On The Court Basketball Preview

PERU AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY Tip-off: 6 p.m.tonight in Akron Coaches: Terry Heavilon (Peru), Bill Patrick (Valley) Records: Peru 4-0, Valley 3-1 Last Game: Peru 92, Wabash 38; Valley 69, Whitko 53 Last Year: Peru 80, T.Valley 62; Peru 111, Valley 107, 2 OT (Sectional) Matchup: Tippecanoe Valley and Peru faced two times last season, and Peru won both games.Like last year, the Peru Tigers are averaging around 90 points per game.Peru is led by junior Brandon Jones and senior Steve Smiley.Both come in averaging 16 points per game.Jones also averages 9.0 rebounds per game.Valley is on a three-game win streak after defeating Columbia City, North Miami and Whitko.Brandon Eaton is leading the Vikings in scoring, and he netted 18 points in Valley's win over Whitko Friday.Three other Valley players scored in double figures against Whitko as well.Anthony Domenico, Noah Silveus and Dax Snyder added 14, 13 and 11 points respectively in that win.

Tigers Take Twin Lakes

Warsaw rode a hot start straight to a rematch Friday in the first night of their own holiday tournament at the Tiger Den. The Tigers (6-2) jumped on Twin Lakes (5-1) 28-11 after the first quarter and never looked back in beating the Indians in the second game of the tournament 86-63. "The very beginning of the game set the tone," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said."Our defense was very good and aggressive.We were able to get defensive rebounds, good outlet passes and get behind them." In the first game, South Bend Washington rallied to beat St.Xavier (Cincinnati) 67-63 in overtime.Warsaw beat Washington in last year's championship game. Warsaw and Washington will meet in this year's title tilt at 8 tonight, preceded by Twin Lakes and St.Xavier in the consolation game at 6 p.m.

Hill Too High For Tippy Valley Girls

MENTONE - The hump proved to be too steep for Valley to climb. After falling behind early against Winamac Wednesday, the Vikings had plenty of chances to cut into a double-figure Warrior lead, but just couldn't get it done in a 61-49 loss. Valley trailed Winamac 23-18 in the second quarter when the Warriors went on a 16-4 run into the third quarter and opened up a 39-22 advantage.Valley scored the final seven points of the quarter to cut the lead to 10 entering the final quarter. After Andria Parker scored the first two baskets of the fourth, the Vikings trailed 42-33.It would be the last time Valley would be under double figures again.Winamac bumped the lead back up to 55-33 and held on for the 12-point win.

Warsaw Downs Wallace

After taking a six-point lead into halftime, the Warsaw Tigers buckled down in the third and fourth quarters against Gary Wallace to get an 84-69 win Saturday. "We played poorly in the last 55 seconds of the second quarter," said Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes."We had a 10-point lead, and then fouls let them (Wallace) cut that to six." The first quarter was a dogfight that saw four ties but no lead changes. Warsaw made the first basket of the game as Chris Clay put the Tigers up 2-0, but Wallace matched the Warsaw squad basket for basket until the 3:44 mark. At the 3:44 point, Warsaw took its biggest lead of the quarter, 11-6, when an assist from Josh Buck led to a basket by Greg Clay. But Wallace fought back, thanks to Jovan Joiner.Joiner hit two baskets and was fouled on the second for five points in a span of 40 seconds to tie the score at 11. The Tigers scored the last four points of the quarter to take a 15-11 lead into the second frame.

NorthWood Knocks Off Concord

DUNLAP - Nearly evenly matched on the court, the NorthWood Panthers and the Concord Minutemen fought through four quarters to try and to claim their first conference win of the season. In the end, the Panthers came back to defeat Concord 57-51. Jumping off to an early start, Concord's Phil Rushenberg made a three-pointer 20 seconds into the first quarter.NorthWood answered back when Nic Bradley shot a three to tie the score.With three seconds left in the first quarter Minuteman Nick Treadway hit a three to put Concord up 19-13.

Second-Quarter Surge Buries Whitko Wildcats

SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊAfter a first quarter that had more turnovers than points scored, Oak Hill's girls basketball team stepped up to score 22 points in the second quarter to defeat Whitko 59-40 in a Three Rivers Conference matchup Wednesday night. After taking possession from the tip-off, Whitko did something that would be indicative of the quarter -Êturned the ball over.The game then remained scoreless until 6:48 in the quarter when Oak Hill's Andrea Monroe netted the first basket of the night. Although the score was 8-6 in Oak Hill's favor at the end of the quarter, the Wildcats and Eagles had combined more turnovers than points with 16. However, Oak Hill fired up and had a nearly perfect second quarter.The Eagles were 6-of-9 shooting with three three-pointers.They also connected on 6 of 8 free throws to total 22 points in the second stanza.

Surprising Wawasee Takes Valley To Wire

SYRACUSE -ÊFriday night's boys basketball game between Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee could have been called a barn burner.After three quarters, the score was tied at 48, and the game was not decided until the final seconds of regulation. In the end, Valley came out on top of Wawasee 61-59 in a tough-fought basketball game. With 59.1 seconds left on the clock, Dax Snyder nailed two free throws to give Valley a 59-58 lead, and Brandon Eaton hit the front end of a one-and-bonus to put the Vikings up 60-58 with 15.9 ticks left in regulation. However, Jeremy High grabbed the rebound from Eaton's missed free throw and was fouled to give the Warriors the chance to tie the score with two seconds remaining.High hit one of the two charity shots to make the score 60-59 in Valley's favor. Snyder hit one more free throw with 0.7 seconds to increase Valley's lead to two, but Wawasee had one more chance to make a shot.

TV's Nasty Boy: Rustin Birge

AKRON -ÊTippecanoe Valley football coach Scott Bibler calls defensive lineman Rustin Birge "a throwback." Art Donovan.Dick Butkus.Larry Cszonka.These are players modern-day players are "thrown back" to: gritty, gutty gamers who liked to kick your butt. "You combine his experience, desire, heart and nastiness," Bibler said."He wasn't dirty, but he had a meanness.Coaches like to see that.You just don't see that in high school football players anymore.He's a throwback to the old days, the type of player who is tough mentally and physically." Birge did not fit the typical defensive tackle mode. He was 5-11 and 245, and while those measurements don't indicate someone who would be light on his feet, Birge was.Birge was so quick - Bibler says "explosive" - he played outside linebacker for his freshman and sophomore years before Bibler decided to move him to defensive tackle.

Manchester Mauls Hapless Rochester

NORTH MANCHESTER - The Manchester Squires outscored Rochester 15-4 in the first quarter and never looked back as they won 58-40. Six-foot-five forward Chris Enyeart scored 20 for the Squires, and guard Eric Swan added 12. The Squires led 27-14 at halftime. "Overall, our first half defense was not bad," Manchester coach Gary Goshert said."But we had a sluggish third quarter offensively and defensively.Enyeart had a good all-around game and played good defense for us." Manchester's junior varsity team improved to 3-0 with a 50-26 win. The varsity Zebras fell to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the TRC with the loss. Manchester, 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the TRC, hosts high-powered Homestead tonight.

Warsaw Presses Its Way To Win

Northridge boys basketball coach Steve Austin doesn't like the timing of the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament, having to play two days before Christmas.He hadn't completed his shopping. Whether or not his players had finished their shopping is unknown, but they were in the giving mood.They turned the ball over 23 times, including nine times in the third quarter, as Warsaw (6-3) won the first NLC Tournament with a 60-39 win over the Raiders (5-4) in Saturday's championship game. "Turnovers, we had what, 50?" Austin joked afterward. Warsaw coach Al Rhodes upped his career record to 375-125 (.750). "I'm very proud of our team," Rhodes said."We started 1-2, and to be 6-3 and win this tournament, that's something I'm extremely proud of." Josh Buck led Warsaw with 17 points, five rebounds and four steals.Brian Johnson added 14 points, four steals and three assists.Warsaw finished with 16 steals.

Jackson Free Throw Leads To Valley Win Over Whitko

SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊSometimes good things come from unexpected places. Just ask Tippecanoe Valley senior Stuart Jackson. In Friday night's game against Whitko, Jackson found himself at the free throw line with 3.4 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 42-all. Jackson hit the first charity bucket, but missed the secon to give his team a 43-42 lead.Whitko snatched the rebound and called a timeout near the half-court line with 1.7 ticks left on the clock. "Once he made the first one, we thought about having him miss the second one intentionally to run some time off the clock," said Valley coach Bill Patrick."Well, it did run a little time off the clock." Three Valley timeouts later, Whitko inbounded the ball to senior Derrick Day, who took an off-balance shot that hit the backboard and banked just left of the rim as the buzzer signaled the end of the game.

Triton Keeps Culver Winless

CULVER - While Christmas is still a week away, it nearly came early for the Culver Cavaliers. The Cavaliers came into the first game of their holiday tournament against Triton looking to capture their first win of the season. Despite fighting back from a 20-point deficit, Culver (0-6) eventually fell to the Trojans 63-54. Triton's Matt Savill was the story early as he hit three first-quarter three-pointers to vault his team to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter. Savill stayed hot in the second quarter as he scored his team's first seven points of the stanza.Savill would come out of the game midway through the second quarter and would not return. With Savill out of the game, the story quickly shifted to the sloppy play of both teams. The two teams traded turnovers for much of the first half.Both teams also shot poorly from the field.The teams combined for 46 turnovers in the game.

Wienhorst Leads Tiger Boys To Fifth Victory

ELKHART - Long after his team's gutsy fourth-quarter comeback Saturday, third-year Warsaw boys basketball coach Doug Ogle stood in a long hallway at historic North Side Gym and talked about having faith. Having Michael Wienhorst didn't hurt, either. With 6:05 left in the fourth quarter Saturday, the Tigers trailed host Elkhart Central 47-32, and then the 6-foot-2 Wienhorst took over the game, scoring 12 of his game-high 26 points in the final five minutes and leading Warsaw to a thrilling 52-49 win. After a three-pointer by M.J.Spann gave Elkhart Central the 15-point lead, the Tigers closed the game with a 20-2 run, adding even more history to a well-known gym celebrating its 50th birthday.

Triton Downs Punchless Vikings 48-38

BOURBON - As Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Gary Teel was explaining why his team lost Monday's game to Triton 48-38, Tabitha Pratt hopped up the stairs. She was at the game, yes, but she wasn't where he needed her: on the court.His player who averaged 26.5 points per game hopped on one leg up the stairs only because she broke the other in the fifth game of the season. For coaches, there always seems to be that one team on the schedule that is a nemesis no matter what the records, and for Triton's Mark Heeter, that team is Valley. Triton entered the game 4-2 overall and 4-0 at home, but the Trojans led by one, 19-18, at halftime against a team with no healthy player averaging 10 points per game. "It's been four or five years since we've beaten Valley," Heeter said."Triton-Valley, with the exception of last year which was a blowout for them, always seems to be a close game.

On The Court

VALPARAISO AT WARSAW Tipoff: 8 p.m.at the Tiger Den Coaches: Bob Punter (Valparaiso), Al Rhodes (Warsaw) Records: Valparaiso 2-0, Warsaw 2-0 Last game: Valparaiso 86, Highland 57; Warsaw 73, Columbia City 65 (OT) Matchup: A new addition to the schedule last year, Valpo won the first installment of the series in a game that most Warsaw fans would like to forget.But this Warsaw team is a different squad and showed a lot of character in rallying and winning against a tough Columbia City team Saturday.Valparaiso is led this year in scoring by Brian Phillips at 20 points per game, and Joe Nixon with 19 points per game is second.Darren Kahl averaged 17.5 points last year, but is at just 11 so far this year.For Warsaw, Chris Wiggins is at 13.5 points a game and Luke Reed 13.

On The Court... Saturday

WARSAW AT VALPARAISO TIPOFF: 8 p.m.Saturday at Valparaiso COACHES: Al Rhodes (Warsaw), Bob Punter (Valparaiso) RECORDS: Warsaw 6-1, Valparaiso 2-2 LAST GAME: Warsaw 72, FW North 65; Valparaiso 72, Elk.Memorial 65 MATCHUP: ...A new addition to the Warsaw schedule takes place on Saturday when Valparaiso takes the place of Anderson on the slate.The Vikings, two years removed from a state runner-up finish, are a young team dominated by juniors.The Vikings play one of the toughest early schedules around with games against Gary Roosevelt, Merrillville and Warsaw.The tough part for the Tigers will be getting back up emotionally after a big Northern Lakes Conference game a day earlier against Northridge.Six-foot-five junior Darren Kahl leads the Vikings with 20 ppg.Brian Phillips, another 6-5 junior, adds 12.5, and 6-3 senior Joe Nixon averages 12 ppg.

Vikings Close In On 1997-1998 Win Total

PLYMOUTH - It might not have been the prettiest game to watch, but Tippecanoe Valley will head into the new year on a positive note. The Vikings staved off a late Glenn run in the consolation game of the Plymouth Holiday Tournament Wednesday night, outscoring the Falcons in every quarter and committing just six turnovers en route to a 54-48 victory.Plymouth won the championship over Rochester in the second game 83-50. Tippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick was pleased with his team's play, considering the circumstances. "Two weeks from now, it's a win," Patrick said."It wasn't pretty tonight, but it goes down as a win, and at the end of the season, it's on the right side.

NorthWood's Rich Dodson Takes Coach Of Year Honors

NAPPANEE - Rich Dodson's career record as NorthWood's football coach is 75-13 (.852).He has been head coach for seven years, so his teams are averaging less than two losses a season. His Panthers advanced to the state finals in 1993.In 1998, just five years later, they again moved to the state finals, where they lost to Indianapolis Chatard 23-6 in the championship game. An 11-4 record and a trip to the state finals are why Dodson has been chosen as the 1998 Times-Union Area Football Coach of the Year. Dodson's Panthers killed the theory on momentum.So often coaches and television sports commentators talk about how important it is to win the last regular season game before the postseason tournaments.The theory is a win keeps the team rolling into the postseason. But NorthWood ended the regular season by losing at Plymouth 17-13.The 6-3 Panthers were entering the sectional on a loss. Still, Dodson remained optimistic.

On The Court

Warsaw Boys Win In Overtime

NAPPANEE - A matchup of high school boys basketball teams with feline mascots, Warsaw junior Colin Clemens was the biggest cat of all in Tuesday evening's opening round of the fifth and final Northern Lakes Conference Tournament. Clemens, who hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to cap off a gutsy comeback win over Elkhart Central a week ago, scored the final two points of Tuesday's contest when he put back a teammates' miss as time ran out, lifting Warsaw to a thrilling 52-51 overtime win over the host NorthWood Panthers. "I thought our offensive rebounding is what won us the game tonight," said third-year Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose Tigers improved to 6-2 on the season. The Tigers out-rebounded the Panthers 29-23 overall. On the offensive glass, Warsaw edged NorthWood 11-10, the decisive board coming at just the right time for the Tigers.