4A Regional: Warsaw vs. East Chicago Central

From start to finish, Kyle Mangas put together a game that few have rivaled. Mangas tallied 47 points and eight rebounds in Warsaw’s double overtime victory over East Chicago Central.

Kyle Mangas scored the first 16 points of the game for Warsaw. He made it look easy as he slashed to the basket and finished under control. Unfortunately for East Chicago, Mangas never slowed down. The only time Mangas wasn’t scoring was during the stalling of overtime.

While Mangas opened the game with a flurry of points, East Chicago saw its star, Jermaine Couisnard, pick up three fouls in the opening four minutes. The game was heading downhill quickly. Alyion Stubbs and Louis Williams helped stop the bleeding for East Chicago.

As the points continued to pile up, East Chicago was forced to play Couisnard with three fouls in the second quarter. Luckily for East Chicago, Couisnard played the rest of the game without fouling out. Couisnard was not much of a factor until the fourth quarter.

East Chicago kept the game close, but the Cardinals were never able to tie or take the lead in the second or third quarters. Warsaw had a seven-point lead with about two minutes left in regulation. Couisnard scored seven points in the final 150 seconds. His biggest points were a three-pointer to tie the game with over a minute to play.

Warsaw melted the clock to get the last shot of regulation. The ball was in the hands of Mangas but he was unable to get a good look.

The overtime started with a timeout from East Chicago just 13 seconds into the extra frame. Pete Trgovich was making sure that his players knew he wanted one shot in overtime. After holding the ball for two minutes, Warsaw extended its pressure and forced a turnover.

Senior Jabril Harris forced a Warsaw turnover then looked to score in transition. Harris couldn’t convert at the basket, though. Once again, Warsaw was unable to get a clean look, and the game went into a second overtime.

The second overtime was set to follow the same stalling pattern as the first. East Chicago again won the tip and wanted to hold the ball. The Cardinals were called for a travel as the Tigers applied pressure. Mangas lost control of the ball with under a minute to play but Warsaw was able to get a tie ball on the play. The arrow kept possession with the Tigers. Mangas was sent to the line after a foul call moments later. That was a huge swing in the game.

East Chicago answered back as Couisnard found Jabril Harris on the block. He scored in traffic to tie the game with 2.8 seconds left.

After a Warsaw timeout, the Tigers tried to draw a foul on the Cardinals by running the baseline and setting a screen on the ball defender. The official did not call a foul on that contact. As the pass was thrown the length of the court, a Cardinal defender was whistled for a hold as Mangas broke to catch the baseball pass.

Mangas converted both free throws to put Warsaw up 61-59. East Chicago got a fairly good look for Louis Williams but it was off the mark as time expired on the season for the Cardinals.

Kyle Mangas finished with 47 points, eight rebounds and three steals. He was 15-25 from the field and 15-17 from the line.

Jermaine Couisnard finished with 18 points but shot just 5-17. Jabril Harris add 12 points and 13 rebounds. Alyion Stubbs scored 15.

Here's how Mangas scored: