The Wildcats beat up on Tipton in the opening round of the 63rd Annual Skyline Boys Basketball Tournament, defeating the (4) Cardinals handily last Monday night, 52-33.
(5) Warsaw found good shots early to jump out to a 19-5 lead at the end of the first. The shooting cooled down a bit in the second but the 'Cats used two 3-point shots from Logan Gemes and a 10-9 margin in the period for a 29-14 halftime lead.
A 13-10 advantage in the fourth stretched the Warsaw lead to 42-24 before they went on to take the 52-33 victory to advance.
Gemes paced the Warsaw offense with a game-high 22 points.
WARSAW (52): S. Poyser, 8; G. Ferguson, 8; R. Fajen, 0; L. Henderson, 7; B. Slavens, 0; J. Newell, 0; L. Gemes, 22; T. Downing, 2; N. Siebert, 5.
TIPTON (33): A. Bestgen, 7; B. Bestgen, 4; W. Cashman, 9; L. Cashman, 2; H. Hagerman, 0; E. Higgins, 0; T. Bixler, 2; R. Walters, 0; L. Bracht, 6; D. Schlotzhauer, 3.
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In other first round action at the event on Monday, (1) Wheatland rolled past (8) Macks Creek with a 63-35 final. Later in the evening, (2) Skyline downed (7) Climax Springs in a close one, 63-60 and (6) Hermitage upset (3) Weaubleau, 41-32.
On the loser's side of the bracket on Tuesday, Tipton defeated Macks Creek by a score of 64-45 and Climax Springs dropped Weaubleau with a 50-40 final.
On the winner's side on Wednesday, Warsaw fans saw Logan Gemes stroke a 3-pointer from the top of the key with his first basket of the night. The make was a historic one for Gemes as it netted him the 1,000th point of his high school career.
That make wasn't quite enough though as the Wheatland Mules advanced, downing Warsaw, 63-49.
Hermitage continued their upset streak with a 45-40 win over Skyline in the nightcap, propelling themselves to the championship game.
On Friday night, Weaubleau defeated Macks Creek, 63-46 and Climax Springs took the consolation with a 52-32 win over Tipton.
In the third place game, the 'Cats were defeated by the host Tigers, 68-46 and Hermitage's tournament run was halted by the Wheatland Mules when they captured the championship with a dominant 64-40 win over the Hornets.
