Tiger Den
Warsaw, IN
January 29, 2011

		F
	Culver Academy Eagles	32
	#4 (4A) Warsaw Tigers (14-1)(NLC 5-0)	44

Friday night the Warsaw Tigers knocked off NLC foe Northwood. Less than twenty two hours later they would suit up again to face the 8-4 Culver Military Academy Eagles.

The Eagles are an interesting story. Over the past two seasons they have beaten some of the elite teams in the state of Indiana including Indianapolis Pike (Marquis Teague) and Bowman Academy (2010 IHSAA State Champs 1A).

Culver Academy was trying to add another big time win by defeating the #4 (class 4A) ranked Warsaw Tigers.

Warsaw came into this game having won 7 straight games and 56 out of their last 63 games since 2008. Good for an incredible 89% winning percentage over the last twenty seven months. Needless to say, Culver Academy had their work cut out on this night.

Fans settled in for a close game as these two teams battled. The style of play was more like a football contest than a basketball game. Super heavyweight bodies like 6'5"Lucas Grose and 6'3" Jalen Roscoe for the Tigers versus 6'5" Willie Strong & 6'5" Juwan Brescacin for the Eagles. Down-set-hut!

The way this game began, fans were thinking both teams were going to score 100+ points. The Tigers and Eagles were pushing the ball up the court.

Warsaw's 2011 Indiana Mr. Basketball candidate, Nic Moore, started the game with a hot shooting hand. Moore (aka: Sir Sic Nic) scored 10 first quarter points against tenacious defense from Eagle guard Aramonti Phillips. The two guards pushed and shoved each other the entire game before Phillips fouled out in the 4th quarter.

Nic Moore's first basket of the night was a 15-foot pull up jumper along the left baseline. That basket gave the 5'9" senior guard a career total of 1,750 points. Moore surpassed 1985 IHSAA Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose who finished his illustrious WCHS career with 1,749 total points. Nic now moves into second place all-time behind 1996 IHSAA Mr. Basketball Kevin Ault who scored an amazing 2,028 points as a Tiger.

Congratulations Sir Sic Nic! What an accomplishment.

Tiger junior forward Lucas Grose had a hot hand of his own to begin this game. Grose was his usual beast-self in the lane as he dominated the rebounding for Warsaw. Lucas also showed a sweet shooting stroke by swishing a 17 foot jumper from the right baseline. He finished off a great first half on an ally-oop basket from Nic Moore. The same play that yielded a thunderous dunk from Grose against Concord last week - not to mention some of the best "dunk photos" from any game anywhere.

Culver responded with two a superb scoring duo of their own. Junior Jermaine Myers and Senior Juwan Brescacin were scoring at will to lead the Eagle offensive threat.

Warsaw took a 35-30 lead into the half.

Culver Academy used a 9-2 run to start the second half to take a 39-37 lead. Jermaine Myers led the attack with two three point bombs. Warsaw Coach Doug Ogle called for timeout at the 5:25 mark to regroup his team.

Ogle set up an out-of-bounds play for his star point guard. Sir Sic Nic took the in-bounds pass and slashed through 3 defenders to pull his team even at 39-39.

Tiger Senior Joey Sparkman gave Warsaw the lead with a clutch three-point basket from the right wing. Warsaw led 44-41 on Sparkman's basket with 3:41 left in the third. Before Joey's basket the game could have gone either way. Senior leadership is found in many different forms. On this night it was Sparkman who provided the key component to lead his Tiger team.

Warsaw would go on an 8-2 run over the next two minutes. Junior Rhett Kesler hit a big 3-pointer during the run started by Joey Sparkman. Culver Academy suddenly found themselves down 49-43.

The Eagles could get no closer to the Tigers until the final minutes of the game. Again it was Jermaine Myers who nailed a long-range bucket to pull his team within three (56-53) with just over a minute to go.

Tiger junior Jordyn Coon was fouled with 3.2 seconds left in the game. Coon would need to make at least one to secure the victory for the Tigers. Mr. Big Shot, who if you will recall nailed the baseline jumper to secure the 2010 IHSAA Semi-State victory for the Tigers, calmly hit both free throws to win this game. There is no doubt that Jordyn excels when the pressure is on. Big free throws one five!

Final Score: Warsaw 58 - Culver Academy 53

Complete Scoring for Warsaw:

The rebounding effort was led by Lucas Grose who grabbed 9 rebounds for Warsaw. Nic Moore led Warsaw with 5 assists.

For the game Warsaw shot an outstanding 18 of 30 (60%) from the field. The Tigers continue their deadly 3-point shooting for the season. Warsaw was 6 of 11 (56%) from downtown (Moore 2, Coon 1, Sparkman 1, Bloom 1, Kesler 1).

Warsaw outscored Culver Academy 11-0 in points off the bench. The Tiger depth has been a real asset for Doug Ogle this season. The Tigers again played ten guys in this game. Warsaw was definitely the fresher team in the final period.

With the victory Warsaw moves to 14-1 on the season. The Tigers will host NLC rival Elkhart Memorial this Friday February 4th in the Tiger Den. Warsaw is just 2 NLC victories away from going undefeated in the Northern Lakes Conference for two consecutive seasons. Anyone who follows Indiana high school basketball knows what an amazing feat that would be.

You can continue to follow all of the Tiger news, photos, and action here at TigerSportsNation.com as well as track Nic Moore's 2011 quest for Indiana Mr. Basketball at http://www.nicmoore2011.com

Go Tigers!

Posted In: Boy's Sports > Basketball

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