The Warsaw Tiger boys basketball team loaded the bus after school Tuesday. The team bus was headed north to South Bend near the Notre Dame University campus. Just a few miles north of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is South Bend Clay High School.

Much like the 2009 Irish football program, the Clay Colonial boys basketball team is having a down season this year. The Colonials entered Tuesday night's game with a 4-14 record having lost the last their last nine contests to Indiana High School teams.

On the opposite end of the spectrum you have Coach Doug Ogle's Warsaw Tiger basketball squad. The Tigers had won their last seven basketball games by an average of 15 points dating back to January 8, 2010. During the five week period of Warsaw domination, the boys earned victories over the likes of Elkhart Memorial, Concord, and Marion on their way to winning the Northern Lakes Conference championship.

A Tiger victory over Clay would give Coach Ogle his second consecutive 15-win season with a combined 34-5 record over the last 39 games. Only five other 4A schools can boast a better record during this time frame (Bloomington South, Indy North Central, Munster, New Albany, and Valparaiso).

Lucas Grose controls the tip for Warsaw. In typical fashion, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead in this game.

Junior all-state guard Nic Moore elevated for a three point jumper from the land of milk-n-honey on the first possession. You want to know where the land of milk-n-honey is? Let's put it this way, Moore educated both the Tiger fans and Colonial fans on this magical place when he hit this long range jumper. Had there been an NBA 3-point stripe painted on the floor (which there was not) Moore's feet were still a good 2-3 inches behind that when he let the first shot of the game leave his hands...SWISH. Three to nothing Tigers.

Justin Clemens drew a foul on the next trip down the court. Clemens, who is a 72% free throw shooter on the season, made both free throws.

After Clemens' made basket, the Tigers employed some full court pressure on the Colonials. The pressure turned into a Nic Moore steal and a foul on Clay as Moore drove the ball to the basket. One of two free throw conversions gave Warsaw a 6-0 advantage at the 6:54 mark of the opening session.

SB Clay junior forward Donovan Campbell converted inside for the Colonials first basket of the night. Campbell would prove to be Clay's best player and a very difficult assignment on defense for the Tigers. Campbell scored at will during this contest for the Colonials.

Tiger sharpshooting senior Zack Linky answered Campbell's basket with a signature 3-point bomb from the right wing to extend his team's lead to 9-2.

After a Jurod Wooden basket for Clay, Nic Moore took an inbounds play pass to score a double-clutch lay-up in the painted area. Moore was fouled on the play and made the charity toss to give Warsaw a 12-4 lead with 4:55 remaining in period one.

The last two minutes of the quarter belonged to South Bend Clay. The Colonials strung together five points to stay close to the Tigers. Again, it was the duo of Donovan Campbell inside the lane and Jurod Wooden beyond the arc who sparked the run.

Senior Justin Clemens grabbed a "biggish" style offensive rebound to score the last bucket of the frame for Warsaw.

Both teams came out with good energy in the first eight minutes considering the less than 750 fans in attendance on this cold Tuesday night in February.

End of Quarter 1: Warsaw 14 - SB Clay 9

Neither team could find the basket through the first few minutes of the second quarter. Both teams picked up their defensive efforts causing long shots.

Tiger sophomore Jordyn Coon scored the first basket of the quarter on a high flying offensive board. Coon's two points gave Warsaw a 16-9 lead with 5:35 on the clock -- ending the offensive drought.

Moments later Zack Linky assisted junior Jalen Roscoe for an easy Tiger basket. Roscoe's points extended the lead to eight. Linky then buried another triple, this time from the left hash, to up the Tiger total points scored to 21 (coincidentally Linky's jersey #21). Warsaw 21 - Clay 12.

Jordyn Coon converted two free throw attempts before a Jurod Wooden basket for Clay.

With 2:26 left in the half, Nic Moore connected on his second 3-point field goal of the night to push the Warsaw lead to twelve points (26-14). Moore connected on 56% of his field goal attempts for the game.

Donovan Campbell responded with the next four Colonial points as he hustled for every loose ball. Campbell literally hit the floor very time a live ball presented itself in an attempt to provide leadership to the struggling young Colonial squad. This kid impressed fans with his heart.

Nic Moore sliced through the Clay 2-3 zone defense with just over a minute to go. Moore pulled up before entering the interior defenders and drained a thirteen foot jumper.

As the clock ticked down to just .05 seconds left in the half, Warsaw would set up an inbounds play near half court. Coach Ogle inserted Justin Clemens into the game. Clemens who was the star quarterback on the football team, had been sitting on the bench after picking up his second foul. Justin took the ball from the referee and in quarterback-like fashion threw a perfect touchdown pass (lob) to Lucas Grose under the Tiger basket. Grose, who can flat out jump, elevated for the ball and scored as the buzzer sounded.

Tiger fans rose to their feet in appreciation of both the play call from Coach Ogle and the execution from Clemens and Grose. Nice play boys!

What started as a slow quarter turned out to be Warsaw's most productive eight minutes of the night. Warsaw outscored Clay 16-9 in the frame to grab a twelve point lead heading into the locker room break.

Halftime Score: Warsaw 30 - SB Clay 18

The 3rd period began with a three point basket from Clay's Taron Miller. Miller, who is just a freshman, gave his team hope right out of the gate to start the half.

Warsaw sophomore Lucas Grose scored on a lay-up after stealing the ball from a Colonial guard. Grose would score again on a nice pass from Nic Moore with 4:41 to go in the 3rd. Lucas had put together the last six points for the Tigers. Warsaw led 34-23.

What happened next was pure magic. Little did the small crowd in South Bend realize the Harlem Globetrotters were going to play during this game. Okay, so I might be exaggerating a bit here, but Nic Moore's steal and basket with just under two minutes left in the third period sure reminded the fans around me of Curly Neal from the Globetrotters.

Moore stole the ball from as Clay guard Adrian Easton drove baseline. In stride, Nic proceeded to dribble through the four remaining Colonial defenders as he took the rock the length of the court. Moore used a series of crossover dribbles, short misdirection dribbles, and a behind the back dribble that left a Clay defender wondering what just took place. Nic's layup ignited every single fan in the building no matter if they were wearing orange or purple. The Entertainer had struck!

Justin Clemens followed up Moore's dramatics with a three point play of his own. The 6'3" senior forward scored on a layup and the free throw to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at 39-23.

Clay scored the final five points of the quarter to cut into the Warsaw lead.

Clay outscored Warsaw 10-9 in the third.

End of Quarter 3: Warsaw 39 - SB Clay 29

Clay forward Donovan Campbell had a HUGE fourth quarter for the home team. Campbell scored 14 points over the final eight minutes on his way to a game-high 25 points. Campbell will be a force to be reckoned with his senior season for the Colonials.

Despite Campbell's heroics, Warsaw was able to keep its composure to close out this contest.

The trio of Joey Sparkman, Justin Clemens, and Lucas Grose scored all of the Tiger points during a five minute stretch to preserve the lead.

Nic Moore connected on his final three point basket of the night with 2:34 to play as the Tigers held a 50-39 lead.

Moore and Clemens scored the final five points for Warsaw as the Tigers improved to 15-2 on the season. The trio of Nic Moore, Justin Clemens, and Lucas Grose combined to score 41 points in this game for Warsaw. These three guys average that exact same 41 points for the season.

Complete Scoring for Warsaw:

Nic Moore - 20, Justin Clemens - 11, Lucas Grose - 10, Zack Linky - 6, Jordyn Coon - 4, Jalen Roscoe - 2, Joey Sparkman -2

Final Score: Warsaw 55 - SB Clay 45

The Tigers turn their attention to Senior Night this Friday at the Tiger Den. The state's leading scorer and Mr. Basketball candidate DeShaun Thomas are coming to town.

TigerSportsNation.com will be featuring an article later this evening dedicated to the 3 Warsaw Seniors (Clemens, Conrad, & Linky) as well as an inside look to the Bishop Luers contest this Friday night. School officials from both sides are expecting this to be a near capacity crowd Friday night as Nic Moore and DeShaun Thomas play for the final time together in high school.

This will be a great game to attend.

Check back later here at www.TigerSportsNation.com for complete coverage of this contest.

Posted In: Boy's Sports > Basketball

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