Warsaw Tigers Fall To East Noble KnightsWINONA LAKE – Because the shots didn’t fall Saturday, the Warsaw Tigers did.
Warsaw’s varsity boys basketball team shot 14 of 39 from the field and fell 51-34 to East Noble in the Champions of Character Classic at Grace?College’s Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
“We just don’t have much margin for error against a team like East Noble,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle.
The Tigers (6-4) trailed 11-6 after the first quarter and were down by three late in the second.
That’s when Hayden Jones and Brent Cox, who was back after missing five games because of an illness, went to work for the Knights (8-2).
Jones hit the back end of a pair of free throws and made a bucket on the Knights’ next possession for a six-point lead.
Cox hit back-to-back baskets to stretch East Noble’s lead to 27-17 by halftime.
“It was nice to have Cox back,” said East Noble coach Ryan Eakins. “Him in the middle made a huge difference.”
The Tigers set a goal to cut the Knights’ lead to five to start the fourth quarter, and they trailed 33-28 late in the third.
However, missed layups stunted Warsaw, while East Noble benefitted from a balanced scoring attack to take a 12-point lead into the final frame.
The Tigers never got within 10 points in the fourth, as the Knights continued to hit their shots for the win.
“If you miss too many layups and you get outrebounded and the other team shoots well, you can’t overcome it,” Ogle said.
East Noble grabbed 25 boards to Warsaw’s 21, and shot better than 50 percent from the floor.
Cox and Jones led with 14 points each, while Nate Dickson added 11 points for the Knights.
Nolan Groninger scored a game-high 15 points for the Tigers.
Warsaw’s Jaylen Reese was presented a Champions of?Character award.
The Tigers will host Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge Friday.
“That’s where we’re gonna turn our thoughts,” Ogle said.
EAST NOBLE 51,
WARSAW 34
EN 11 16 13 11 – 51
W 6 11 11 6 – 34
East Noble – Spencer Denton 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Ali 4-7 -0-0 8, Brent Cox 7-9 0-0 14, Hayden Jones 5-11 2-5 14, Michael Kelin 0-3 0-0 0, Gage Ernsberger 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Dickson 4-7 0-0 11, Michael Bender 2-4 0-0 4.
