DUNLAP – Warsaw girls basketball coach Lenny Krebs thought that it was important for his team to get off to a good start in its sectional debut Wednesday night.

Mission accomplished.

The Tigers never trailed and rode a hot start to a convincing 44-27 win over host Concord in a first-round game of the Class 4-A Concord Sectional.

Warsaw, which improves to 15-8, advances to play Elkhart Memorial (13-9) on Friday in the second semifinal contest at approximately 7:30 p.m. Memorial defeated Goshen 40-27 in the second game Wednesday night. Warsaw beat Memorial 57-35 back on Jan. 10 at Warsaw.

The sectional continues Friday with defending champion and No. 12 ranked Northridge (21-3) facing Elkhart Central (15-8)) in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday at 6 p.m.

Concord, which finishes a much-improved season at 10-13 has now lost 42 straight games to Warsaw. The Tigers lead the overall series 50-2.

Warsaw’s outstanding scoring balance by sharing the wealth in unselfish fashion on the offensive end has been its calling card all season long for first-year coach Krebs.

That trait remained true to form Wednesday night for the Tigers right from the opening tipoff. Four different players netted baskets in the opening frame as the Tigers used an 8-0 tun to lead 10-2 after the first period of play. The game was tied just once at 2-2.

“It’s nice to get the first one under our belts,” noted Krebs, whose team beat Concord 46-29 on Jan. 20 at Warsaw. “The nerves were running high for a lot of our girls before the game tonight. For a lot of them this was their first time playing in a sectional game.

“I thought that it was important for us to get off to a good start and not give Concord confidence on their home court and our girls did that. Concord is a much improved team and I have a lot of respect for coach (Cassie) Cepeda and the job that she has done”

Warsaw led 25-14 at halftime on the strength of a 10-20 shooting effort. Emma Bohnenkamper had seven points, while Kaylee Patton scored six and the duo of Maddie Ryman and Kacy Bragg each had five for the balanced Warsaw attack.

Concord shot just 6-25 from the field in the first half as the hosts missed 14 of their first 15 shot attempts.

“I thought that we came out and got high percentage shots and got some layups and then we drifted away from that and shot too much from outside,” Krebs said. “But we fixed that. We found some mismatches.”

Warsaw put the game away with a big third quarter effort. The Tigers outscored Concord 13-4 in the frame to push their lead to 38-18. The hosts had 10 turnovers in the period as Warsaw turned up the intensity level after a talk from Krebs during a timeout at the 5:31 mark. At that point, neither team had scored yet in the second half.

“I was little disappointed in our start to the third quarter,” Krebs commented. “We did not have the fire. I strongly encouraged them to have more intensity and they responded.”

“The two adjustments we made were number one to space the floor better on offense. I thought that we putted the trigger too early some in the first half and clogged the lane. And number two was that we also communicated better offensively in the second half.”

The Tigers used a 15-0 run in the final half to pull away to the dominating victory.

Warsaw’s aggressive defense forced the hosts into 23 turnovers on the night. Bragg came up with six steals to led her team.

Senior Bohnenkamper led Warsaw with 14 points as she went 5-12 from the field. Juniors Ryman and Bragg each finished with nine points and sophomore Kaylee Patton added six.

“We strive for balance on the offensive end and not relying on just one person to carry us,” Krebs said. “We’re working our way to that point.

“Tonight we hooked on our coat tails to Emma and rode her scoring. Other nights it’s been Maddie or Kacy.”

Sophomore Brielle Harrison had four points and freahmN Brooklyn Fitzgerald two for Warsaw. The trio of Harrison, Bragg and Bohnenkamper each had six rebounds.

Warsaw shot 17-41 overall from the field, including 2-7 from distance. The Tigers were 8-13 from the free throw line and had 31 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

Junior Alexa Porter led Concord with eight points and 11 rebounds. Junior Chandyn Redmond had seven points and junior Riley Mathewson five for the Minutemen.

Concord shot just  11-47 overall from the field, including 2-11 from 3-point range. The hosts were 3-10 on free throws and had 36 rebounds.

Concord posted its most wins this season since the 2009-10 team finished 10-12. The Minutemen lose a pair of seniors, including starter Jenica Albert.