The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 6, Milford, Kosciusko County, 22 February 1984 — Page 29

Tigers roar through 1984

By MARK WEINSTEIN Warsaw’s Tiger basketball team opened the 1983-84 3<ason with a twodimensional offensive attack. Marty Lehmann and Jeff Grose headed the list of impressive performers for Coach Al Rhodes entering the season. But as Warsaw has progressed throughout their rugged schedule, the 17-2 Tigers, heading into the final weekend of regular season action, have developed a strong lineup top to bottom. “We have been improving as the year has gone by,” said Rhodes concerning the progress of his squad. “We have had some injuries, but they have helped us become a deeper basketball team. We really feel right now we are nine players deep and that is a very fortunate situation.” Although the seventhranked Tigers played without 6-7 Marty Lehmann for two weeks and presently are without the services of Tracy Furnivall, Warsaw hasn’t suffered at all. During the stretch without

jl\ COACH AL RHODES

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Lehmann, the Tigers continued to improve and win the majority of their games. “I think this is a tribute to the hard work the kids have put forth, and the attitude they have,” said Rhodes of the injury riddled team. “They just worked together and got the job done.” When Lehmann went down with a broken wrist during the Tippecanoe Valley contest, many folks in the Kosciusko County area thought possibly the Tigers might fade. But they didn’t. Senior unknown Rob Rdndels came through consistently at both ends of the court to offset the high scoring efforts of junior guard Jeff Grose. . Randels, who over the last 10 games of the season has averaged 18 points a game is your typical blue collar player. Not flashy at all, but the 6-4 forward has done the job for Warsaw. Grose, who has sparkled ever since- his sophomore campaign, currently leads the Tigers offensive firepower around the 20 point scoring figure. The heady junior has taken

charge of the Tigers during both times when Warsaw faced serious injury problems. But the story of the Tigers can’t totally rest upon the shoulders of Randels, Grose and Lehmann. Since walking over the troubled waters, Warsaw has enjoyed the contributions of senior Scott Long, Jeff Tucker and Steve Hollar. With most of the attention focused on two NCAA Division I caliber players in Lehmann and Grose, Long has been overshadowed. But his role and importance to the Tigers is no less than the scorers. Performing the role of a playmaker, Long has developed into a consistent point guard in the Warsaw backcourt. Although he doesn’t look to score all that often, Long has developed into one of the best point guards in conference. “He (Long) has done a very good job handling the. team on the court,” said Rhodes of his senior point guard. “Looking at the statistics for a point guard you will see he has a low turnover ratio which is very important for a player in his position.” Silver Lining Another occurance which resulted from the Tigers’ injury problems has been the playing time of two underclassmen. Steve Hollar, a 6’l” junior guard recently has stepped into the shoes of Furnivall, while Tucker spells Grose and Hollar in the backcourt. With the development of the two guards, Rhodes has seen his team develop an extra dimension — bench strength. “Because of the injuries, we needed players who wanted to work hard and do the job,” said Rhodes. “These guys never complained when they weren’t seeing much playing time, instead they worked hard and now it has paid off for

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them.” And with Furnival out of action indefinately, Warsaw’s bench could play a big role in the Triton sectional. Sectional But as the Tigers prepare to defend their 1983 sectional crown, they have been looked on as the team to beat in 1984. “I would have to agree with you that we are the favorite going into the sectional,” said Rhodes. “These kids have put together a fine season, but when you go into the state tourney, anything cap happen so you just have to take each game as it comes." The Tigers, winners of every team in the sectional except Triton (Triton and Warsaw did not play this year), hope to keep the winning edge again in Bourbon. But Rhodes isn’t looking for a cake walk through the sectional. “This will be a very competitive sectional,” says Rhodes. “When you look back at our games, Wawasee’s game tightened up in the second half, Valley played us to a four point game, and Rochester was with us for 3M> quarters. So you see, anything can happen this time.” Nevertheless, Warsaw has the horses and experience to advance into regional action the following week.

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Warsaw Tigers 1983-84 Season Record WCHS OPP S.B. LaSalle 75 83 Concord 64 36 Huntington North 76 66 Goshen 92 44 Wawasee 65 54 S.B. Adams 61 53 Rochester 75 63 Tippecanoe Valley 79 75 Penn 56 51 S.B. Washington 73 42 S.B. Adams 48 63 Columbia City 86 56 North Wood 75 56 Whitko 57 56 Bremen 65 49 Elkhart Memorial 90 77 Plymouth 58 55 East Chicago Washington 85 57 Mishawaka 84 57

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