MIDDLEBURY – Doug Ogle wasn’t thrilled Northridge High School junior Jackson Erekson scored 25 points against his Warsaw boys basketball team Friday night.
In the grand scheme of things, however, Ogle was rather forgiving since his Tigers held Northridge standouts Connor Utley and Nick Yoder to a combined 13 points.
Behind an impressive display of team defense and an efficient offense that shot 56 percent from the field and made 19 of 23 free throw attempts, Warsaw beat the host Raiders 58-49 in Northern Lakes Conference action.
After seeing their 21-game conference win streak snapped by Wawasee last month, the Tigers improved to 1-1 in league play and 5-7 overall.
Northridge fell to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the NLC.
“We knew that Utley and Yoder together were averaging 30 points a game,” said Ogle. “Our goal was to hold them to 20, and together they had 13 tonight.
“We also said that if Erekson is scoring more for them that’s better for us. He got loose there at the end and hit some 3s and that kind of kept them in it. We didn’t wanna give him 25 points, but we wanted to make the other guys beat us. I felt like our team defense on Utley and Yoder was pretty good.”
Erekson, a 5-foot-11 shooting guard finished the game 9 of 18 from the field overall, 5 of 10 from the arc, and made both of his charity tosses.
He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, trying to keep the home team close after Warsaw built a 15-point cushion.
Utley, a 5-11 senior, scored 10 points for Northridge, while 6-6 sophomore Alex Stauffer scored six points, Yoder three, seniors Micah Yoder and Kyle Carson two each, and senior Braden Tadeo a free throw.
Northridge shot 38 percent from the field, which included a 6-of-20 effort from three-point range, and was 7 of 11 at the charity stripe.
Ogle’s Tigers have won two games in a row now after a stretch in which they won just once in eight games.
Friday’s win in Middlebury, said Ogle, carries more meaning than the 43-38 win over Fishers on Dec. 30 in the Champions Of Character Classic at Grace College.
“We looked like a basketball team at times tonight, and that’s gratifying,” said Ogle. “The win against Fishers was good, and that helped us, but this win, to me, is more meaningful. It’s on the road in the Northern Lakes Conference, Northridge won their first conference game at Goshen, and I’m happy with the way we played tonight overall ... I really am.”
After sophomore Blake Marsh hit a buzzer beater, the Tigers led 8-7 after one quarter of play, and then 20-13 at halftime.
Warsaw exploded offensively in the third quarter, scoring 18 points in eight minutes after scoring 20 points in the first 16 minutes, and led 38-28 heading into the final frame.
Junior Nolan Groninger was 5 of 7 from the field and 8 of 9 at the free throw line for the Tigers en route to a team-high 18 points, all of which came in the final three quarters.
“Nolan has a good sense of knowing how the game is flowing, and he knows when to put the bit in his mouth,” said Ogle. “He did that tonight pretty effectively. I appreciate that about him.”
Junior Tyler Metzinger scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds, while seniors Zach Riley and Deondre Adkins, and sophomore Brian Elliott chipped in with eight points each.
Northridge won the junior varsity game 55-53 in double overtime.
Keagan Larsh led the JV Tigers with 23 points.
Warsaw plays two games in the Tiger Den next week, hosting Goshen Friday and Fort Wayne Snider Saturday.
