The Great Escape

Warsaw was facing a loss. The hope was almost gone. And then Kyle Mangas put on his super hero costume.

Almost silent in the fourth quarter, Mangas stepped up and drilled a three-pointer with five seconds left to tie the game, allowing the Tigers to take control of the overtime session in beating host Fort Wayne Northrop 61-53 in boys basketball Saturday night.

Mangas’ heroics came during the bleakest of stretches where Northrop had led by five in the fourth quarter, only for Warsaw to hang on long enough to get within three with the ball. Warsaw had Paul Marandet miss a two-footer, and Northrop score on the other end to take a three-point lead. A Northrop turnover gave Warsaw the ball back with 15 seconds left, setting up the miraculous shot.

Warsaw made due in overtime, helped by a technical foul call on Northrop’s Jagger Surface as the Tigers clung to a four-point lead in the extra session. The extra free throws and possession put Warsaw up 59-53, giving the Tigers its 15th straight win to start the season, a school record to start a season.

Mangas and Marandet each finished with 22, for Marandet the point total was a career-high. Marandet was 11-14 from the free throw line in the contest. Riley Rhoades added nine points and Jeremy David chipped in four points and six rebounds.

Surface had a huge night before the technical call, scoring 23 points and pulling down seven rebounds for the Bruins (6-9), with Richard Johnson adding 13 points.

Warsaw was in decent shape in the fourth until a series of calls against the Tigers had Doug Ogle question a call, resulting in a technical of his own, which allowed the Bruins to jump up three. Ogle had said on Tiger Talk Saturday morning he was worried the Northrop game was a classic trap game after the Tigers withstood rival Concord in Dunlap Friday night.

After the win Saturday night, Ogle’s club sits at 15-0 on the season, setting up the most talked about game in some time in the Northern Lakes Conference in some time when Warsaw visits NorthWood Friday night. Both teams are 4-0 in the NLC, the Panthers are 13-1 overall and ranked No. 3 in Class 3-A, the Tigers are No. 7 in Class 4-A.

In the JV contest, Warsaw bested Northrop 52-43 to move its season mark to 12-3. Asher Blum and Landen Ferber each led Warsaw with nine points while Zach Riley and Jack Rhoades were right behind with eight points apiece. Terance Sullivan led Northrop with 11 points and five boards.

The freshman basketball outfit had no trouble with Fort Wayne Northrop Saturday, winning 61-20. Nolan Groninger outscored Northrop by himself, netting 23 points. Tyler Metzinger added eight points and six points apiece were had by Jaylen Reese, Trevor Rumple and Bryce Garner. The freshman squad is 14-1 this season.

One More Before The Show

Warsaw got one more crack at a meet in its home pool before sectionals arrive in a couple weeks. The Tigers hosted Columbia City and LaPorte Saturday in a double dual, the boys picking up two wins and the girls split.

Warsaw’s boys won 101-61 against City and 92-70 against LaPorte while the girls beat City 85-77 and lost 82-78 to LaPorte.

Each Warsaw side won six events – diving was not included as Warsaw competed at Mishawaka’s Invite. The boys had Evan Borchers take part in three wins, a 57.22 win in the butterfly, helping the medley relay to a 1:43.24 win with Zach Taylor, Matt Wildman and Ethan Cook, and joining Cook, Hudson Snyder and Adam Doyle in a closing 3:28.39 400 free relay victory.

Cook was a 57.03 winner in the backstroke and Wildman a 1:05.17 winner in the breaststroke.

“Some guys swam some best times in events they don’t normally swim,” said Warsaw head coach Tony DeBrota. “We weren’t looking for best times here, and the swimmers who did their same events didn’t get them. But the swimming itself actually looked really good, and that was the important part. I hope to see the consistent swimming continue next week for conference.”

The girls saw both Delaney Wihebrink and Brenna Morgan take first in three events. Wihebrink captured the individual medley at 2:23.31 and the breaststroke at 1:10.15 while Morgan won her complimentary 100 (55.97) and 200 (2:02.97) freestyles. Both joined Lauren Kuhl and Olivia Herman to capture the medley relay at 1:59.68 and Herman was golden in the 50 free at 26.62.

Both of Warsaw’s girls 200 free relay teams were disqualified for false starts, to which the Tigers lost keys points in the chase against LaPorte.

“We are looking forward to tweaking a few more technical issues to prepare for sectionals in two weeks,” DeBrota said.

Warsaw’s boys team will compete in the Northern Lakes Conference Championships this weekend at Northridge and then host the Warsaw Sectional the week of Feb. 20. The Warsaw girls will host the Warsaw Sectional the week of Feb. 6.

An Improved Invitation

Warsaw’s gymnastics team finished second in the three-team East Noble Invite Saturday morning.

Warsaw scored 92.25 points to finish behind East Noble’s 96.85 points while Plymouth had 88.15 points.

Remi Beckham led Warsaw with a 32.8 all-around title, boosted by a second-place beam score of 8.35 and third on bars at 7.45.

Hayley Campbell was third on floor at 8.4 for Warsaw while teammate Anna Wainscott was third on beam at 7.85.

East Noble’s Brianna Glass was first on bars (8.5) and beam (8.4) while teammate Maddie Fortman’s 9.0 on floor was tops. Plymouth’s Karly Gruett scored an 8.8 on vault for honors.

Warsaw will host Wawasee and Peru Tuesday at the Parker St. gymnastics facility.