Senior Paul Marandet, with the Warsaw student section in the background, was dominant in leading his team to a regional championship Saturday at Michigan City. Marandet had 55 points and hit 28-29  free throws in the two regional wins by the No. 5 Tigers, who will face No. 4 McCutcheon Saturday in the Lafayette Jefferson Semistate.

MICHIGAN CITY – Doug Ogle knows and appreciates just how important basketball is to the Warsaw community.

His players understand the significance too for their adoring fans.

The No. 5 Tigers claimed a regional title, the 14th in the proud tradition of the program, on Saturday. Warsaw beat South Bend Riley 79-74 in double overtime and Crown Point 46-33 at Michigan City in front of a huge throng of Tiger Nation, including a large and raucous student section.

“There is such a connection between our players and our fans,” said Ogle following the regional championship contest Saturday night. Our players do not want to disappoint Tiger Nation. They want to make them proud and I think that they did that again today.”

Ogle has been at WCHS since 1985. He is in his 14th season as the head coach of the Tigers and directed the program to a state runner-up finish in 2010.

The Warsaw players definitely feel the love and support of a community that is crazy about its hardwood heroes. The team, as it did prior to the sectional final at Elkhart, came out early on Saturday night to salute its crowd before beginning pregame warmups.

No Warsaw player may be more beloved than Paul Marandet. The senior guard, who never says no to a photo request  from fans of all ages, was greeted with chants of “MVP MVP” Saturday night from the orange-clad student section as he climbed the ladder to cut down his piece of the regional championship net. Marandet was phenomenal Saturday with 55 points in the two wins, including 37 versus Riley.

The Tigers also displayed tremendous toughness, both physically and mentally in an exhausting regional effort. Warsaw went through a tough week prior to the regional as top scorer Kyle Mangas missed practice on Wednesday due to an illness and fellow starting guard Evan Schmidt missed a couple of days of work after injuring his ankle in practice on Tuesday.

“We had a bad week of practice, but our guys were resilient,” said Ogle Saturday. “They showed that they have the hearts of champions.”

Scouting McCutcheon

Warsaw will face another high-scoring foe come the semistate round.

No. 4 McCutcheon, the opposition for the No. 5 Tigers in the Lafayette Jeff Semistate this coming Saturday, can fill it up just like Riley.

The Mavericks rank ninth in the state in scoring average at 73.9 points-per-game. The 27-3 squad also ranks second in the state in average margin of victory at 23.6 points-per-game.

McCutcheon beat Carmel 56-54 in overtime and Homestead 85-66 Saturday to claim the program’s fifth overall regional title and the first since 2001.  Warsaw’s lone loss this season was a 36-33 home setback to Carmel on a 3-pointer at the final buzzer. The Tigers, who are 25-1, defeated Homestead 65-50.

The Mavericks have four players averaging in doubt figures, led by stellar sophomore Robert Phinisee. The 6-0 guard averages 19.3 points-per-game, along with 6.4 assists per outing. Junior Haden Deaton, a 6-4 forward, averages  15.3 points and five rebounds per game, with 6-5 senior guard Darnell Butler at 13.8 and 5-10 junior guard Eddy Collins at 11.4.

McCutcheon also loves to shoot the 3-ball, just like Riley. The Mavericks are 244-649 from distance with Collins leading the team with 78 treys. Deaton has 52, while Phinisee has 46 and Butler 37. McCutcheon, like Warsaw, also gets to the free throw line a ton. The Mavericks, who have lost to Lafayette Jeff (57-56), Lawrence Central (57-55) and Danville (60-57), are 359-499 from the stripe.

The Mavericks had to have some late-game heroics from Collins on Saturday to advance. Collins hit a 3-pointer from  25 feet out versus Carmel in the regional semifinal to send the game into overtime.

McCutcheon will also be in familiar surroundings for the semistate contest. The Mavericks have played three games this season in the Crawley Center at Lafayette Jefferson. They participated in a tourney there in early December and they also defeated Jeff on their homecourt in a game played on Feb. 4.

McCutcheon coach Rick Peckinpaugh is 453-265 in his 31st season at the school, located in Lafayette. He has 515 career wins overall in 37 seasons, which ranks him 10th among active coaches and 26th all-time.