Warsaw star Kyle Mangas scoops one up from the baseline. Mangas helped the undefeated Tigers best Wawasee 79-34 Friday night.

WARSAW – The true spirit of the holidays is all about sharing.

Count the Warsaw boys basketball team among those who are definitely in the spirit of the season.

The undefeated Tigers shared the basketball with each other all night long Friday in putting on a passing clinic in downing rival Wawasee 79-34 in Northern Lakes Conference play at a festive Tiger Den.

The hosts dished out a hearty 23 assists on the evening, led by the sweet passing prowess of standouts Kyle Mangas and Paul Marandet. The pair combined evenly for 12 assists in the dominating victory.

Evan Schmidt say so long to his shooting slump in a big way for the Tigers. The sweet-shooting senior was dialed in from distance as he drained six treys in eight attempts from deep to finish with a game-high 20 points.

Mangas displayed all the skills that should have the star guard on the Indiana Junior All-Star team come season’s end. The unselfish, do-it-all 6-3 backcourt ace had 14 points, including a pair of sweet slams, to go with his six assists. He also added three rebounds and two steals  while making 7-10 shots.

A total of 11 different players scored for the Tigers, who improve to 7-0 on the season. The hosts shot an eye-popping 34-49 from the field and had just five turnovers.

Senior Jayce Boatwright scored seven points to lead Wawasee, which falls to 1-5.

Warsaw, which has now beaten Wawasee nine straight times, left no doubt in this one. Playing in front of a large and fired up student section, which featured Santas, elves and even a couple of clever students dressed up as Christmas trees, the hosts were outstanding from the start.

The Tigers bolted to a 7-0 lead as Wawasee committed turnovers on its first four possessions versus the Warsaw pressure defense. The hosts led 22-5 after the opening period as Mangas scored eight points.

Evan Schmidt led the Tigers with 20 points. He hit six treys in the win.

Warsaw put the pedal to the metal in the second stanza. Schmidt sparked a 19-0 run with 11 points, including back-to-back triples to cap it. The hosts led 45-11 at halftime as they shot 19-28 from the field in the opening half. The Warriors were 4-17 from the field in the first half and had 11 turnovers.

“We wanted to play well tonight and the guys came out ready to go,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, who won his 200th game with the win. “I walked out here at 5:30 tonight and our student section was almost full already. Our guys fed off that energy.

“Evan had a really good week of practice. He was dialed in and I was hoping that he would get rewarded and he did tonight. He had been in a slump about the last four games shooting it. Our theme in the fall was that if Evan shoots it as well this season as he did in the summer that would be big for us. When he is making perimeter shots, that makes us tough to defend.

“Our two best players (Kyle and Paul) are our best passers. I said before the game tonight that those two are unselfish and when your best two players are unselfish like they are that’s powerful. Kyle’s biggest improvement from last year is his passing. He’s seeing things well. He should be an All-Star candidate for the juniors this year and the All-Stars in 2017. He’s tough to defend and he’s getting better. In my tenure here, he’s one of the hardest workers that we have had and he’s very coachable.”

Schmidt, after hitting 6-8 tries from 3-point land Friday night, is now 13-30 from deep on the season.

Wawasee, whose last win over Warsaw came during the 2006-07 season, has now lost 29 straight NLC contests.

Cayden Wagener makes a move for Wawasee.

“We had our best week of practice and I was pretty happy coming in with how we seemed ready to play tonight,” said Wawasee coach Steve Wiktorowski. “They hit us with that first punch right away. They played with such confidence. Their press got us early and we did not track No. 24 (Schmidt) shooting the ball.

“We just have to go back to work and get better, especially offensively. I can tell you that no one is outworking our kids.

“Not many people are going to stop Mangas one-on-one. He just picked us apart. He’s gotten so good at putting the ball on the floor and he’s so good in transition to. He’s definitely a handful. What impressed me tonight is how their other players complement him. How they accept their roles and handle them.”

Sophomore Asher Blum had seven points and senior Marandet, juniors Braxton Minix and Jeremy David and sophomore Ross Johnson each had six for the Tigers.

Junior Tyler Smith and senior Chase Rookstool each had five points for the Warriors.

Warsaw won the junior varsity game 43-41 on a layup by Zach Riley with 1.1 seconds left in the game. Jack Grose and Blum each had nine points,  Riley eight and Tristan Frye seven for the Tigers. Ben Hoffert and Brian Collins each netted eight points and Zak Linnemeier seven to lead Wawasee.

Warsaw hosts Triton and Wawasee entertains Columbia City on Tuesday night.

Chase Rookstool tries to work his way through a pair of Warsaw players.