MIDDLEBURY – Warsaw’s Kyle Mangas was in the zone Friday night.

It didn’t matter whether Northridge played zone or what they did to try and stop the Tiger star.

It just didn’t work.

Mangas was superb once again as the junior guard poured in  a career-high 29 points to lead undefeated Warsaw past the host Raiders 61-40 in Northern Lakes Conference action.

Mangas, who entered play averaging 20 points-per-game, hit 10-13 shots overall from the field. He was 4-6 from 3-point range, with three of those triples coming in the opening half when the Northridge zone defense somehow lost track of the best player on the floor. Mangas also went 5-5 from the free throw line and added four assists and three steals.

Stellar senior guard Paul Marandet added 11 points to go with four rebounds and four assists as the Tigers improved to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in NLC action.

The 10-0 start by the Tigers is the first for the program since the 1993-94 season.

Senior Kurtis Hochstetler netted 18 points to lead the Raiders, who fall to 2-6 overall and 0-2 in league play.

“Kyle was pretty efficient tonight,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “He shot it well. Kyle and Paul combined for 40 points tonight. When that happens, it bodes well for us.”

“This is a good win for us. To be 10-0 right now is good and we are happy with that. But our goal now is to go 2-0 next week versus Goshen (Friday night) and Fort Wayne Snider (Saturday night).”

Warsaw overcome a sloppy first half to lead 25-20 at intermission. Mangas scored 15 in the opening half, including 10 in the second quarter. The Tigers closed the first half with an 8-3 run after the Raiders had rallied to tie the game at 17-17. Norrhtidge led 20-19 before Marandet scored a bucket and Mangas then added two free throws and layup to close the half.

“In the first half, we were out of rhythm offensively,” said Ogle. “Kyle was the only one really doing anything offensively for us. At halftime, we asked Paul and Kyle to take better care of the basketball. We had six turnovers at halftime and were not patient enough. The combination of us being loose with the basketball and no offensive rebounds made it a five point game at halftime.”

Warsaw answered the bell in the final half. The Tigers opened the third period with a 7-0 run as Mangas buried another triple, followed by a Marandet jumper and a Mangas jumper. The Raiders did not make a basket in the third frame until Zack Welker scored on a rebound outback with 2:08 to play. The Tigers by then had stretched their lead to 36-21. Mangas scored seven points in the third period as Warsaw lead 37-26 at the end of the stanza.

Northridge, which lost 60-47 at Warsaw last year, got no closer than 10 points in the final period of play. Eight different players scored for the Tigers in the fourth quarter.

“I was really happy with our play in the second half,” Ogle said. “We got it rolling early in the third quarter and got our Mojo. We were much more patient in the second half.”

Warsaw shot 22-38 overall from the field, including 11-21 in the second half. Northridge was just 14-42 from the field, including 6-21 in the final half. The Tigers were 4-11 from 3-point land and 13-18 at the line, while the Raiders were 6-17 from distance and 6-9 at the line.

Junior Braxton Minix had six points and junior Jeremy David and senior Riley Rhoades four each for Warsaw. Junior Sam Miller, sophomore Ross Johnson and junior Jaceb Burish each had two points and senior Evan Schmidt one.

Junior Luke Morrison, who entered play Friday night as the Raiders’ top scorer at 16 ppg, finished with nine points on 3-9 shooting. Sophomore Connor Utley had six points for the Raiders.

Warsaw won the junior varsity game 51-46. Asher Blum led the JV Tigers with 17 points. Jack Rhoades had 12 points and Zach Riley 11 for the Tigers. Josh Hochstetler scored 13 points and Kyle Carson 12 to lead Northridge.

Warsaw hosts Goshen in an NLC game next Friday night. The Tigers then entertain Fort Wayne Snider on Saturday night. Northridge plays at East Noble Tuesday night and at NorthWood Friday night.