GOSHEN – It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it definitely was a victory. The Warsaw boys basketball team got into a defensive slugfest with Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen on Friday night and barely survived.

Rashaan Jackson gets some tight defense from Goshen’s James Paekau in the first half of Friday’s game. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

The host Redskins never earned a lead in the contest, but made things a little too close for comfort several times throughout the night before the Tigers finally clinched a 36-28 victory.

“It was a real stuggle, offensively, for us,” began Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle. “We didn’t shoot well and didn’t handle the ball well. Goshen’s defense was good, but we rushed too many things and tried too many difficult shots. We also traveled too much, it was a really rough night for us offensively.”

The Tigers finished with 15 turnovers and shot just 36-percent from the floor in the game. Usually Warsaw can rely on a few three-point shots to fall to give the offense a spark but the team was just 2-12 from behind the arc Friday night, both shots came in the first half.

Every Tiger struggled to get a rhythm going on the offensive end of the court. Rashaan Jackson scored the first four points of the game and looked as if he would have a solid night, but the senior finished with just six points. Tim Swanson hit a well-timed three in the first half and finished with eight points while Kyle Mangas also hit once from deep and led the Tigers with nine points.

Kyle Mangas goes up for two between two GHS defenders.

Mangas and Swanson both came up big for the Tigers from the charity stripe. Swanson was 5-6 from the line, hitting most of those shots in the game’s final minute. Mangas was a perfect 2-2. Riley Rhoades also went perfect from the line, 2-2. Rhoades’ shots gave the Tigers a 30-24 lead with just over a minute remaining in the game. Those points would prove to be huge as Goshen finished with 28 points.

Neither team could really get a flow going on offense thanks, in part, to solid defensive play but very inconsistent officiating also played a part in the sloppy game. Though when asked about Friday’s officiating, Ogle was not taking the bait.

“I would say that the officials made fewer mistakes than we did on our ball handling,” Ogle stated. “I don’t really have anything else to say about it.”

Thankfully for Ogle, his team came ready to play defensively.

Paul Marandet led the team’s defensive effort with three of the team’s seven steals and six defensive boards. The Tigers forced 12 Redskin turnovers and held Goshen nearly 30 points under their season average in per game scoring.

Nick Sands looks for a teammate during the second quarter.

“Defensively, our effort was good,” Ogle said with a hint of relief. “Our defense was pretty solid throughout the game. I told the players at halftime that it would probably be our rebounding and free throw shooting that would have to win us the game. We were not getting to the line in the first half but Goshen had to start fouling us late, and that was the difference in the game, our free throw shooting and our ability to get to the line.

“Riley Rhoades had a big play for us late in the game when we missed a layup then he got the rebound and the foul and hit two huge free throws for us right there. We had a few players that hit big free throws for us down the stretch. Again, that was the difference in the game.”

Warsaw finished the game 12-15 from the line.

The Tigers will travel to Fort Wayne Snider Saturday night to take on the Panthers and look to go 12-1. Tip is set for 7:45 p.m. Warsaw is now 2-0 in the NLC, Elkhart Memorial (2-0) and NorthWood (3-0) are the only other undefeated teams in conference play. Goshen falls to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in the NLC.

The junior varsity Tigers picked up a win in dominant fashion with a 38-15 victory over Goshen’s JV. Warsaw’s JV was led by Evan Schmidt’s 11 points. Schmidt was a perfect 3-3 from deep.

Paul Marandet led the Tigers with three steals.