Warsaw Basketball: Blue Blazers Tip Tigers
ELKHART – The Elkhart Sectional just got a lot more interesting Saturday night.
Elkhart Central, which will host the opening round of the state tournament series in just over four weeks, knocked off Warsaw 50-45.
The quick and athletic Blue Blazers used the frees and the threes to stun the Tigers in venerable North Side Gym in a preview of the top two teams in the seven-team sectional field.
Senior Michael Boone hit a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds to play to seal the deal as Central beat Warsaw for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
The Blue Blazers, who had lost 15 in a row to Warsaw including a gut-wrenching 38-35 loss in the sectional final last year, prevailed with poise, patience and a huge dose of big-time team speed on this night.
The hosts, who won for the ninth time in their last 10 games, improve to 12-2 under first-year coach Terry Smith. Warsaw, coming off a dominating conference win at home Friday night over previously undefeated and Class 3-A No. 1 NorthWood, drops to 12-6.
The win overshadowed a sensational performance by Kyle Mangas. The Warsaw senior All-Star candidate was unstoppable. Mangas poured in 30 points in a terrific effort to keep his team in the game. The star guard, who hit the game winning shot in the sectional final win over Central last season, scored 18 of his team’s 21 second-half points.
The Blue Blazers, whose last loss was to undefeated South Bend Riley in overtime, had a trio of players in double figures to overcome Mangas’ dominating display.
Sophomore sharpshooter Brycen Sherwood canned 14 huge points for the winners. The guard, playing in just his fourth varsity game since being promoted, hit 4-5 shots from distance.
Cornell Conner, one of eight seniors for Central, had 12 points and Adonis Brown 10 for the winners. Deveon Jackson scored nine points for the Blue Blazers.
Central, which has struggled all year from the charity stripe, was fine from the line. The Blue Blazers hit 8-12 free throws. Warsaw was just 6-8 from the line, with Mangas going 5-5.
The hosts were also dialed in from distance to ring up their biggest win of the season. Central drained 6-12 from 3-point range.
Warsaw had a trio of chances to tie the game on one possession with less than a minute to play. The Tigers, who trailed 48-45 at the time, misfired on three shot attempts from 3-point range.
“They were better than us tonight,” offered up Warsaw coach Doug Ogle on the Blue Blazers. “I can see why they are 12-2. They are as quick a team as we have played this year. They are hard to guard and their pressure is good and their defense is good. We had eight turnovers, but it felt like more.
“They shot it well tonight. Their 3-point shooting has improved. The new guy (Sherwood) hit some big shots. He was a pain for us tonight. I felt like we rushed things in that first half. They sped us up. And we didn’t finish plays in the basket area tonight.”
“Mangas was great for us tonight. But, he was the only guy who did anything for us offensively.”
Warsaw used a 15-5 run in the opening quarter as Mangas scored eight points to take an 18-13 lead. Central responded in a huge way in the second stanza. The hosts, sparked by Conner and Brown, closed the first half with a 12-2 run to lead 30-24 at halftime.
“We had a bad second quarter,” noted Ogle, whose team was outscored 17-6 in the pivotal period. “We got into rush mode offensively.”
The Blue Blazers led 39-35 after being outscored 11-9 in the third period. Mangas scored his team’s first seven points of the second half, including a monster dunk with 3:17 to play that got the Tigers within 35-33.
Central opted to hold the ball to start the final frame. The Blue Blazers got an inside hoop by Brown on the first shot of the final quarter with 3:42 left to make it 41-35. Mangas, who scored eight of his team’s nine points in the final period, hit a trey with 2:45 to play to tie the game at 41-41. Sherwood then answered with a triple of his own with 2:23 remaining to give Central the lead for good at 44-41.
“This experience will help us,” said Ogle. “Maybe we will play them again in the sectional. Hopefully if we do, we can play better than tonight.”
Mangas, who now is sixth in program history with 1,211 career points, was 10-17 overall from the field. He hit 5-8 from distance and also had three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Asher Blum and Braxton Minix each had four points for the Tigers. Jack Rhoades scored three points and Zach Riley and Jaceb Burish two each. Blum led the Tigers with five rebounds.
Warsaw shot 16-34 overall from the field, including 7-14 from deep. Central was 18-34 from the field.
Warsaw won the junior varsity game 52-22. Landen Ferber led Warsaw with 16 points. Jaylen Reese scored nine and Trevor Rumple seven for the Tigers.
Warsaw hosts Elkhart Memorial (8-8) and Central entertains Jimtown (0-13) on Thursday night.