Warsaw’s Jordan Stookey turned in an outstanding effort Friday night to lead the Tigers past Goshen 48-41.

WARSAW – Jordan Stookey was praised by his own coach as well as the opposing coach Friday night.

He definitely deserved all the love he got too.

The Warsaw senior provided the points and the poise to pace the Tigers past Goshen 48-41 in Northern Lakes Conference play in the Tiger Den.

Stookey delivered a game-high 19 points and led the parade to the free throw line in the final half for the hosts.

Warsaw, which improves to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the NLC, hit 19-23 free throws, all in the final half. Stookey was 8-9 from the stripe and hit a clutch six tosses in the fourth quarter in scoring 10 of his team’s 19 points in the final frame.

Junior Jake Mangas turned in another strong outing with 11 points and steady senior Nate Pearl added 10 for the Tigers, who have won eight of their last nine games.

Junior Austin Woolett netted 14 points and senior Deric Haynes chipped in with 11 for the Redskins, who fall to 4-7 overall and 0-3 in the NLC with their fourth straight loss.

Goshen, which beat the Tigers 56-51 last season, got to the line just 10 times and hit five.

“I thought Jordan Stookey was the best player on the floor tonight and played like a senior leader for us,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “He made a lot of plays for us.”

Goshen coach Brian Bechtel also gave props to Stookey, along with Mangas.

“Stookey played a whale of a game for them,” said Bechtel. “He’s such a good passer. Mangas played a great game. They found him in the second half and give him credit.

“Warsaw is smart, well-coached and was really poised. They made plays down the end. They got to the line and made their free throws.”

Nate Pearl of Warsaw looks around the defense of Alex Hartsough of Goshen Friday night.

The Redskins, who are still without talented sophomore guard Brady Bechtel due to a knee injury, bolted to a 10-0 lead to open the game. The Tigers finally got a bucket from Stookey at the 2:45 mark of the opening period. Goshen led 14-7 after the first stanza and 17-15 at halftime.

“I told our players that Goshen would play well tonight,” Ogle said. “Pride still matters and I’m sure they were still disappointed with how they played at Concord last week (in a 53-33 loss). Their defense was really good in the first half.

“Our team displayed good poise. There was no panic down 10-0 early. At half, we had shot zero free throws. We wanted to get the ball inside to Mangas and Rashaan Jackson and get to the line. We did a pretty good job of that.  The 19-23 free throws was why we won this game.”

Goshen surged ahead 24-17 to open the second half. Mangas led a Warsaw run with six points that tied the game at 29-29 at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers opened the final frame with an 8-0 run to lead 37-29 on a Stookey hoop with 4:00 left. Goshen rallied within 42-39 on a trey by Haynes with 28 seconds left before Pearl hit 4-4 free throws and Stookey a pair to ice the win.

“We have some positives to build on from this game,” Bechtel said. “Our guys played with a lot more energy and confidence. This was probably our best performance since mid-December.”

Warsaw shot 12-22 overall from the field, including 5-10 on 3-pointers. Goshen was 16-36 and 4-15 on trey tries.

Stookey also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior Tim Swanson had six points.

Junior Jack Gingerich netted seven points for the Redskins.

The teams could meet again in postseason play as both are in the Class 4-A Elkhart Sectional field at North Side Gym.

Warsaw won the junior varsity contest by a 34-17 final. Luke Wilson and Jeremy David each had eight points and Kyle Mangas six to pace the Tigers.

Warsaw hosts Fort Wayne Snider Saturday night. Goshen hosts NLC foe NorthWood next Friday night.

Jake Mangas of the Tigers looks for a teammate while being guarded by Alex Haney.