Warsaw’s Kyle Mangas throws down a two-handed jam against Concord during Friday’s 65-48 win. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

WARSAW — The Warsaw cheer block could not have had better timing than it did Friday night. The student section had a pajama-themed evening for Warsaw’s game against Concord, which was fitting as most in the crowd were ready for a nap by halftime. The Tigers looked unbeatable at times and just plain bored at other points as they rolled by the visiting Minutemen 65-48.

The win marked the 18th straight Northern Lakes Conference victory for the Orange and Black and once again put on display how dangerous the Tigers can be behind star player Kyle Mangas. Sure, it seems like beating a dead horse when referring to Mangas’ talent, but No. 2 has been public enemy No. 1 while whipping every Minuteman, Charger, Warrior, Panther, Pilgrim (and Rocky, just to be safe), Raider and RedHawk for the past four years.

“It feels like 10 years,” said Concord head coach Steve Austin of Mangas’ tenure as a Tiger. “He’s very efficient and that’s just not shooting. He knows when to shoot, he knows when to pass, he knows when to run the offense. We told the kids that they (Warsaw) will try to run the offense through him, which means in one possession he may touch the ball two, three, four or five times, until he gets a great shot or gets somebody else a great shot.”

It was Mangas’ sixth game in a row totaling 20 or more points, as he led all scorers with 21 points, the Tigers have won five straight during that stretch. It also marks the 54th time he has hit double figures for the Tigers in his career.

As Austin said, Warsaw ran the offense through Mangas to set up great shots. That showed as the team had 15 assists on 22 made shots. Braxton Minix was the team’s second-leading scorer with 10 points. Jaceb Burish was key in the first half as he scored all seven of his points in the first two quarters to help the Tigers build a 36-16 advantage at the break.

Warsaw dominated the first quarter and led by nine going into the second after Concord’s Brandon Emerick beat the buzzer to cut the score to 17-8. Emerick led Concord with 16 points.

Before fans knew what was happening, the Tigers had opened up a 28-10 lead in the second quarter and had all but switched to cruise control. The Tigers led by as many as 22 in the second frame, were up 10 at the break and 21, 47-26, after the third.

With such a commanding performance, which included an eye-popping 28 points off of turnovers, everybody got playing time. 12 players would score in total for the Tigers on the night.

Warsaw student section had a fitting theme, “Pajama Night” for a game that end up rocking most patrons to sleep.

“We spread out the minutes a little bit and got our white group in there,” said Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle. “We tried to play them some in the fourth quarter because I appreciate what they do for us in practice, that’s our practice group. (Sam) Miller and (Aaron) Sandoval and (Jack) Grose and (Shane) Powers, especially. It’s nice to be able to give them some playing time to reward them for what they do in practice.”

Warsaw (11-4, 4-0) turns right around to play Crown Point (12-2) on the road in a rematch of last year’s regional championship. It will be the fifth game in nine days for Warsaw.

“Tomorrow night is a chance to play against a regional-level opponent, meaning that they’re a team that can win sectional,” Ogle explained. “Its nice to play them again after seeing them in the regional final last year. It will be a good test for us to see how we can do. It’s really a game that we can just go and play.

“If we can get through this stretch, if we can go over there and win that game tomorrow night, and we’ll have to play really well to do it. To get through this stretch of five games in nine days and cap it off with a win at Crown Point would be pretty good.”

After Crown Point, Warsaw will return home next Friday to play NorthWood (13-0, 4-0) in a game that will go a long way in determining who wins the NLC.

With 18 straight victories under his belt in conference, Ogle smiled and gave his thoughts on next week’s game, “We want to get 19 in a row.”

Warsaw won the JV contest 35-20.