Will Wienhorst is asked to describe the basketball season after nine games in one word.

"Up and down," he said. "Is that one word?"

No, but it'll work.

After all, that's what his players have done all season. It hasn't always been pretty, but they've made things work. That's why his girls have a 7-2 record.

They trailed a Concord team that was 3-4 at the time 26-23 at halftime. They won 59-46.

They fell behind traditionally strong Columbia City 22-16 at halftime. They won 45-44.

They held a tired 12-9 halftime lead over a .500 Plymouth team. They won 50-38.

That's the way Warsaw's last three games have gone. It's more like down and up, not up and down. The Tiger offense sleeps in the first half, attacks the second half.

"It's been a roller coaster," Wienhorst said. "We're not talking one week to the next. We're talking a game. Look at our contrasting styles from one half to the next. Up and down are pretty good words."

Rebounding and half-court defense have been good. The Tigers outrebounded Plymouth 35-19 their last game. With frontcourt players like Tiffany Ross, Katie Elliott, Sam Wideman and Jackie Edwards, they have owned the boards. The most points their defense has allowed in one game was the 46 to Concord.

Those are the ups.

"Our rebounding...we knew it would be good," Wienhorst said. "We didn't know we would be dominating teams. We knew our defense would be good. We didn't know it would be this good.

"Our half-court defense is really strong. It's been our saving grace more than anything else. We scored 12 against Plymouth, but we held them to nine."

Turnovers and the disappearing first-half offense are the downs. Sherry Haines, last year's starting point guard and unquestionably the leader on the team, graduated.

Wienhorst knew before the season started his team would miss her bigtime.

"We knew, especially if you run a point-guard oriented offense, like we do," he said. "We knew that's an awful lot. Last year, we had a lot of people play two (guard), and Sherry was our point guard. No one got a chance to step in and play it.

"We're not looking at a senior stepping in now, we're looking at a junior or sophomore with very little experience. We knew it would be tough to fill her shoes. That's why we're trying now to go to a two-guard front, to alleviate that pressure."

And maybe, Wienhorst hopes, alleviate the turnovers. They had 20 their last game.

"We're still turning the ball over too many times," he said. "Not in the second half. Just in the first half. We'd like to be an offense that breaks the defense down. Right now, we're breaking ourselves down by our impatience.

"We've missed an awful lot of easy shots. When you have an offense that turns the ball over and misses those easy shots, it's no wonder we're scoring only that many points in the first half."

Warsaw has been practicing twice a day in preparing for this weekend's Tiger Tournament. The Tigers practiced for five hours New Year's Eve. They open with Mt. Vernon (8-1) in Saturday's first game. Perry Meridian (No. 3, 9-0) plays No. 11 Valparaiso (9-1) in the second game.

Mt. Vernon, led by April Kirby and her 21 points per game, starts a four-guard offense. The Marauders aren't tall, but they're quick, and they move the scoreboard. They have scored 70 points or more four times this season.

"They're great - I'm telling you great - one-on-one players," Wienhorst said. "They can shoot the three. They can pump-fake and take the ball to the hole baseline any which way and lay it off the glass. They can pull up for the jumper.

"That poses a threat to any team that plays them, just because they're free-lance players. Probably the quickest team we've faced all year."

Valparaiso won the tournament last year over Perry Meridian, but post player (and tournament MVP) Sarrah Stricklett graduated. Katie Douglas, a 6-1 point guard who's a Miss Basketball candidate, guides Perry Meridian. She averages 17.5 points, 6 steals, 5.5 rebounds and 5 assists a game.

Wienhorst calls this the best Tiger Tournament since the 1990-1991 season. He knows things can't go much worse for his team than last year. Valparaiso buried the Tigers lost by more than 25 in the first round. Then they lost by 19 to Mount Vernon in the consolation game.

"It's going to be a great tournament," Wienhorst said. "You're looking at two teams who faced each other in the final round last year (Perry Meridian and Valpo). Obviously we have the revenge factor being beaten in the consolation last year."

Mount Vernon, Valparaiso and Perry Meridian are a combined 26-2. The Tigers have gotten away with one bad half against the likes of Plymouth and Concord. Wienhorst knows one bad half against these teams could kill his team.

"If we put two halves together the way we are capable of playing, we can beat anybody," Wienhorst said. "We cannot play just a half and expect to win any game this tournament. We have to play a complete game to win this tournament.

"What would happen if we played a whole game? I would like to see us do it once. I think we would look at ourselves and say, 'Hey, we are a good basketball team.'"

Seven and two. Those numbers will work.

"The beginning of the season, if you said 7-2, we'd be happy with that," Wienhorst said. "We are happy with that." [[In-content Ad]]