No Holiday Cheer For Wawasee

GOSHEN -ÊNorthWood coach Dan Gunn received a tie from his daughter as a Christmas present. The idea was not to make her father look better directing the NorthWood Panthers on the court but to give his team a hand. The tie has an eye chart on it, and according to coach Gunn, the daughter's plan was to help the Panthers get better calls. The gift's intent was true to form as NorthWood got to the free-throw line 12 times in the first half in a 73-60 win over Wawasee in Monday's Goshen Holiday Tournament. Wawasee entered the game looking for its first win of the season but would come up shorthanded.The Warriors were whistled for 17 fouls in the first half which led to 17 points. The Warriors could muster only eight second-quarter points on a paltry 3-of-12 shooting performance. NorthWood went to the locker room with a 20-point lead thanks to those first-half free throws, 11 of which came in the second quarter.

Warsaw Girls Win Tale Of Two Halves

MIDDLEBURY - To paraphrase Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," it was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves for both Warsaw and Wawasee girls basketball squads in the semifinal of the NLC Tournament at Northridge High School Wednesday night. The Tigers' second half of light was Wawasee's half of darkness as Warsaw went on a 29-2 run to end the game and move to the championship round with a 57-38 win. It was the Warriors who struck first, jumping out to a 23-16 lead late in the second quarter.The duo of Tiffany Fick and Jessie Wolf combined for 13 first half points and used physical, aggressive defense to knock Warsaw off its game. The Warriors shot a blistering 55 percent from the field that made up for their 10 turnovers. While Warsaw's junior guard Julie Seiss struggled in the first half, she still managed seven first half points but sat out the final four minutes of the second quarter.

On The Court...

Triton Vs.Caston Tipoff: 6:30 p.m.Thursday at Culver (Holiday Tournament) Coaches: Kevin O'Rourke (Triton), Craig Teagle (Caston) records: Triton 4-2, Caston 5-1 last game: Plymouth 50, Triton 48; Plymouth 68, Caston 52 MATCHUP: Triton ventures into the annual Culver Tournament with one of its best teams in awhile, but so do the other three teams in the field.All four teams in the field this year have winning records with Caston and Argos having only one loss this year.Culver Community is 3-2.Argos and Culver meet in the second game on Thursday.The consolation and championship is set for Friday.The Comets are the six-time defending champions of the tournament and come off a loss to Plymouth, as do the Trojans.Caston was tied with Plymouth at 42 in the fourth quarter before falling apart.Luke Zartman leads the Comets with 22 points per game.

Warsaw Suffers Two Losses In One Game

FORT WAYNE - Friday, when Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes was talking about Saturday's opponent, Fort Wayne North Side, he said its offense was built around Ross McGregor, the 6-foot-9 center. And he was right.In a game that North Side won 64-60, McGregor, a senior, led the Redskins with 18 points on a 8-of-12 shooting performance.He also snared five rebounds. Knowing what McGregor could do, Rhodes couldn't have been happier when the 6'9' center picked up his second foul with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter. With North Side's biggest threat on the bench, the fifth-ranked Tigers were able to build a lead and establish a formidable inside game with Zach Nelson (6'6'), Steve Siebenmorgen (6'6') and Paul Finnegan (6'7'). That Tiger trio combined for 22 of Warsaw's first-half points.Warsaw led the Redskins 33-26 at halftime.

Second-Half Surge Pushes Warsaw Past E. Central

ELKHART -ÊWarsaw and Elkhart Central played a back-and-forth first half of Saturday's game, but after halftime, the Tigers fired up and outscored the Blue Blazers in the last two quarters to earn a 69-53 victory. The Tigers played catch-up for the first five minutes of the game until a David Grossnickle steal resulted in a Steve Siebenmorgen rebound basket to give Warsaw its first lead of the game, 11-10. Elkhart Central then went up 14-11, but by the end of the first, Warsaw had tied the score at 14. The second quarter was much like the first as Warsaw and Elkhart Central battled for the lead. Through the second frame, the score was tied at 16, 18, 20, 22 and 28, but Warsaw went into the lockers with a 29-28 lead after Ross Kesler nailed a free throw to give the Tigers a slim lead. After the halftime break, Warsaw came out with a different ball handling strategy and outscored the Blue Blazers 19-12 in the third quarter to increase the Tiger lead to eight points.

Warsaw JV Hoop Team Wins Tourney

Warsaw's junior varsity boys basketball team improved to 9-0 after winning its 1997 invitational. The Tigers blasted Bellmont 60-22 in the championship game.The Tigers led 22-7 at the end of one quarter and never looked back.Wes Wienhorst scored 12 and Chris Rhodes 11 for the Tigers. Warsaw advanced to the finals by edging St.Joe 43-39.St.Joe led 25-19 at halftime, but Warsaw outscored the Indians 11-4 in the third quarter to take a 30-29 lead into the fourth.David Grossnickle's basket as time ran out in the third gave Warsaw the one-point lead. Ross Kesler scored 15 for the Tigers. St.Joe beat Twin Lakes 48-41 in the consolation game.Bellmont went to the championship round by beating Twin Lakes 31-30. Warsaw hosts Gary Lew Wallace at 6:15 p.m.on Jan.9.

On The Court Basketball Previews

On The Court

Tiger Girls Fall In OT Thriller

Its silver anniversary, the championship game of Saturday's 25th Annual Lady Tiger Tournament was nothing short of golden. A battle of girls basketball heavyweights, No.4 Perry Meridian outlasted No.8 Warsaw 57-56 in overtime, dodging what could have been the knockout punch to pick up the title trophy over the host Tigers for the second straight year. Leading 45-40 with 53 seconds left in regulation, Warsaw, a team shooting 70-plus percent from the free throw line, missed two charity tosses.With 39 seconds remaining, the Tigers again missed two freebies, leaving the door open for the Falcons. She who put Meridian on her back in the fourth quarter, Falcon junior Christina Cunningham scored Meridian's final seven points of the final frame, including a pair of cluth free throws with no time on the clock to send the game into the extra session.

Wawasee Girls Capture Own Tournament

SYRACUSE - The Wawasee Warrior girls' basketball team improved to 9-0 after winning their Saturday tournament. Carly Beer scored 18 and Lydia Carpenter 15 in the Warriors' 65-52 win over Garrett in the championship game. The Warriors hammered Bethany Christian 53-37 in the first game.Beer scored 16, Aubrey Coy 12 and Carpenter 10 to lead the Warriors. Carpenter was named MVP.Beer and Coy were named to the All-Tournament team. The 9-0 start is the best start since the 1984-1985 Wawasee girls' basketball team. The undefeated varsity Warriors have a 7:30 p.m.Tuesday game at state-ranked NorthWood. CHAMPIONSHIP: WAWASEE 65, GARRETT 52 Wawasee - Aubrey Coy 4 0-0 8, Carly Beer 5 4-5 18, Sonya Beer 1 0-0 2, Amy Cockburn 1 0-0 2, Kari Wortinger 2 2-5 6, Karissa Evans 2 6-6 10, Lydia Carpenter 5 5-9 15, Michelle Lamb 2 0-0 4.Totals - 21 17-25 65.

Wawasee Girls Win 7th Straight

NORTH MANCHESTER - Wawasee coach Randy Aalbregtse gave his basketball players one last message before they left for their road game against Manchester Thursday evening. "I told my kids on the bus just before we left, 'This team plays as hard as you play,'" Aalbregtse said."I knew it was going to be a dogfight." He couldn't have been more right. This is not the same Squires team of years past.Those teams often folded the moment they stepped on the floor.This is not the case with this year's Squires, who harangued and harassed the undefeated Warriors before losing 45-40.Wawasee, 7-0, had won its previous three games by 12 points or more.The Squires fell to 4-3. The Warriors won because they were able to contain 5-foot-8 Manchester sophomore Megan Eckert, who entered the game 10th in the state in scoring with 23 points per game.She had scored at least 17 in each of her first six games, but she had just 10 on 3-of-12 shooting against Wawasee.

Wawasee, Triton Benefit From Class Sports Tiebreakers

When and if the class sports issue finally comes into play for the IHSAA, two area schools will have part of their underclassmen population to thank for their ideal situations when it comes to which class they were put in. Enrollments for grades 9-11 were presented to the Indiana Department of Education and the IHSAA for the 1996-97 school year.These enrollments will be used to decide the classifications of the 383 schools in the state. For baseball, basketball and volleyball, the top 95 schools will be in Class 4A, the next 96 in Class 3A, the next 96 in Class 2A, and the final 96 in Class A.If enrollments were equal a tiebreaking system was used.The first tiebreaker was the freshman class, the second the sophomore class, and the third the junior class.The higher the number in each class, the higher the classification. Wawasee and Triton will benefit from these numbers.

Manchester Boys Fall To Bishop Dwenger

NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊAlthough the Manchester boys basketball team fell to the Bishop Dwenger Saints 62-56 Friday night, Squire coach Gary Goshert was pleased with his team's performance. "The effort out there tonight was excellent, second to none," said Goshert."This was the best team we've played so far.We still have to work on the little things on both ends of the floor." The Squires started the game with a bang as Keaton Patrick nailed a three-pointer at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter. Soon Manchester found itself with an 8-3 advantage at the 2:42 mark, but that lead did not last long.Dwenger went on a 9-0 run to finish the first frame with a 12-8 advantage. Dwenger's Mike Steinau hit two free throws and Jacob Henry hit another basket to open the second stanza, as Dwenger extended its lead to eight, 16-8. Squire junior Joe Egner stopped Dwenger's run with a basket of his own to make the score 16-10.

Vikings Win Ugly

AKRON -ÊThe Tippecanoe Valley Vikings endured a long junior varsity game, a sweltering gym and early foul trouble to defeat North Miami 74-49 Saturday. Although the Vikings came out on top, varsity coach Bill Patrick was not pleased with his team's less-than-spectacular play. "We took a step back tonight," said Patrick."We played pretty well in our first two games, but you couldn't tell that out there tonight. "We missed layups.We didn't block out well.We were not aggressive.We won't get better playing this way." Valley struck first when Brandon Eaton connected with Justin Ross for a basket to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead with 7:39 still left in the first quarter. But with 6:00 left in the first Valley had already been called for three team fouls, and by the end of the quarter the Vikings had nine team fouls.However, the fouls did not make much difference in the quarter as Valley outscored the Warriors 19-10 to take a healthy lead into the second quarter.

Squires Deliver One-Two Knockout Punch

CONVERSE - Eric Swan and Chris Betten packed a one-two punch for Manchester's basketball team as the Squires rolled over the Oak Hill Golden Eagles 64-35 in a TRC Wednesday matchup. Combined, Betten and Swan scored 33 of Manchester's 64 total points. Betten caught fire in the first half, scoring all 11 of his total points in the first two quarters. The Squires scored the first points of the game, and had an 8-2 lead after Steve Fawcett nailed a two-point goal to give the Squires a six-point advantage. By the end of the first, Manchester held a two-point 14-4 lead over Oak Hill. The second frame was scoreless for almost two minutes until Rex Reimer sank a three-pointer to spark a Squire scoring drive. Betten and Swan then added 11 of Manchester's remaining 13 points as the Squires headed to the locker room with a 30-13 lead.

Late Ben Bibler Wins National Award

In the back room behind sliding doors at Reinholt's Town Square Furniture store, a blender sitting on top of a gray metal filing cabinet looks out of place. But this blender has meaning to Keith Reinholt, and that's why he refuses to move it. "I kept the blender there as a remembrance of Ben," he explains. "Ben" was Ben Bibler.Bibler was 22; Reinholt is 39, although his boyish looks and perpetual smile would allow him to pass for 30.Bibler was single; Reinholt is married and has children.Reinholt taught Bibler in Sunday School at First Christian Church when he was a little boy. None of this stood in the way of the close friendship they developed this year. Bibler died Aug.23, 1999, one day after he dove into 4 feet of water at Tippecanoe Lake in the early morning and broke his neck.

Triton Boys Pick Up 72-62 Win Over CMA

BOURBON -ÊPeople watching Tuesday night's boys basketball game at Triton may have thought they were watching a tennis match.The fast-paced back-and-forth game had fans twisting their necks to catch all the action in Triton's 72-62 victory over Culver Military Academy. "That's the way we like to play," said Triton coach Mike McBride."We like to play the up-tempo style." The CMA squad kept up with that fast pace for the first two quarters, but halftime adjustments gave Triton the advantage and eventually the 10-point win. Triton senior Josh Moore started the scoring for Triton with a basket at the 7:09 mark, and the race was on from there. The Trojans went up by as much as three points in the first quarter, but CMA hung with them.At the 1:25 mark, Triton's Braxton Barton hit a basket to put his team up 16-13, but a 5-0 CMA run in the final 55 seconds of the quarter put the Eagles up 18-16 at the end of the first frame.

Eagles Clip Manchester

NORTH MANCHESTER - Columbia City basketball coach Chris Benedict said his team played to win. Manchester coach Gary Goshert said his team played not to lose. There is a difference, and that difference was two points Saturday as Columbia City edged the Squires 51-49. As far as losses go, this was as tough as they come. The Squires, who led almost the whole game, lost to the Eagles on a buzzer-beating layup by guard Matt Moore. With five seconds left in the 49-49 game, Benedict called Columbia City's final timeout.To win, the Eagles would first have to go the full length of the court, get a shot off and get that shot to fall.All in five seconds. Somehow, some way, they did it. The Eagles inbounded the ball to Moore, who dribbled up the court, through the heart of the Manchester defense and hit the game-winning layup just before time ran off the clock.

Fratello, Lasorda Talk Lockouts And $100 Million Men

The All-Linguini tag team stopped in at Warsaw Community High School Friday afternoon. The always dapper 5-foot-7 Mike Fratello, coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, was there in a salt-and-pepper suit. So was Tommy Lasorda, former manager and general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The two were in town courtesy of Steve Kesler at Explorer Vans.The only thing that kept it from being a triple-team was fellow Italian/Cleveland State basketball coach Rollie Massimino, originally scheduled to appear as well, had to bow out. Fratello introduced Lasorda (of course he kissed him on the cheek, they're Italian), who spoke to Warsaw students about never giving up, about chasing their dreams.

Rochester Tops Valley In Title Tilt

ROCHESTER - The Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team's New Year's resolution may be to put four quarters of basketball together. The Vikings looked downright dangerous at times in a 62-56 loss to No.8 (2A) Rochester in the championship of the Winning Edge Holiday Tournament Friday night and quite beatable at others. Valley, who had never lost a game in the seven-year history of the tournament, couldn't put together enough offensive consistency to top a talented Zebra squad. The Vikings managed just six points in the third quarter but was able to hold Rochester to just five.Valley then went scoreless in the fourth quarter until senior David Lash hit two free throws with 2:22 left in the game and the Vikings down 52-43. After managing just three field goals for the first 14 minutes of the second half, Valley nailed four three pointers to put the game in jeopardy for Rochester.