Mangas Powers Tigers To Victory
NORTH MANCHESTER – The first trip to Manchester in some 37 years for the Warsaw boys basketball program turned out to be a good one Thursday night.
Thanks in large part to the performance of Jake Mangas.
Mangas turned in an outstanding effort to pace the Tigers past the Squires 42-35 in non-conference action.
The last time Warsaw had played the Squires was at Manchester back in 1976. The Squires won that contest by a 78-68 final.
Mangas was the picture of efficiency Thursday night as the Tigers won for the second straight time to improve to 3-2 on the young season. The junior forward hit 8-9 shots from the field in scoring a game-high 18 points. He also grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the victory.
“Jake played really well,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle of his 6-2 junior forward. “Our guards did a good job finding him and taking what their defense gave us. I’m real happy with the progress Jake has made. He’s improved a lot and been real steady for us.”
The contest was tied 10-10 after the opening period of play. Warsaw, coming off a 50-46 win over Huntington North at home Saturday night, led 23-17 at halftime. The Tigers had a 31-23 edge after the third period.
“I’m happy with the fact that we won, but we were very inconsistent,” Ogle said. “It’s the third game in a row that we did not shoot the ball well from 3-point range (2-10), we had too many turnovers and our defensive focus could have been better. I did think that our zone helped us in the second half.”
Junior Rashaan Jackson scored 11 points and four rebounds for the Tigers in the victory. Senior Jordan Stookey had five points to go with six assists and four rebounds for the winners.
Senior Nate Pearl and junior Tim Swanson each had three points and sophomore Paul Marandet two for the Tigers. Marandet also had four rebounds.
The Tigers were efficient from the field in shooting 16-34 as a team in the win. Warsaw was just 2-10 from 3-point range, but 8-12 from the free throw line. The Tigers had 11 turnovers in the contest.
It was a tough shooting night for the previously undefeated Squires in the loss. The hosts hit on just 14-38 shots from the field, including a cold 5-17 from long distance. Coach Eric Thompson’s team, which won 45-44 at Wawasee last Friday, was just 2-6 from the free throw line in the game.
Clayton Petrie canned 17 points and hit 5-10 from long range to pace the Squires, who are now 3-1. Claudel Dickantone had 11 points for Manchester.
The Squires 3-0 start with wins over Mississinewa in double overtime, Oak Hill and Wawasee was the program’s first since the 2001-02 season. Manchester finished 7-15 last year.
Warsaw will take a week to prepare for the league opener at home versus Wawasee Dec. 20. The Tigers are just a couple of possessions from being 5-0 instead of 3-2. Warsaw lost 54-52 at Tippecanoe Valley in the season opener and 49-48 at home to Homestead last Friday.
“Being 3-2 is about right for us,” Ogle said. “Yes, we are close to being 5-0, but we are not a 5-0 team at this point.”
It was Kyle Mangas who made the difference Thursday night for the Warsaw junior varsity. The freshman guard netted 13 points as the JV Tigers rallied for a 37-36 win.
Warsaw trailed 23-10 at halftime of the JV contest before outscoring the hosts 27-13 in the final half, including 15-7 in the fourth quarter. Tyler Packard scored seven points, Luke Wilson and Evan Schmidt each had six and Lucas Cone five for the Tigers.
Manchester plays at Huntington North Saturday night. Warsaw returns to action Dec. 20 by hosting county rival Wawasee in the Northern Lakes Conference opener.