Former Warsaw star Kyle Mangas will be back home Tuesday night. Mangas and his Indiana Wesleyan team opens conference play at Grace College.

WARSAW – Kyle Mangas and Dayton Groninger have a lot in common.

Both grew up in the same neighborhood.

Both share a love of the game of basketball.

Both went on to star on the hardwood at WCHS.

Both are from classy, tremendous families.

Now, both are playing the sport they love at Indiana Wesleyan University.

The pair of former Tiger standouts will have one more thing in common come Tuesday night as they enjoy a Homecoming as they return home for their first games as college players. IWU will open its conference season with a Crossroads League women’s/men’s doubleheader at Grace College starting with the ladies contest at 6 p.m.

Mangas is off to a stellar start to his collegiate career at perennial NAIA power IWU. The 6-3 freshman guard has helped coach Greg Tonagel’s No. 6 ranked Wildcats to a 6-1 start. IWU suffered its first loss of the season in its most recent game, an 80-79 loss at No. 9 IU-East on Tuesday night in Richmond. Mangas had team-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds in that contest to go with four assists and two steals n 35 minutes of playing time.

Mangas, who was the Ink Free News Player of the Year the past two seasons, is the top scorer for the Wildcats at 16.3 points-per-game. He also leads his team with 26 assists and is tied for first with 11 treys. Mangas is also second on the team in minutes played per game at 27.4 and is averaging 5,.3 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line.

Mangas had a monster game back on Nov. 9. He poured in 33 points in a 92-77 win over Northwestern (Ohio). He hit 12-16 shots from the field in that victory, including going 5-6 from distance.

Mangas, the son of Tim and Ann Mangas, led coach Doug Ogle’s Tigers to a 61-17 overall mark the past three seasons and three straight unbeaten campaigns in a row in the Northern Lakes Conference. He helped Warsaw win Class 4-A sectional titles the past two seasons and reach the semistate in 2016. Mangas scored 633 points his senior season, the fifth highest total in program history. He finished his career No. 4 all-time with 1,450 career points and was the 11th player in program history to be a member of the Indiana All-Star team.

Groninger is making her presence also known on the IWU hardwood in Marion. The 5-10 freshman forward is thriving for first-year IWU coach Ethan Whaley. Groninger has helped the Wildcats to a 6-2 mark with five straight victories.

Dayton Groninger, who starred at WCHS, will play at Grace College Tuesday night. Her IWU team faces Grace at 6 p.m.

Groninger, the daughter of Jason and Erika Groninger, is averaging 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. She is playing an average of 17.5 minutes per outing and is third on her team with 10 treys and has been outstanding at the free throw line by making 15-17 charity tosses.

Groninger had her biggest game of the season earlier this month. She had 19 points and eight rebounds in a 76-66 loss to No. 13 IU-East back on Nov. 4.

Groninger also had a prolific prep career at WCHS. She finished her high school career with 1,003 points, just the sixth player in the illustrious history of the program to top the 1,000-point plateau. Groninger led coach Michelle Harter’s team in scoring as a sophomore, junior and senior. She averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game her senior season as Warsaw went 20-4. Groninger, who helped Warsaw win a sectional title her sophomore year, was a three-time choice to the IFN All-Area team.

There will be plenty of familiar faces suiting up on both side come Tuesday night at the Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center at Grace.

Meredith Brouyette, a former star at Tippecanoe Valley, is a freshman guard for IWU. The 5-7 southpaw has appeared in two games this season, playing a total of seven minutes. Brouyette helped the Vikings go 85-17 in her high school career with three sectional and three conference championships. She helped Valley earn a Class 3-A state runner-up finish in 2015.

The Grace College women’s roster features Pam Miller, Melissa Goss, Kelsie Peterson and Kaylie Warble. Miller, a junior forward, played at Warsaw. She is averaging 3.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season for coach Scott Blum’s team, which is 3-5. Goss is a freshman guard who played at Lakeland Christian Academy. She has played in one game so far this season. Peterson and Warble both played at West Noble. Peterson is a senior guard who is averaging 8.4 ppg. this season and Warble is a freshman forward who is averaging 2.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

The Grace College men’s team, which is 5-3, has a local trio in Tim Swanson and Sam Miller from WCHS and Braxton Linville from NorthWood. Swanson, a junior guard, has played in four games. Freshman guard Miller has appeared in two games. Sophomore guard Linville has started all eight games and leads the Lancers in assists at 5.8 per game.