Warsaw’s Kyle Mangas led all scorers with 21 points as the Tigers rolled to a 60-35 win at Tippecanoe Valley Wednesday night. (Photos by Mike Deak)

AKRON – Guard play was the order of the day in the boys basketball season opener Wednesday night between Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley. As the second half wore on, it was evident Warsaw’s guards were superior as the Tigers bested the Vikings 60-35.

Warsaw’s Paul Marandet gets around Valley’s Trevor Neeley.

The dynamic backcourt duo of Kyle Mangas and Paul Marandet wasted little time getting acclimated to the new season. Mangas popped for 10 points in the opening quarter and Marandet showed a new offensive proficiency he wasn’t asked to do last year in coach Doug Ogle’s offense. Marandet had 11 points at halftime and 16 altogether while Mangas played with a new swagger with 21 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Mangas was 8-11 from the floor and hit a trio of bombs.

“Kyle Mangas was hot, those threes at the start were rainbows,” stated Ogle. “Paul inside, Kyle outside. Formidable combination offensively those two guys are. Especially when Kyle shoots from outside like he did tonight.”

A lopsided final score got that way on long Tiger runs. Warsaw scored 10 straight to end the first quarter, then closed the first half on an 8-0 run. Valley had pulled within six at 28-22 after Keith Wright hit consecutive three-pointers, injecting a little life into the home crowd before two putbacks off the offensive glass by Warsaw helped it rebuild the halftime lead.

The Tigers then clamped down on defense as the Vikings lost its shooting touch in scoring just five points in the third quarter. Valley shot just 26 percent (5-19) in the second half and had only Alec Craig, with 15 points, crack double figures in scoring. Neil Clampitt finished with eight points.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Alec Craig.

“Our offense was too much dribble,” said Tippecanoe Valley head coach Bill Patrick. “We need to eliminate that and get a little bit more ball movement. Get more movement on offense. We have to find some kids who are looking to score. Neil is looking to score, but we have to get two or three more involved in the offense.”

Braxton Minix, Evan Schmidt and Ross Johnson all finished with six points for the Tigers that saw 11 players get court time and eight score.

Warsaw did the little things well, pulling down nine offensive rebounds which translated into 12 points. The Tigers also only committed five turnovers while winning the rebounding battle 30-17.

“We want to be a good rebounding team, and the fact that Valley was undersized, we did not let up,” Ogle said. “We were missing a lot of our first shots. Like Marandet, he probably three or four times missed his first shot then got the rebound and put it back in. Paul is a real good offensive rebounder of his own shot.”

The JV game had Warsaw hold command throughout in a 44-23 final. For Warsaw, Asher Blum had 13 points and nine rebounds and Zach Riley added 10 points and two steals. Valley had Jake Gearheart toss in 13 points.

Warsaw (1-0) will have a much taller and physical opposition Saturday in a trip to Columbia City, a 69-51 winner at Whitko Wednesday night. Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) will head to Argos next Tuesday.

“We’ve got to do a better job of blocking out,” Patrick said. “Our defense has got to be better. We may need to change the way we play. We really struggled in our half court offense.

“This may be a group that you just have to let them play.”

Tippecanoe Valley’s Gavin Bussard dives between Warsaw defenders for a shot attempt.