Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The Homestead Spartans 6’5” junior Mack Welker spoiled the Warsaw Tigers boys’ basketball home and regular season opener with a 31-point performance along with 13 rebounds leading this Homestead side to a 48-37 victory in the Tiger Den.
The junior, whose inside and outside games are formidable, mixed inside buckets via layups and putbacks with baskets scored beyond the arc steadily among all four quarters.
His quarterly output, in fact, looked like half of a football box score: 7 points, 10, 7, and 7 among the respective periods.
The Tigers were the side with the quickest start with two opening 3-point baskets by junior Sam Lara and sophomore Drew Jones, with senior guard Mydin Burgher capping off the opening 11-4 run with a solid slam dunk shortly after the first period clock moved below five minutes.
Welker, who scored those first four Spartan points chipped in for three more in an 8-3 run to move within two points, 14-12 after the first stanza.
The opening frame was the only quarter the Tigers would reach double figures due in part to a tight, physical Homestead defense that actually played a little too rough.
The game officials managed a physical contest with blatant disparity with Burgher, for example, being spun or checked to the floor four times in the second quarter without a foul called in his favor.
The Tigers, however, were whistled for enough infractions to place the Spartans in the bonus in three of the game’s four periods.
While some of the Tiger Den floor resembled ice hockey, Homestead’s Welker took matters into his own hands in the second period scoring 10 (17 for the first half altogether) of his team’s 12 points to move ahead of Warsaw 24-20.
The quarter featured three ties and three more lead changes.
The Spartans never looked back once the final lead change fell their way.
Jaron Courtois, Warsaw’s 6’7” senior pivot, contributed to one of the third period’s best plays with a pass that bent so well it likely made his former soccer coach and father, Frank Courtois proud, finding Sam Lara, a Tiger soccer athlete in fact, moving swiftly along the baseline for an easy layup.
The stellar play moved Warsaw within three points, trailing 32-29 with nearly 2 minutes left in the third stanza before Welker sunk another trey to finish the period’s scoring eventually heading to the sidelines with his teammates ahead 35-29 after three frames.
Homestead expanded their lead in the final period steadily near the five-minute mark moving among 7-, 9-, 10-, and the game-ending 11-point victory margin.
The 48-37 win punctuated a Spartan sweep following freshman and Junior Varsity wins by scores of 52-45 and 55-41, respectively.
No other Spartan scored more than four points for the guests Friday night. The team hit 48.6% on 17-35 shooting overall including 3-11, 27.3% outside the arc.
The Tigers were outrebounded 25-21, and struggled from the field (14-40, 35%), hitting only 4-15, 26.7% from three-point range.
Free throw shooting was a challenge for each team (Warsaw 5-11, 45.5%; Homestead 11-19, 57.9%). The Tigers did manage 8 assists among their 14 made shots (57% of scoring buckets).
Warsaw’s scoring leaders included Jones (10 points, team-leading 5 rebounds), Sam McDaniels (8 points including 2 treys, 4 boards) and Burgher (8 points, 4 caroms).
Warsaw will sleep fast, shoot around, and return to action early this afternoon with a JV tipoff at 1 p.m. and an approximate varsity tipoff at 2:30 p.m.
