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Warsaw defeats Huntington North by seventeen points to open the 2009/2010 home schedule at the Tiger Den. The Tigers led from the opening tip and never looked back. Warsaw moves to 3-1 on the season. To a loyal Tiger Basketball follower this story line sounds pretty typical right?

NEWSFLASH: This game was anything but typical...

Fresh off a defeat at the hands of a very talented, athletic, and skilled FW South Side Archer squad - Warsaw would see the polar opposite just one night later. At first it appeared Huntington North was running a Dean Smith type of "4 corners" stall offense to keep the ball out of the very talented Tigers hands. As the game progressed, it became apparent to all 2,500 fans that Huntington North just didn't have any other option(s). Ugh -- this game was U-G-L-Y to the bone.

But wait. Let us back up to perhaps the most intriguing event of the evening. As the Tigers took the floor for pre-game warm ups to a hearty cheer from the Warsaw fans, Tiger star Nick Moore would soon take a spill. Moore, who is Warsaw's obvious #1 option offensively, was attempting to shoot a left-handed power lay-up. As he came down during his warm-up session, his left ankle landed squarely on a basketball that had been shot by a Tiger teammate. Moore immediately fell to the floor grabbing the ankle in obvious pain. He took a seat on the front row next to a few Tiger fans to catch his breath. As he got up to head back to the locker room for Coach Ogle's pre-game defensive assignments, Moore was severely limping in pain.

Tiger fans breathed a sigh of relief when Nic would be announced as a starter along with Justin Clemens, Lucas Grose, Jordyn Coon, and Andy Conrad. Yet, Moore still appeared unsure of the ankle. As the referee tossed the ball up for action, Moore would attempt the first shot of the game from the right baseline. His usual 30 something inch vertical leap used to elevate on jump shots was simply NOT there. Coach Ogle immediately recognized Nic's inability to elevate. Ogle would send senior Zack Linky in to replace Moore only .47 seconds into the game. Moore was taken to the locker room.

Now - back to the UGLY. Huntington North used a wheel type offense in which they literally passed the ball 15-20 times before ever attempting a shot. Again, mostly because they had no offensive player with the ability to create a shot. Warsaw, without their all-everything guard, struggled to find any offensive rhythm themselves early on. Sophomore Lucas Grose used his superior rebounding skills to generate points for the Tigers. Grose grabbed 4 rebounds in the first quarter. Three of which were offensive boards leading to 4 first period points for the son of former Tiger Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose. In this game 4 points was the equivalent to 12 in any other game.

Warsaw led 7-5 after the 1st quarter. Yep, you heard me 7 to 5...ugh.

With Nic Moore now in socks and an ice pack, Warsaw players and fans knew his evening was finished. Moore would hobble over to the team huddle after the first period in what looked like a "go get this one without me guys -- I believe in you" speech. The Tigers would respond to their leader's call by completely shutting out the Vikings in the 2nd quarter. Hunting North did not score a single point in the 2nd quarter folks. Zero - Zilch - Nada. Warsaw played tenacious/relentless defense for eight full minutes led by Zack Linky and Lucas Grose's 2 steals each in the frame.

Ugh...The Tigers took a 14-5 lead into the half. Fourteen to Five. Wow.

Warsaw would score a game high 11 points in the third period (again 11 = 33 in this game) led by super-sophomore Jordyn Coon's driving lay-up and foul. Coon would sink the free throw to give the Tigers a 14 point lead. Trust me, that lead was safe even if there was 15 quarters left in this baby.

The score after 3 frames: Warsaw 25 - Huntington North 11

Looking for any glimpse of excitement, finally hope was found. Not in the form you may expect, but hey excitement is excitement in this affair. The Warsaw Tiger Cheer block dressed in some sort of ganster/hip hop garb began to imitate Huntington North's coach. This went on for several minutes bringing smiles and laughs to the faces of the fans in attendance. Showing good spirit, the cheer block would chant "thanks for playing" to the coach when they were finished mocking his every move for half a quarter.

Back to hoops. Tiger junior Joey Sparkman got his chance to see good minutes in the 4th period and he took full advantage. Sparkman, who has a lightning-quick release on his shot, scored 7 points to diminish any hopes of Huntington North mounting a comeback. Fellow junior Cody Bragg controlled the glass with four rebounds in the quarter for the Tigers.

Finally, this contest came to an end. Warsaw, using its entire bench, won the game 35-18. Correct us if we are wrong here, but Alabama just finished an SEC championship win over #1 ranked Florida by a similar score - no? Doesn't five touchdowns = 35?

For Warsaw Coach Doug Ogle, this win was his 100th victory. TigerSportsNation will be dedicating an article to the "history" of Coach Ogle's path to his first 100 wins as the leader of Tiger Basketball. While Ogle has often taken heat from parents, naysayers, and local media outlets -- TigerSportsNation wishes to honor his accomplishments with an article reflecting on what has been a successful tenure for Ogle since replacing Hall of Fame coach Al Rhoades. Congratulations Coach Ogle -- TSN.com looks forward to covering your next 100 victories.

Complete scoring for the Tigers: Lucas Grose - 9, Joey Sparkman - 7, Justin Clemens - 4, Andy Conrad - 4, Jordyn Coon - 4, Zack Linky - 2, Cody Bragg - 2, Christopher O'Hara - 2, & Jalen Roscoe - 1

The Tigers improved to 3-1 on the season with the victory. Warsaw will travel to Rochester to tackle the Zebras next Friday 12/11 @ 6:15pm. Tickets for the January 2nd New Year's Hoops Tourney at Purdue University are still on sale by contacting the Athletic Office. You can also request tickets by using the "Contact Us" button here at TigerSportsNation.com . Tickets are $10 if purchased in advance and include a 9 game schedule for Saturday 1/2/2010. The Tigers play Noblesville at 7:15pm at Mackey Arena.

Tiger Nation T-Shirts available in both Orange and Black can be obtained thru TigerSportsNation.com as well. T-Shirts are $10 each.

Posted In: Boy's Sports > Basketball