A girls basketball tournament with Mount Vernon, Perry Meridian and Valparaiso, all top-notch programs, looms less than 48 hours away, but Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst has other problems to deal with on a Tuesday afternoon.

His practice begins at 1:30 p.m., but a team from Cincinnati competing in the boys basketball tournament is supposed to get the gym at 2 p.m. The freshman girls basketball team thought its practice was supposed to be held in the auxiliary gym, but it's set up for gymnastics practice. Now all the girls basketball players are playing on the main gym floor, until they are kicked out when the Cincinnati team arrives.

Before practice, a player stands in the doorway and asks Wienhorst if he tapes ankles, since the assistant who usually tapes her ankles will not be at practice.

Finding a place to practice, taping ankles and getting through the day are Wienhorst's main concerns. The tournament is still two days away.

When it does arrive, he will have his concerns then, too. Valparaiso is No. 5 in Class 4A with a 9-0 record. Mount Vernon, which has an Indiana All-Star candidate in 5-foot-6 senior Johna Goff, is No. 2 in Class 3A with a 9-0 record. At 8-3, Perry Meridian appears to be the slacker, but two of Perry Meridian's losses have come to Class 4A No. 1 Ben Davis. Perry Meridian received one vote in the latest Class 4A poll.

Warsaw enters its tournament 5-3. The Tigers last won their tournament in 1990. Valparaiso has won the tourney every year since 1991, except 1996, when Perry Meridian won it.

"This tournament, if we wanted just to win, we could put teams in here we could beat year in and year out," Wienhorst said. "We want to learn."

The tournament will be played Thursday this year rather than Saturday to avoid conflicts with New Year's plans. Warsaw plays Perry Meridian in the 10 a.m. game, which will be followed by Mount Vernon and Valparaiso.

Valparaiso brings stifling man-to-man defense and a patient offense. Mount Vernon, led by the 5-6 Goff and 5-4 Alissa Kirby, loves a full-court, run-and-gun game. Perry Meridian rebounds well, averaging 33 per game.

"These teams are all different," Wienhorst said. "It's not the same style. We want to play a Valparaiso, who's structured. We want to play Mount Vernon, who is faster. Those are the kinds of teams we could play in the postseason."

At 5-3, Warsaw is one game behind where Wienhorst thought the Tigers would be. Their losses have come at Columbia City, at Huntington North and at home against Crown Point. Wienhorst knew the road games would be tough, but the loss to Crown Point is the game he would like to have back.

The Tigers are coming off their high point so far, beating Plymouth. By beating the Pilgrims, Warsaw is the only undefeated team left in the Northern Lakes Conference. Plymouth already had beaten NorthWood, last year's Class 3A state champion.

After watching tapes of his team through eight games, Wienhorst has come to this conclusion: less is more.

"We're not gonna have as many set plays as before," he said. "We're gonna let the girls make more reads on the floor. Our best streaks of basketball have been when we just run the floor and have an open game. That's what we want to continue to do.

"Defensively, we want to put more pressure on the ball than in the past. We want to make it more difficult for teams to feed the post and force more turnovers, because we seem to play better in the open court. We seem to play better when we're out there just playing basketball. We'll have a lot less structure."

Going back to 1996, the Tigers have won one game in their tournament. Only time will tell if their new free-wheeling style of play will lead to a win - or wins - this year.

"We have struggled in this tournament recently," Wienhorst said. "It's not that we couldn't compete in last year's tournament, because we beat NorthWood later in the season, and NorthWood went on to win the state championship. It's just getting our girls to believe they can compete in this tournament again.

"I feel and our girls feel we can beat any one of these teams on a given day. But to beat two on the same day, is something these girls will have to do. So far this year we haven't put 32 minutes of basketball together, let alone two games in one day."

Dec. 30 at the Tiger Den

10 a.m. - Warsaw (5-3) vs. Perry Meridian (8-3)

11:30 a.m. - No. 5 (4A) Valparaiso (9-0) vs. No. 2 (3A) Mt. Vernon (9-0)

6 p.m. - Consolation

7:30 p.m. - Championship

Cost -Ê$6 for season tickets, $4 for session tickets

TIGER TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS

1998 - Valparaiso

1997 - Valparaiso

1996 - Perry Meridian

1995 - Valparaiso

1994 - Valparaiso

1993 - Valparaiso

1992 - Valparaiso

1991 - Valparaiso

1990 - Warsaw

1989 - Warsaw

1988 - Warsaw

1987 - Warsaw

1986 - Warsaw

1985 - Warsaw

1984 - Valparaiso

1983 - Warsaw

1982 - Valparaiso

1981 - FW North Side

1980 - LaPorte

1979 - Warsaw

1978 - Warsaw

WARSAW RESULTS IN THE 1990s

First-round game listed first, followed by championship or consolation results

1998-1999 - Mt. Vernon 63, Warsaw 52; Perry Meridian 46, Warsaw 38

1997-1998 - Perry Meridian 48, Warsaw 27; Warsaw 49, Mt. Vernon 45

1996-1997 - Mt. Vernon 55, Warsaw 53; Valparaiso 57, Warsaw 36

1995-1996 - Valparaiso 59, Warsaw 26; Mt. Vernon 60, Warsaw 41

1994-1995 - Warsaw 61, Elkhart Memorial 11; Valparaiso 61, Warsaw 47Ê

1993-1994 - Warsaw 67, Mt. Vernon 52, Valparaiso 45, Warsaw 39

1992-1993 -ÊValparaiso 35, Warsaw 34; Warsaw 54, Penn 20

1991-1992 -ÊWarsaw 69, Penn 35; Valparaiso 55, Warsaw 39

1990-1991 -ÊWarsaw 55, Mount Vernon 24; Warsaw 54, Valparaiso 42

1989-1990 -ÊWarsaw 73, Mishawaka 16; Warsaw 57, Valparaiso 56

STATISTICS

Averages are per game

Warsaw (5-3)

Name G FG FG% 3FG 3FG% FT FT% Rpg. Apg. Spg. Pts. Ppg.

Kesler 8 18-58 31 2-8 25 20-31 65 4.1 2.4 1.6 58 7.3

DeRenzo 4 1-6 17 0-0 - 3-4 75 1.8 0.3 1.3 5 1.3

Colt 8 27-79 34 13-37 35 22-33 67 2.8 1.8 0.9 89 11.1

Wyatt 5 3-7 43 1-2 50 4-5 80 0.6 0.4 0.4 11 2.2

Poling 8 5-13 39 3-5 60 9-17 53 3.1 0.8 0.8 22 2.8

O'Connell 8 27-87 31 8-35 23 10-14 71 3.5 3.4 1.8 72 9.0

Parker 8 15-45 33 2-3 67 27-38 71 5.0 0.9 2.0 59 7.4

Conley 8 4-16 25 0-0 - 2-4 50 3.5 0.1 0.4 10 1.3

Knisely 8 11-16 69 0-0 - 16-19 84 3.1 0.5 0.5 38 4.8

Rooney 8 26-69 38 5-20 25 22-28 79 5.0 0.5 1.0 79 9.9

Overton 8 11-17 65 0-0 - 3-4 75 2.8 0.6 1.1 25 3.1

Taylor 8 17-27 63 0-0 - 11-23 48 6.4 0.1 1.1 45 5.6

Stanley 7 4-16 25 0-4 0.0 2-2 1.000 1.4 0.1 0.3 10 1.4

Warsaw 8 169-456 37 34-114 30 151-222 68 43.6 11.5 12.3 523 65.4

Opponents 8 151-387 39 22-76 29 105-170 62 32.1 9.1 7.6 429 53.6

Mt. Vernon (No. 2 3A, 9-0)

Scoring leaders - Johna Goff 22.4, Alissa Kirby 16.1, Sarah Adams 10.0, Lacy Noe 4.67, Katie Sanford 3.89

Rebounding leaders - Adams 7.1, Sanford 6.9, Tara Thacker 5.2, Goff 4.1, Brittany Wilson 3.9

Steals leaders -ÊGoff 4.4, Thacker 3.6, Kirby 3.4

Assists leaders -ÊGoff 5.0, Kirby 3.2, Thacker 2.3

Valparaiso (No. 5 4A, 9-0)

Scoring leaders -ÊCourtney Rosenbaum 13.4, Lee Traynham 12.2, Erin Sampsel 9.6, Karen Puplava 6.4, Dana Lippelt 4.4

Rebounding leaders -ÊRosenbaum 7.7, Traynham 7.7, Sampsel 3.7, Brooke McAfee 3.6

Steals leaders -ÊSampsel 2.6, Traynham 1.9

Assists leaders -ÊSampsel 6.7, Lippelt 2.8

Perry Meridian (8-3)

Scoring leaders -ÊJennifer DesJean 14.3, Andrea Nordholt 10.9, Holly McGraw 7.4, Ashley Gillispie 7.3, Amber Montgomery 6.2, Jennifer Gray 5.5, Melissa Kelly 3.6

Rebounding leaders -ÊDesJean 7.3, Nordholt 5.0, Gray 4.3, McGraw 4.1, Gillispie 3.1

Steals leaders -ÊNordholt 3.5, Gray 2.5

Assists leaders -ÊGray 5.5, Nordholt 4.0, Gillispie 3.6 [[In-content Ad]]