WARSAW — Mired in an awful shooting slump, Warsaw’s Tigers finally started knocking down their shots but didn’t get the win in a competitive loss to Crown Point Saturday.

On Wednesday, the Tigers continued to shoot well, and this time they were rewarded with the “W”, running away from visiting Whitko for a 67-49 victory and snapping a five-game losing streak in the process. That skid was a rare blip for the program, and the team could finally breath a sigh of relief after Wednesday’s win.

“We feel like we’re getting better slowly kind of, but we just haven’t had any wins to show for it. So to have a game like tonight… it just helps our confidence to have a game where we shoot well for the whole game,” said Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle.

“We’re very happy, and I think to some degree relieved, honestly, to have a game like this.”

The Tigers (3-5) converted 26 of 48 (54.2 percent) shots opposite Whitko (4-5) in the two teams’ first meeting since 2007, and much of that offensive efficiency had to do with junior guard Nolan Groninger’s leadership on the point.

After ending a streak of four straight games not reaching double figures with 14 points Saturday, Groninger finished 5 of 10 shots while putting up 11 against Whitko. But that scoring was dwarfed by his ball distribution as he passed out 13 assists to lead an unselfish Warsaw squad that recorded a total of 21 assists on 26 made shots. And Groninger did all that while turning the ball over just one time Wednesday.

“Groninger was really outstanding. I don’t know if we’ve ever had a player in my tenure get 13 assists. I would remember,” said Ogle. “I thought Nolan was special tonight in terms of how he ran our team.”

Tyler Metzinger put in a breakout performance himself with a career-high 17 points and five rebounds as the 6’7” junior forward gave the Tigers a legitimate threat in the low post. If he can continue to provide that inside presence, it can only bode well for Warsaw, says Ogle.

“Tyler slowed down and played on balance. He was aggressive, but he was on balance,” Ogle explained. “He just took his time, and I’m happy for him because he has had times in practice where that is how he has played, but he just hasn’t done that in a game so that’s huge for us to put that type of pressure on another team’s defense with a legitimate post presence.

“If he can continue that, it makes our team a different animal.”

The home team got a third double-digit scoring performance in senior guard Zach Riley’s 13 points, and eight of 10 Tigers who played in Wednesday’s win scored buckets. That ball sharing had something to do with Warsaw’s efficient offense, but the biggest reason was much simpler, said Ogle.

“We got some layups, and we have had very few layups, inside shots, but that is huge when you can get the ball at point blank range,” said the Tigers boss.

“We’ve been wanting to attack the zone defenses we’ve been playing differently with more drives and move the ball to get drives on reversals and things, and tonight you saw that. We were able to attack the basket more than even just settling for 15-foot jump shots.”

While Warsaw worked the ball inside, Whitko settled for the outside shot at the Tiger Den.

For most of three quarters, the Wildcats had some success doing just that as they rained down 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) 3-pointers — including 5 of 7 from senior River West — to score a full 33 of their points from beyond the arc Wednesday. But as the game wore on, Whitko’s players wore down, and those long shots stopped falling.

After burying their first four 3-point attempts of the third period, the Wildcats missed the next three as Warsaw closed out the quarter with eight unanswered points. They made only one of their last seven attempts from deep, and the Tigers ran away with a 21-9 fourth quarter to blow open a previously nip-tuck game that featured four lead changes and three ties.

“You would’ve thought that you shoot that well from 3 that you would’ve won, right? But you get beaten by 18 points,” said Whitko coach Eli Henson. “When you’re cranking 3s you’re going to have a little success. You might have a hot streak and hit four or five in a row, but then your legs are going to get tired at some point when the game wears on. And when we’re only playing five to six guys, those guys in the fourth quarter are just getting dog-tired.”

West led the Wildcats with a game co-high 17 points, while 6’6” junior swing player Spencer Sroufe finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots, and freshman guard Brett Sickafoose scored 10 points. But Whitko got a total of just eight points from the rest of its lineup and just six from its bench compared to 15 from the Warsaw reserves.

“Honestly, right now we just don’t have the bench, and I feel like, as a coach, it’s not lack of effort. I’m hoping that it’s just we don’t have a bench right now,” said Henson. “We need guys to step up. Right now we have four guys that are doing a bulk of our scoring, and that can’t continue for us to be a good team going forward.”

While the Tigers snapped a five-game streak, Whitko dropped its second straight after back-to-back wins over Wawasee and Tippecanoe Valley. The Tigers will be back in action at Westview Saturday. The Wildcats resume play at the Columbia City/ Huntington Tournament Dec. 28.

“Right now for us, the record is not important. We want to win. Obviously we’re competitive, we all want to win, but we’ve just got to make progress every day to get ready for sectionals. Because right now that’s what’s important to us,” Henson said.

Warsaw’s JV jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and blew the lid off its game with a 22-2 third period on the way to a 69-31 win Wednesday. Jaylen Coon finished with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Blake Marsh converted 5 of 8 shots on the way to 13 points, Wyatt Amiss scored on 3 of 4 shots en route to 10 points, and Keagan Larsh made 4 of 5 for nine for the JV Tigers, who tallied 16 assists.

Whitko’s JV was paced by Micsh Cokl’s nine points and seven from Kylar Bryant.

Also Wednesday, the Warsaw freshman team topped Columbia City, 39-18, in a game rescheduled from Dec. 11.

Luke Adamiec scored 11, and Mason Martz and Drew McCleary each added eight as the Tigers won their second straight.