Dayton Groninger lines up a 3-pointer to get her team going Tuesday night. The junior star scored a game-high 18 points as Warsaw beat Elkhart Central 50-42 in the opening game of the Goshen Sectional.

GOSHEN – The Warsaw girls basketball team was fine from the line Tuesday night.

Their ability to tickle the twine from the free throw line in the end left the Tigers fine on the scoreboard too.

Warsaw was clutch when it counted the most from the stripe in downing a game Elkhart Central squad 50-42 in the opening game of the Class 4-A Goshen Sectional.

The 1-2 punch of junior guards Dayton Groninger and Madi Graham were tough to pace Warsaw. Groninger scored a game-high 18 points and Graham finished with 14. Hard-working junior Page Desenberg scored eight key points and junior Kenzie Welk chipped in with seven for the Tigers.

Trinitee Harris, a fine-looking freshman guard, led Central with 15 points. Sophomore Mady Miller had 13 points.

The Tigers, who scored their final 16 points from the line, advance to play Concord (5-17) in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. on Friday. Warsaw, which improved to 10-13 with its fifth straight win Tuesday night, beat Concord 82-38  on  Jan. 23.

The sectional continues Wednesday night with No. 4 Penn (21-2) versus Elkhart Memorial (10-12) at 6 p.m., followed by Goshen (18-4) versus Northridge (20-4). The Wednesday winners meet in the second semifinal game on Friday night. The championship game is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Warsaw, which has won eight of its last nine games, hit 16-19 from the line in the fourth quarter to rally past the Blue Blazers. Groninger led the parade to the stripe for the winners as the junior was superb by hitting 8-8 in the final frame.  A pair of charity tosses by Groninger with 3:52 to play gave Warsaw the lead for good at 39-37.

Graham hit 6-9 from the stripe, including 4-4 in the final 15.6 seconds, to seal the win.

The Tigers, who trailed 35-32 early in the fourth period, outscored Central 18-9 in the final stanza.

Warsaw, which made just three field goals in the second half, hit 22-27 from the line in the win. Central finished the game 4-6 from the stripe. The Tigers entered the game shooting just 67 percent from the line as a team. Groninger, who finished 8-8 Tuesday night, was at 79 percent and Graham, who went 6-9, was at 74 percent for the two top marks on the team. Desenberg was a cool 4-4 from the line in the win.

Madi Graham was fine at the line late for the Tigers.

“The big thing is that we stepped up and hit free throws in the fourth quarter,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. “That will win games for you and it did for us tonight. We sealed the game by attacking and getting to the line and then making them. The girls stepped up there with confidence and made them. That’s huge for us.”

“We were able to get big stops late and attack the basket and get in the bonus. We had girls wanting to get to the line for us. Both Dayton and Madi stepped up and did a great job from the line in that fourth quarter for us.”

Central, which lost 38-9 to Warsaw in the sectional a year ago, put up one tough tussle. The quick and athletic Blue Blazers finish at 7-17 after winning just a combined nine games the past three seasons. Central coach Will Coatie, who had a junior, three sophomores and a freshman in his starting lineup Tuesday night, has his program definitely headed in the right direction. The Blue Blazers finished with the program’s best record in eight years.

“We knew it was going to be a battle tonight,” Harter remarked. “Will is doing a great job and Central is much improved. They have a nice team. They are quick and athletic.”

Warsaw, the defending sectional champions, started strong and finished fast Tuesday night. The Tigers led 10-2 out of the game and had a 13-7 edge after the opening period. Groninger came out on fire as the fine junior hit for eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers versus the Central zone, in the first quarter.

The Blue Blazers answered the challenge in the second quarter as they used an 8-0 run to lead 19-17. Warsaw scored the final seven points of the opening half as Graham was clutch with a pair of treys to lead 24-19.

Warsaw’s Mariah Rivera shoots over Trinitee Harris of Central.

Warsaw, which does not have a senior on its roster this season, ran into turnover problems in the third period versus the aggressive Central defense. The Tigers had a 29-21 lead before Harris and Miller sparked a 12-3 Central rally that put the Blue Blazers up 33-32 at the end of the third stanza. Warsaw had six turnovers in the third quarter alone after having just two in the entire first half.

“They were able to speed us up in the second half and we did not take care of the ball,” said Harter. “We have two turnovers in the first half and then eight in the second. We just need to make sure that we don’t allow teams to speed us up like that.”

Warsaw led 46-39 after a pair of free throws by Groninger with 1:30 to play. Graham then misfired on a pair of charity tosses and Krisen Hunt hit a trey to cut the lead to 46-42 with 38 seconds to play. Graham then was clutch with two tosses with 15.6 ticks left and then two more with 4.7 remaining to seal the deal.

Mariah Rivera had two points and Emma Bohnenkamper one for the Tigers. Groninger had six rebounds and Desenberg five for Warsaw.

Warsaw shot 11-31 overall from the field, including 6-15 from distance. Central finished 16-45 from the field, including a 6-29 mark from 3-point range.