will not have any time to dwell on the loss. The Tigers turn right around and play host to Huntington North Saturday night.

Jack Rhoades and Trevor Rumple each scored seven points to lead Warsaw. The trio of Groninger, Jack Grose and Brian Elliott each finished with six points. Landen Ferber and Tyler Metzinger each scored three points.

Senior guard Grant Raber led Homestead with 16 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. Senior Sam Buck had 12 points and senior Onye Ezeakudo added 10 points for the winners.

Homestead won the junior varsity game 37-24.The trio of Patrick Raudenbush, Preston Barker and Xavier Overstreet each had eight points to lead Homestead. Blake Marsh led Warsaw with 14 points. Keegan Larsh and Connor Lennox each had six points for the JV Tigers.

Warsaw hosts Huntington North and Homestead hosts Marion Saturday night.

Tyler Metzinger eyes a free throw.

Nolan Groninger was well defended all night long.