Warsaw Basketball: Tigers’ Rally Stops Snider
FORT WAYNE – The postgame meal had to taste pretty good for the Warsaw boys basketball team Saturday night.
The Tigers, after devouring host Fort Wayne Snider with a fine fourth-quarter rally, feasted at Texas Roadhouse in the Summit City.
Warsaw outscored the host Panthers 14-4 in the final frame to board the bus with a 46-39 non-conference win.
Warsaw star Kyle Mangas powered his team with a game-high 25 points as the Tigers won their third straight game. The senior guard and All-Star candidate poured in 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers rallied from a five-point deficit.
Mangas, who moved into ninth place Friday night on the program’s all-time scoring list in a 57-31 league win at Goshen, was superb. The Indiana Wesleyan recruit hit 10-20 shots from the field and was 5-6 from the free throw line. He also led his team with nine rebounds.
Snider, which falls to 6-5, led 14-8 after the opening period and 21-17 at halftime. The Tigers were close thanks to its defense as they shot 6-20 from the field in the opening half.
The Panthers, led by Louisville recruit Malik Williams, led 35-30 at the end of the third period.
Warsaw shot 17-43 overall from the field, but were 11-23 in the second half. The Tigers went 1-6 from 3-point land and 11-12 from the line.
Asher Blum had 10 key points, including a 6-6 effort from the free throw line, and five rebounds for the Tigers. Braxton Minix had six points for Warsaw, which improved to 9-4.
Sophomore Nolan Groninger played a strong floor game for the Tigers. The point guard had five points to go with five assists in the victory.
Warsaw coach Doug Ogle saw plenty to like from his team.
“Tonight’s win is big for our guys,” said Ogle via text message. “We struggled offensively for about two and a half quarters, but we stayed right with it and eventually we got going.
“I thought that Kyle Mangas and Nolan Groninger played fearlessly, which is what got us back in the game when we got down by nine. Our team defense was good tonight. Jeremy David and Braxton Minix I think kind of work Malik Williams down. We set a goal to hold Williams to only two stuff shots and he got zero.
“We score more points off turnovers than they did, which I would not have thought was possible. Asher Blum was shooting 44 percent from the free throw line coming into the game, but made 6-6 tonight. Blum’s scoring this weekend has been a real boost. We needed to win a game against a team like Snider. I am certain tonight’s outcome will help us moving forward.”
Williams, a 7-foot power forward, had 15 points. The Snider big man, who also received college offers from Indiana, UCLA and Michigan State, was just 3-12 from the field, including 1-5 on 3-point tries. Williams was 8-11 from the free throw line.
Snider shot 13-36 overall from the field, including just 5-19 in the second half. The hosts were only 3-15 from distance and 10-14 from the line.
Warsaw had an 11-6 scoring edge in points off turnovers. The Tigers had 12 turnovers, while Snider had 15. Warsaw also had an 8-3 advantage in second chance points thanks to a 30-23 rebounding edge.
Warsaw won the junior varsity game by a 43-22 final.
Warsaw plays at Mishawaka Marian (6-6) Tuesday night. The Tigers then host league foe Concord (5-6) Friday night and play at Class 4-A No. 17 Crown Point (11-2) on Saturday night in a makeup game to complete a busy week.
Snider plays at Fort Wayne Canterbury on Tuesday night.