Warsaw guard Paul Marandet played a brilliant floor game with eight assists Friday night. The Tigers edged Carroll 48-47 in overtime in the regular-season finale (Photo by Ansel Hygema)

WARSAW – The senior members of the Warsaw boys basketball team said goodbye to the home hardwood in fitting fashion Friday night.

The host Tigers made it one memorable Senior Night with a thrilling 48-47 overtime win over Class 4-A No.  6  Carroll.

A layup by Jake Mangas, one of five seniors for the Tigers, just before the final horn gave Warsaw the heart-pounding win.

Mangas scored all four of his team’s points in the four-minute extra session, including the game winner off a gorgeous inbounds pass from Paul Marandet.

“It seems fitting that Jake made the final basket tonight because he epitomizes this group of seniors in that they are humble and hard-working. Jake’s a little undersized, but he’s tough and gritty,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle.

“This is a good win for us for a lot of reasons.  That is a semi state level opponent. I’m just so happy and relieved for our guys. I appreciate this team a lot.”

Senior Rashaan Jackson scored 15 points in an outstanding effort (Photo by Scott Davidson)

A classy and emotional Ogle even took to the P.A. following the dramatic win Friday night to thank the Warsaw student section, which stormed the court, along with all of the Tiger fans for their support this entire season.

Warsaw, which lost an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter to see the game go to the extra session, caught a huge break with 9.3 seconds to play and Carroll up 47-46. The Tigers lost possession of the ball, but as a Carroll player went to the floor to corral the loose ball official Bud Wolf said he had called a timeout.

The Chargers had no timeouts left and were assessed a technical foul. Warsaw’s Nick Sands then missed both free throws on the technical call. Ogle took a timeout with 9.3 seconds to play and then took another one with 2.9 ticks left after the ball went out of bounds off a Carroll player. Marandet then fired a perfect pass to a hard-cutting Jake Mangas, who pumped fake and hit the winning layup as the final horn sounded.

“We told our guys that we had no timeouts left, but it’s a normal reaction for a kid to try and call timeout in a scramble like that,” said Carroll coach Marty Beasley. “The official told me that he started to call timeout. I’m not going to fault my kid there. He made a great play. It was just unfortunate it happened that way.”

Sophomore Kyle Mangas and senior Rashaan Jackson each scored 15 points to pace the Tigers. Jake Mangas had eight points and Marandet was outstanding with eight assists and no turnovers. Marandet also had the defensive play of the game as he knocked the ball away from a Carroll player with 44 seconds to play in overtime, allowing Warsaw to milk the clock down to the final call with 9.3 seconds remaining.

“We executed our out of bounds plays well all game,” noted Ogle. “On that last one, Jake made a good cut off a screen and split the defenders. He made a great shot fake and hit a shot that wasn’t easy. Paul made a perfect pass to him too.”

“Had we lost this game we could have come back from it, but it would not have been easy since we had control in the fourth quarter. Rebounding really was the difference tonight. I’m surprised, but happy that we had 11 offensive rebounds.”

Nick Sands of Warsaw is trapped by a pair of Carroll defenders (Photo by Scott Davidson)

Carroll, which saw its 12-game win streak snapped, led 7-5 after the opening period. Warsaw was up 20-19 at halftime as Jackson had nine points and Kyle Mangas eight.

The Tigers pushed their lead to 35-31 at the end of the third period. The hosts led 39-31 on a layup by Jackson with 5:34 to play in the final frame. The Chargers then closed regulation play on a 13-5 run, tying the game at 44-44 on a rebound basket by Kyle Mallers with 44 seconds to play. Warsaw had two chances to win the game at the end, but Kyle Mangas misfired on a jumper and Jackson could not convert a rebound.

“We did not have a great night, but Warsaw had a lot to do with that,” said Beasley. “Give them credit. They controlled the tempo and Kyle Mangas was superb. We were fortunate to tie it in the fourth.

“Warsaw plays really well together and it’s hard to win here. To beat people on the road you have to make toughness plays and we did not do that at the end. Credit  Warsaw. They made the plays to win the game.”

The Chargers scored their only points in overtime on a 3-pointer by Mallers with 3:39 left to make it 47-44. Jake Mangas then hit a jumper with 1:06 to play to make it 47-46.

Kyle Mangas had 15 big points for the Tigers (Photo by Scott Davidson)

Carroll, which had won the last three contests versus Warsaw, drops to 21-3 with both of its other losses coming to Homestead.

Smooth senior Chandler White scored 16 points and senior Jeremy Kalonji 13 to pace Carroll.

Warsaw, now 18-4 with wins in six of its last seven games, out rebounded the Chargers 25-17. The Tigers had nine turnovers, but just four after the first quarter. Warsaw was 12-21 at the line, while Carroll was 12-14.

Marandet led the Tigers with six rebounds.

The Warsaw senior five of Jackson, Jake Mangas, Nick Sands, Peyton Long and Tim Swanson were honored prior to the game and all five started. Sands had five points and Swanson three.

Warsaw won the junior varsity game 52-45. Ross Johnson had 12 points and Rane Kilburn, Braxton Minix and Evan Schmidt 10 each for Warsaw.

The Tigers will face Concord Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the opening game of the Class 4-A Elkhart Sectional at North Side Gym. Carroll will place either Fort Wayne North or DeKalb on March 6 in a semifinal game of the Fort  Wayne Northrop Sectional.

Jake Mangas was the hero for Warsaw Friday night. The senior hit a layup at the final horn in overtime to give the Tigers a 48-47 win over Carroll (Photo by Ansel Hygema)