IBCA Salutes Mangas For Sectional Work
WARSAW – Kyle Mangas was spectacular in the sectional.
The Warsaw star has been honored for his efforts too.
Mangas, the 6-3 senior guard for the Tigers, was selected as the IBCA Player of the Week for District 1 for his performances in the first round of postseason play.
Mangas led the Tigers to wins over Northridge, Elkhart Central and Goshen to claim the Class 4-A Elkhart Central Sectional title in venerable North Side Gym. The Tigers earned their second straight sectional championship, doing that for the first time since the 1996 and 1997 WCHS teams turned the trick.
Mangas averaged 22.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in the three sectional victories. He shot 22-43 overall from the field, including 8-17 from 3-point range and was 16-20 from the free throw line.
Mangas started off sectional play with a bang as his 3-pointer at the final horn defeated Northridge 36-33. He had 19 points and six rebounds in that win. He then went for 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists as the Tigers crushed Elkhart Central 71-36 in a semifinal rout, which avenged a regular-season loss to the Blue Blazers. Mangas capped the sectional with an efficient 22-point, five rebound effort Saturday night in a 49-32 win over Goshen in the title game.
Mangas, who hit the game winning shot to beat Central in the sectional finale in 2016, also moved into fourth place on the program’s all-time career scoring charts with his production in the three sectional wins. Mangas now has 1,379 career points, trailing only Kevin Ault (2,028), Nic Moore (1,891) and Jeff Grose (1,751) in school history. Both Ault and Grose won Mr. Basketball honors after their senior seasons, while Moore was runner-up after leading the Tigers to a state runner-up finish in 2011.
Mangas, an Indiana Wesleyan University recruit and an Indiana All-Star hopeful, will lead his team into the Michigan City Regional Saturday. The Tigers, who are 17-9 and are the defending regional champions, face East Chicago Central at 1 p.m. (ET) in the second semifinal game. South Bend Adams plays Merrillville in the regional opener at 11 a.m. (ET). The winners then meet at 8:30 p.m. (ET) Saturday for the regional crown and a spot in the North Semistate at either Lafayette Jefferson or Huntington North on March 18.