Warsaw Girls Finish Off Goshen

The difficult part of Senior Night is just getting through the emotions of the whole affair and getting on to the business at hand - playing the game. Warsaw did just that Thursday in the wrap up game of the regular season. The Tigers came out of the gates slowly in the first half, but slowly became more dominant as the game wore on and finally moved the lead into double digits, cruising to a 41-26 win over Goshen to finish 5-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference.NorthWood beat Concord to win the NLC title outright with a 6-0 mark. Warsaw got off to a rough start by shooting just 1 of 14 from the field in the first quarter and added a 4 of 13 performance in the second quarter. The Tigers found themselves trailing Goshen (8-10) 12-6 midway through the second stanza when they picked themselves up and ran off nine straight points to take a 15-12 halftime lead.

Warsaw, Wawasee Capture Titles

BY GREG JONES, Times-Union Sports Editor Tony Boley's first season as wrestling coach at Warsaw High School has certainly been an interesting one.Injuries and illness have caused many lineup changes, and with a squad mainly made up of underclassmen (with only three seniors), Boley has watched his squad have its ups and downs. Through all this, the Tigers have steadily progressed, and through all they have gone through, they are now sectional champions, ending Plymouth's one-year stranglehold of the Warsaw Sectional trophy. "We have had to overcome adversity the whole year," Boley said."These kids just kept getting better every single day.It is tremendous to see the improvement they have made since the first week until now." The sectional title, as it has every year since 1982, came down to Warsaw and Northern Lakes Conference Championship-rival Plymouth.

Wawasee Falls In Sectional Opener

LIGONIER - After picking up his 500th win this season, NorthWood head coach Steve Neff almost had to wait until next year for 501. Neff and his Panther squad were pushed to the brink against fierce conference rival Wawasee before prevailing 40-36 in the opening game of the West Noble Sectional Tuesday night. The Warriors took their first and only lead of the game with 2:30 left in regulation after Wawasee's lone senior Tiffany Fick hit one of two free throws to make the count 30-29. Wawasee then turned the ball over on its next possession with a chance to extend its lead.Instead NorthWood's junior guard Mandy Yoder nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Panthers back the lead at 32-30.

Valley Rocks TRC Foe Rochester

ROCHESTER - Those games against arch rivals are the scariest ones.You can throw out the records and start from scratch.There is always more on the line than just a simple basketball game.It's about pride. So when Tippecanoe Valley headed to winless Rochester, there were no thoughts of an easy victory despite the fact that the Vikings were the heavy favorite. Then again, sometimes even big rivalries are not all that they are cracked up to be.Such was the case Friday night as Valley destroyed the Rochester Zebras 79-44 to move over .500 in the Three Rivers Conference. "We were real concerned about them being a conference rival and having not won a game yet," said Valley head coach Gregg Sciarra. The Vikings jumped on Rochester early, getting out to an 8-2 lead after an Eric Love layup capped a small run of six consecutive points.

Whitko Girls Upset Warsaw 42-41

SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊWhen the basketball left Tisha Rowland's hands with 2.0 seconds left in the fourth quarter, everyone in the gym knew it would sail through the net to give Whitko a 42-41 lead over Warsaw. "When I saw the ball on the way out of her hands, I knew it was going in," said Whitko coach Ray Davis. With 2.0 seconds on the clock, Warsaw inbounded the ball with a cross-court pass to Katie Elliott, who tossed a shot toward the goal as the buzzer sounded. As the ball bounced off the rim, Whitko celebrated its first win over Warsaw since 1982, and just the second win over the Tigers in school history, 42-41. After one quarter of play, the Tigers held a slim 11-9 lead, but the Wildcats tied the score at 11 just one minute into the second frame. Warsaw then took an 18-11 lead with nearly four minutes left in the half.

Raider Wrestlers Win NLC

Northridge, which went 6-0 during regular season dual meets, finished first overall in the Northern Lakes Conference after winning Saturday's NLC Tournament. Warsaw placed fourth in team points with three individual champions.Wawasee, which finished sixth, had one champion.Ê ÊÊÊ Goshen's Schuyler Barkes (135) was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament, pinning his three opponents in a combined time of just 2:52.Ê Barkes is ranked No.1 in the State. The NLC All-Conference team comprises the champions in each weight class and in addition, the coaches voted for three at-large members: Plymouth's Chris Glaub (135), Concord's Mike Robinson (171) and Wawasee's Tom Bryan (275). In the 275-pound championship match, Bryan and Warsaw's Joey Navarro met in a rematch of their regular season dual.ÊIn that December fracas, Bryan came out the 4-2 winner by scoring a takedown with only seconds remaining.

Toughman Competiton Not Welcome Everywhere

While Fort Wayne hosted the Toughman Competition in January, the contest is not welcomed everywhere. The Toughman competition has been the subject of much discussion since its inception in 1979.In fact, it has been banned in numerous cities around the United States, including three in Indiana - LaPorte, Evansville and Indianapolis.It is also banned in at least four states including Pennsylvania and Missouri.The Indiana Boxing Commission has proposed a statewide ban against the Toughman Competition. While promoters of the Toughman contest say it is the safest form of fighting events, others disagree.Since 1995, at least five deaths have been attributed to the events, with the most recent coming in Michigan on January 25.

On The Court Basketball Preview

SOUTHWOOD AT VALLEY Tip-off: 6 p.m.Tuesday in Mentone Coaches: Steve McClure (Southwood), Bill Patrick (Valley) Records: Southwood 10-2, 1-2 TRC; Valley 10-4, 4-1 TRC Last game: Southwood 59, Caston 36; Manchester 84, Valley 49 Last year: Southwood 66, Valley 62 Matchup: Valley enters tonight's TRC matchup on the heels of a 35-point loss to Manchester, its only loss in the conference ...Prior to the loss, the Vikings had won six in a row ...Valley's scoring attack is headed by the one-two punch of Brandon Eaton (15.6 ppg.) and Jarvis Shepherd (15.2 ppg.) ...Eric Prater leads Valley in rebounding with 6.1 boards per game ...Southwood's Paul Wright leads the TRC in scoring at 21.3 points per game.He also pulls down 7.0 rebounds per game ...Nick Dawson and Shawn Zellers add to the Southwood effort with eight and six points respectively.

Parks Board Considers Canopy Offer

Warsaw parks board members looked at canopy designs, similar to one that may be constructed over Central Park's performance area. Tuesday, superintendent Jon Garber said an individual is donating the cost of the covering.It is expected to be at least 18 feet high and 40 feet by 50 feet in size.Made of a waterproof PVC membrane, the roof would be secured with steel tresses, if a final design is approved. The board also: • Approved a flower bed and urn maintenance agreement with Janet Essig in an amount no less than $8,000 or no more than $12,000. • Reviewed a thank-you letter from Swashbuckler Robotics Team.The group is planning an installation of a wheelchair swing in the children's playground. • Re-elected Bill Baldwin president and Jon Sadler vice president.

Tiger Win Streak Halted In Double-Overtime Thriller

ELKHART - It's old brick structure already stuffed with basketball history, No.7 (4A) Warsaw and Elkhart Memorial found room to squeeze yet another high school nail-biter into North Side Gym Friday night. In an arena that saw battles between NBA players Rick Fox and Shawn Kemp in their prep days, as well as the breaking of the girls career scoring record just weeks ago, Elkhart Memorial and the visiting Tigers went back and forth like heavyweight boxers before the Crimson Chargers pulled away for a 75-65 win in double overtime. A game that veteran Warsaw coach Al Rhodes tabbed as the premiere game in northern Indiana, the Tigers and Crimson Chargers didn't disappoint those in attendance. Warsaw senior Brad Seiss hit a three-pointer with 1:45 left in regulation to pull the Tigers within three, 50-47.After Memorial senior Kyle Sears missed a free throw, Jared Shaw hit two charity tosses for Warsaw to make it a one-point game.

NorthWood Wins Another NLC Title

NAPPANEE - NorthWood proved why it is the best team in the Northern Lakes Conference and the No.1 team in Class 3A with a convincing 62-44 win over Warsaw Tuesday at the Panther Pit. Both teams entered the game with perfect 5-0 marks in the NLC, but the Panthers showed the muscle that has earned them five straight conference titles and a 25-game winning streak in the NLC. "They can't play any better than they did tonight," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said of NorthWood."When they can kick the ball out and hit those little 15-footers, I don't know of anybody that can beat them.They are a tremendous team." Those little '15-footers' and a few even closer to the basket resulted in NorthWood connecting on 26 of 45 from the field (58 percent).It does seem that when they are on, the Panthers (16-1) are tough to beat. "When we shoot the ball well, we can be a pretty decent team," an understated NorthWood coach Steve Neff said.

On The Court Basketball Previews

On The Court Basketball Previews

Warsaw, Wawasee Boys Swim Well In NLC Meet

SYRACUSE -ÊGoing into Saturday's Northern Lakes Conference boys swim meet, the state-ranked squad from Northridge was favored to win. And the No.4 Raiders did not disappoint, securing first-place finishes in all but two events to win the NLC meet with a score of 378 points.Wawasee was second with 261 points, while Warsaw placed third with 214 points. "Northridge is really, really good," said Wawasee coach Roger Karns."But our guys went out there and swam well. "We graduated nine kids off last year's team that placed second in the NLCs.Who'd have thought we'd come back and do it again this year? These guys have done an outstanding job of making themselves competitive this season." Although the Warriors did not win any of the events, they placed in the top six in 11 of 12 events.

On The Court Basketball Previews

GARY WALLACE AT WARSAW Tip-off: 6:15 p.m.Saturday in Warsaw Coaches: Al Rhodes (Warsaw), John Hoover (Gary Wallace) Records: Warsaw 13-2; Gary Wallace 7-4 Last game: Warsaw 77, Elk.Memorial 51; Last year: Gary Wallace 76, Warsaw 74 Matchup: Warsaw is led in scoring by Steve Siebenmorgen's near 15 points per game, Chris Wiggins and Zach Nelson contribute close to 13 points each; Wallace averages 78.7 points per game, sixth in the state. Rhodes: "Gary Wallace has received some votes in the polls.They have the same player back who beat us last year almost single-handedly.They always play up-tempo, mix defenses and put pressure on your guards.This is tough for us because we have Plymouth the night before.The two teams present two very different styles." Hoover: Hoover was not available for comment.

House Has An Aversion To Ethics

An oxymoron is defined as a combination of contradictory or incongruous words. Like "jumbo shrimp," "old news" or "legally drunk." Well, I have an oxymoron I want to add to the list - "House ethics." The "House" being the U.S.House of Representatives, of course. The whole Tom DeLay thing is really rubbing me raw. I think anybody who has ever read any of my political rantings knows I tend to be conservative. I will admit for the record that's true.I am conservative.You know - respect for the unborn, small government, low taxes. But I find myself more frequently wanting to distance myself from the current crop of Republicans in Congress. I don't know what they are, but they're not conservatives. It's starting to freak me out. It's a classic case of giving somebody enough rope.And trust me, the Republicans will hang if they don't get their collective act together.

Whitko Finishes In Third Place

NORTH MANCHESTER - It was business as usual for the Northfield wrestling team Saturday.For the fifth consecutive year, the Norsemen won a sectional, narrowly defeating Peru and Whitko for the right to move on to the regional Wednesday.Northfield ended with 201 points, while Peru had 187.5 and Whitko had 178. For Whitko and Manchester, the results were a bit disappointing.The Wildcats had seven individuals move on to the regional, but they needed a few more to attain the team championship.Manchester had just one wrestler, junior Eric Sommer, advance to the regional. For Whitko, the problem was a combination of forfeits and just plain bad luck.The Wildcats had no entry in the 103-pound weight class, which put them in a hole from the beginning.Also, Whitko was without Jimmy Linn in the 189 weight class because of an injury.Finally, a couple of upsets dashed the Wildcats' hopes in the semifinals.

No. 14 Warrior Wrestlers Shooting For Sixth Straight Sectional Title

Just like the Chicago Bulls run the triangle, the Wawasee Warrior wrestling team hopes to do the same. No, the Warriors aren't lacing up the sneakers and running up and down the basketball floor.And they're not mimicking Deion Sanders by playing two sports. But they finished first in the Northern Lakes Conference during the regular season.Then they won the Northern Lakes Conference tournament. Now up is the sectional.Win this, and the Warriors will have completed their triangle. So far, the Warriors have made it look easy.They went 6-0 in the NLC.They won the NLC tournament last Saturday with 233 points, easily outdistancing the Plymouth Pilgrims, who had 186 points. And now most people predict they will win today's East Noble Sectional.After all, they have won the sectional five years in row.This may be Scott DeHart's best team.

It's Open Enrollment For Everybody

I was a little bummed out last weekend when the Wawasee Warriors lost. See, my daughter cheers for Wawasee, so I've seen lots of their games over the past four years. Wawasee had a fantastic football team this year.They were fun to watch.I have seen quite a few different high school football teams over the years, and this team was probably the most fun to watch of any of them. And I got to know several of the guys on the team.They are great kids.I know that's a bit of a clich, but it was true of these kids. Some coaches have to worry about the behavior of their kids off the field.Not coach Joe Rietveld. These kids were well-mannered, hard-working and dedicated. So it was really too bad they had to lose so soundly to Indianapolis Roncalli last week in the Class 4A State Championship.

Area Grapplers Advance

ROCHESTER - In wrestling action at the Rochester Regional, six area wrestlers advanced to the Merrillville Semistate, including five from Warsaw and one from Triton. Without question, teams that came through the Mishawaka Sectional dominated the regional. Mishawaka advanced 11 through to semistate, including six champs.Penn brought 14 qualifiers to this regional and will take seven on to the semistate, among them four champs.Two other champs were also from that north sectional, while only two champs were from the south sectional at Plymouth - Rochester's Cory Fornal (140) and Warsaw's Matt Elvidge (135), the lone area champion. Warsaw's Matt Elvidge recorded two falls to reach the championship.The Tiger sophomore thumped Mishawaka's Brandon Mersich in a convincing 18-4 major decision.Allowing Mersich only four escapes, Elvidge scored on takedowns, reversals, and two nearfalls.