PLYMOUTH – A game of runs favored the Warsaw Tigers Friday night.
Warsaw went on a mammoth run in the third quarter and survived a Plymouth spurt in the fourth for a 54-41 Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball victory at Plymouth High School.
With the win, Warsaw (12-4, 6-0 NLC) clinched at least a share of the NLC title for the fifth straight year, while Plymouth (13-4, 4-2 NLC) took itself out of contention in the conference.
The Tigers have won 32 of their last 34 NLC games and go undefeated in league play for the fourth time in five years when they host Elkhart Memorial on Feb. 19.
“It’s a good win for us, not having played for two weeks,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle.
Warsaw held a 23-19 lead to start the third quarter when Wyatt Amiss sparked the Tigers’ run with a three-pointer.
His teammate Nolan Groninger channeled NBA legend Reggie Miller by scoring five points off two steals within 10 seconds.
“Our pressure, we picked them up and had a couple steals in our press, and we got a nice working margin,” Ogle said.
Amiss followed that up with back-to-back treys to cap off a 19-0 run that stretched from the end of the second quarter.
Then, Warsaw’s Tyler Metzinger, who had missed two games because of a stress fracture in his foot, answered a pair of Plymouth free throws with an emphatic two-handed slam that proved he was back.
“Tyler did OK tonight,” Ogle said. “He played a little better than I expected.”
The Tigers carried a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter, but went cold from the floor while Plymouth heated up.
“We just started to play, and I think a part of that is they took a few shots and they missed,” said Plymouth coach Ryan Bales. “(They) allowed us to get some rebounds and quick scores.”
The Pilgrims cut Warsaw’s lead to five points before, once again, Groninger was the difference maker.
He missed two free throws before bolting for his own rebound, and was fouled in the process.
He made his way back to the line and calmly hit two from the stripe.
Plymouth never threatened after that.
Warsaw’s Trevor Rumple made two foul shots of his own, and Groninger hit another two free throws to regain a double-digit lead for the Tigers.
Warsaw trailed 10-9 after the first quarter before taking a four-point lead into the break, and then outscoring the hosts 20-7 in third quarter.
“The better team won tonight,” Bales said. “They outplayed us, outexecuted us, outcoached us, so you gotta give them a lot of credit. They played extremely well.”
Groninger scored a game-high 21 points, while Rumple had 11, Amiss scored nine, and Metzinger added seven.
Plymouth’s Clay Hillard needed 15 points to reach 1,000 career points. He fell just short with a team-high 13, while Cole Filson scored nine and Jake Reichard added six.
The three players averaged 45 points between them but were held to 28 points, which was five less than Warsaw’s goal of holding the trio to 33 points.
Warsaw won 60-23 in the JV game. Drew McCleary led the Tigers with 13 points.
Warsaw will host Merrillville today. The JV game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.
