Warsaw and Noblesville squared off at Mackey Arena Saturday in the 7th game of the Super Hoops New Year Classic. The Tigers entered the contest with a 7-1 record while Noblesville came to Purdue with a 6-1 record with big wins over Carmel and Kokomo.

This game was going to be a closely contested battle. So much so that it was hard to choose a pre-game favorite. When confronted with the question of "who is going to win this game and by how much?", the response I gave was "all I can say is that the game will be tied with 2 minutes left in the game - the team that executes late will prevail." Little did I know that is exactly what would happen...

The Noblesville Millers jumped out to an early 6-0 lead behind exceptional free throw shooting from senior forward Leland Brown. Brown converted his first six attempts of the game for the Millers.

Warsaw senior Justin Clemens brought the Tigers back as he threw a nifty pass to fellow forward Lucas Grose for two points. Grose then had his name called by Coach Ogle on an isolation play from the right wing. Lucas drove to the goal to convert his second field goal of the contest. Warsaw trailed 8-5 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

Sophomore Jordyn Coon then converted a lay-up as Warsaw would close the period with a 7-2 run to take the lead.

End of Quarter 1: Warsaw 10 - Noblesville 8

The second quarter began with a Noblesville field goal to tie the game 12-12. After Grose converted 2 free throws, Warsaw junior star Nic Moore scored his first field goal of the game at the 4:17 mark of the second. Warsaw led 16 -12.

Noblesville senior guard Andrew Lively scored 5 consecutive points for the Millers to put them back in front 17-16 with 3:18 to go.

After 2 Nic Moore free throws Jordyn Coon scored on a beautiful reverse lay-up to tie the game 20-20. Junior Justin Clemens then converted an old-fashioned 3 point play on a dish from Moore. Moore then completed the Tigers first half scoring as he drove the lane out of "1-4 low" set for Warsaw.

The Tigers led the Millers by 2 at the break as neither team could build a substantial lead. Moore led the Tiger attack with 8 points while Grose and Coon added 7 & 5 respectively. Leland Brown scored 9 first half points to lead Noblesville.

End of 1st Half: Warsaw 25 - Noblesville 23

Nic Moore came out of the locker room determined as he connected on his first shot attempt to give Warsaw a 27-23 lead. After a Noblesville 3 pointer, Moore then drove to the hoop scoring on a mid-air double pump hanger. He was slapped on the wrist by Noblesville forward Jake Yeary on the play. Nic completed the 3-point play to give the lead back to the Tigers.

Tiger senior Zack Linky then stole a pass and scored from the left side. Moore then skied for an offense rebound put-back to give Warsaw its biggest lead of the night at 34-27 with 3:40 left in the 3rd. Nic had scored 15 points at this juncture. He would finish with 16 total.

In what would serve to be the most crucial point of this contest, Warsaw would score only 1 point over the final 3 minutes of the period. Noblesville rattled of an 8-1 run to not only get back in the game, but to take the lead away from the Tigers. Senior guard Zach Gentry swished 4 free throws to complete the game changing run for the Millers.

Warsaw was outscored 13-10 in the quarter.

End of Quarter 3: Noblesville 36 - Warsaw - 35

The Tiger big men started the final period with an offensive burst. Both Justin Clemens and Lucas Grose used their muscular frames to gain inside position. After Clemens scored on a lay-up, Grose followed Justin's lead with a powerful offensive rebound. Grose was also fouled on the play and converted the free throw for a 40-36 Tiger advantage with 5:30 on the clock.

Noblesville retaliated with the next five points. Andrew Lively hit a big 3 point bomb from the left wing and Leland Brown scored in the lane as the Millers went ahead 41-40 at the 4:01 mark.

Andy Conrad and Justin Clemens scored baskets for the Tigers as they would rack up 45 total points at the crucial 2-minute point. And yes, as predicted before this war began, Noblesville's Brandon Mattox converted a basket to give the Millers a 45 point total as well as the clock ticked down to 2:00 to go.

The game now came down to crunch time as the first 30 minutes could not determine a leader. Justin Clemens drew first blood as he was fouled on a shot attempt. Clemens made 1 of 2 free throws to put Warsaw ahead 46-45.

Noblesville turned to their leading scorer Jake Yeary. Yeary only played 17 minutes of this contest as he was strapped with foul trouble from the onset. Yet, he answered the call for the Millers as he connected on a leaner to give Noblesville a 47-46 lead with 1:37 left.

Noblesville then stopped the Tiger's in-bounds play to Lucas Grose on the next possession. Warsaw was forced to foul. Leland Brown nailed both foul attempts to extend his team's advantage to three (49-46) with just .56 remaining.

The Tigers turned to their leader, Nic Moore. Moore drove left and elevated for a shot. The referee blew the whistle as Moore was fouled on the play. Tiger fans watched anxiously as Nic's shot bounced around the rim then rolled in a complete 360 degree circle before rolling out. A collective "ughh" was heard from the Warsaw section of Mackey Arena as the field goal would have brought their team within one.

Moore made 1 of 2 free throws while bringing his Tiger team within two (49-47) with 46 ticks left. The free throw was Moore's only point of the 4th quarter.

Warsaw played frantic defense that forced a Noblesville missed lay-up. Miller guard Zach Gentry then erased any and all Tiger hope as he elevated for the game-clinching offensive tip in. The dagger gave Noblesville a four point lead with just 18 seconds left.

After a Tiger miss, Noblesville made two more free throws in the final seconds to win by six. Noblesville outscored Warsaw 17-12 in final frame to claim their 7th win on the season.

Final Score: Noblesville 53 - Warsaw 47

The Tigers were outrebounded 32-28. Justin Clemens led Warsaw with 8 rebounds, while Grose grabbed 6.

Warsaw fell to 7-2 on the season. Both losses came at the hands of top 10 teams (Ft. Wayne South and Noblesville). Warsaw is now 2-2 against class 4A opponents. The Tigers will be faced with these match-ups as they attempt to make a deep post-season push beginning with Sectional #4 powerhouses Elkhart Memorial and Concord.

Coach Ogle's squad is on the brink of winning these big games. Warsaw shot an anemic 0-6 from 3 point range in this game and has yet to find a consistent threat from deep range. The Tigers also turned the ball over 13 times compared to just 9 for Noblesville. Four extra possessions would have been huge in this 30 minute deadlock battle.

The Tigers prepare for an NLC battle Friday night at Northridge this week. Warsaw will play 6 of their next 7 games against conference opponents as they look to capture an NLC title.

Listed below are the boys' FINALS from all games Saturday at Mackey Arena:

Super Hoops New Years Classic - SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 2010 @ Purdue University's Mackey Arena

· 10:30 am: Fishers 102 - Kankakee Valley 43

· 12:15 pm: Triton 55 - Huntington North 43

· 2:00 pm: Peru 58 - Marion 46

· 3:45 pm: North Central 92 - LaPorte 52

· 5:30 pm: Zionsville 62 - New Albany 54

· 7:15 pm: Noblesville 53 - Warsaw 47

· 9:00 pm: Carmel 65 - Valparaiso 62

Complete coverage of all Tiger Hoops action will be available here at TigerSportsNation.com .

Posted In: Boy's Sports > Basketball

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