Warsaw Basketball: Tigers Drop Third Straight
ST. JOHN – A slow start proved costly for the Warsaw boys basketball team Friday night.
The cold-shooting Tigers fell behind early on en route to dropping a 63-51 final at Lake Central in a non-conference contest.
The host Indians led 15-7 out of the gate and had a 17-10 advantage after the first quarter. Lake Central led 25-20 at halftime as Warsaw shot just 8-21 from the field in the opening half.
Lake Central, which posted its third straight win, led 46-33 after the third period. The Tigers staged a fourth quarter rally, pulling within 57-51 with 1:48 to play. The hosts then scored the final six points of the game to earn the win.
Senior Jack Rhoades and sophomore Brian Elliott each scored 10 points to pace the Tigers, who fall to 2-3 with their third straight loss.
Jaylen Reese had nine points and Nolan Groninger eight for Warsaw. Tyler Metzinger added six points. Metzinger had eight rebounds and Reese seven. Groninger dished out eight assists.
Senior Justin Graciano fired in 22 points to lead the winners, who improve to 3-2. Senior Conner Tomasic, who will play baseball at Purdue next year, had 15 points for the Indians.
Warsaw continued to struggle with its shooting by going 22-50 overall from the field, including a 4-18 mark from 3-point range. The Tigers were just 3-9 from the free throw line and had 11 turnovers.
Lake Central shot 22-43 from the field, including 4-11 from distance. The hosts were 15-24 from the line and had seven turnovers.
Warsaw played without Landen Ferber. The junior guard, who had started the first four games of the season and scored a total of 19 points, is no longer with the team.
Lake Central hit a 3-pointer at the horn to win the junior varsity game 51-48 in overtime.
Jaylen Coon led the Warsaw JV team with 14 points. Tedros Berelsman had 13 points and Keegan Larsh 10 for the Tigers.
The Warsaw freshman team notched a 36-31 win. Luke Adamiec led the way with 10 points. Brock Poe scored eight points and Ben Bergen seven as the frosh Tigers improved to 4-2. Warsaw will play at Columbia City Monday at 6:30 p.m.
Warsaw hosts Wawasee next Friday night in its Northern Lakes Conference opener. The Warriors are 1-2 heading into a game at Whitko Saturday night.
Lake Central hosts Hammond Morton on Dec. 16.