WARSAW – It was a game that the Tigers had to win and they did just that.

The Warsaw boys basketball team welcomed in rival Wawasee to the Tiger Den on Friday night and did not show much hospitality to the Warriors after the first half. The Tigers had four players in double digits to help fuel a 67-49 victory in the Northern Lakes Conference opener for both teams.

“We had to win this game,” started Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle. “If we wanted to have any chance at winning conference this year, this was a game we definitely had to win.”

Ogle and the Tigers found themselves in jeopardy at the half, leading only 28-25 after having holding Wawasee to just eight points in the first quarter. Yes, the young Warrior team that has had trouble scoring all year, found its niche in the second quarter of Friday’s game. Gage Reinhard hit twice from long range and had 10 points at the half. But both Reinhard’s and Wawasee’s production dropped off significantly after the half as Reinhard finished with only 12 on the night and Wawasee was nonexistent on offense in the third quarter.

After seemingly ending the half with the momentum, the Warriors came out and looked flat for the majority of the third quarter. Wawasee could not get any inside presence and simply could not hit a shot. By the time the fourth quarter started, the three-point deficit that Wawasee faced was now up to 15 points as the Warriors were outscored 16-4 in the third frame.

Wawasee head coach Steve Wiktorowski said the biggest area that his team failed to compete in was physicality.

“We did not handle them well, physically, in the second half,” said Wiktorowski. “I thought we needed to have a better balance with our inside and outside shooting. Our outside shooting was not too bad tonight but when we tried to go inside we had some turnovers and did not draw enough fouls.”

Another battle that Wawasee lost was in foul shots taken. Warsaw hit 16-18 shots from the stripe while Wawasee only took seven all night, hitting four.

One aspect of the game that Ogle was pleased to see his team come out ahead on was on the boards. Ogle challenged his team at half to be more aggressive with offensive boards as the two rivals had each had 14 total rebounds but Warsaw had just four offensive boards to Wawasee’s six.

One player that took his coach’s challenge to heart was Rashaan Jackson. The junior became a strong presence on the court after the half. He was involved in nearly every loose ball and had four rebounds and four steals in the third and fourth quarters.

“He was one of the guys I challenged at half,” said Ogle. “He took it personal and he competed better, he was more active. He gets into these modes where he can be like that, it just does not happen all the time.”

Jackson finished with 10 points, six rebounds and the four steals. He was one of four Tigers in double digits along with Jake Mangas (12), Tim Swanson (15) and Jordan Stookey, who led all scorers with 21 points. Reinhard and Alex Clark each had 12 points to lead the Warriors while Stori Bright added 11.

Wawasee (1-6, 0-1) will look to get more physical over its winter break as the Warriors next game is not until hosting Columbia City on Jan. 4. Warsaw (4-2, 1-0) travels south next Friday for a tournament at Hamilton Heights. The Tigers’ first game is a 11:30 a.m. against Bloomington North for the first ever meeting between the two schools.

In the junior varsity game the Warriors fell to the Tigers 30-25. Warsaw was led by 13 points and three steals from Kyle Mangas while Aaron Beer led Wawasee with eight points.