Vikings Get Back On Winning Track

MENTONE -ÊComing into his first season at Tippecanoe Valley, coach Bill Patrick had 29 winning seasons at Whitko.That's where he thought his streak would end. But the Vikings proved Patrick wrong when they pummelled the Wabash Apaches 83-58 to earn their 11th win of the season and keep his streak alive at 30. The 11 wins so far this season almost double the win count of last year, when the Vikings tied a school record in futility at 6-15. Valley started the game on the right foot when Josh Cumberland nailed a two-point jumper to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead from the get-go.The Vikes would not settle for just two, though, as Jarvis Shepherd and Brandon Eaton combined for eight more Valley points before the Apaches scored their first basket at the 5:21 mark in the first. By the end of the first frame, Valley led 20-8. Valley continued its offensive attack in the second quarter, scoring 20 more points to take a 40-19 lead into the halftime break.

Vikings Open Sectional With Win Over Host Elmhurst

FORT WAYNE -Ê"That's Hoosier Hysteria," said Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Gary Teel after the Vikings' 63-56 win over Elmhurst Tuesday night in the opening game of the 3A Elmhurst Sectional. But the seven-point win did not come easily for the 3A No.3 Valley squad. In their first game in 10 days, the Vikings started off a bit rusty in the first quarter.After Elmhurst's Brandi Stuckey hit the first two baskets of the game, the Vikings found themselves down 4-0.By the 1:52 mark, Elmhurst increased it's lead to 15-7 on a three-point basket by Chasity Darnell.In the final 1:35 of the first frame, the Vikings went on a 5-2 run to cut Elmhurst's advantage to five, 17-12. "Our pressure defense was our forte," said Teel."In the first quarter, we weren't scoring so we could not get that going.If you don't shoot well, you can't trap." The second quarter, however, was a different story.

Squires Clinch Share Of TRC Title

NORTH MANCHESTER - Though a perfect season fell by the wayside, Manchester was still able to salvage a conference crown. The Squires clinched a share of the Three Rivers Conference title Saturday night with a 43-37 win over visiting Tippecanoe Valley in girls basketball action. "We treated our last few games as if we were in the sectionals.If you lose the game you are done.We wanted our name on that conference trophy," said Squire head coach Mark Underwood. Manchester appeared as though it was going to run away with the game in the first quarter. They jumped out to a 9-2 lead midway through the opening quarter.Valley had trouble getting off some good shots during that stretch of the game. Using a small run of their own along with defense the Vikings began to claw their way back in to the game.Led by Hannah Krueger, Valley outscored Manchester 7-4 the rest of the quarter to close the game within four at 13-9.

Warsaw Flips Over Wawasee

On Tuesday night, Wawasee gymnastics coach Nika Prather decided to make a prediction after her team had been beaten by Warsaw for just the second time in school history. "I don't think it will happen again," Prather said."It all comes down to sectional.If everyone stays healthy, and we have a full team, I think it will be close.I don't think the girls will let it happen again." Warsaw defeated Wawasee 96.4-92.3 for the Tigers first win over the Warriors since 1992.Wawasee did compete without one of its top gymnasts, Darcy Replogle.She hasn't competed yet this year but could be back by next week.That's why Prather said the Warriors would win if they had a full team.

Donaldson, DeKalb Shoot Down Tigers

KENDALLVILLE - Warsaw girls basketball coach John Snyder described DeKalb High School senior Jenna Donaldson as a streaky shooter. Unfortunately for the second-year skipper, his six senior players and the rest of the Tigers, Donaldson found her shooting touch Friday night in the second semifinal game of the Class 4A East Noble Sectional. With Snyder's defensive game plan centered around stopping 5-foot-11 senior Courtney Beerbower, who scored 19 in DeKalb's win over Carroll in Tuesday's sectional opener, Donaldson was able to get good looks at the basket from nearly everywhere on the court. Donaldson finished the game with 29 points, lifting the Barons to 58-53 win over the Tigers in overtime.

Squires Clip 'Busco

NORTH MANCHESTER - There was a lot of buzz before Friday night's game that the Manchester Squires would make quick work of the Churubsco Eagles.The Eagles came into the game barely over .500 at 7-6 while Manchester's record was 11-3. That didn't prove to be the case as both teams battled on both ends of the floor.A couple of late mistakes by Churubusco and some free throws from the Squires gave Manchester the edge with a 57-50 victory. According to Manchester basketball coach Gary Goshert, Churubusco's intense level of play was expected by his team. "I knew (Churubusco) was going to be physical and play hard.They were strong inside and we couldn't stop them early," said Goshert. The inside presence Goshert was referring to was senior center Justin Gordon. Gordon scored six first-quarter points as Churubusco jumped out to a 17-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Valley Vikings Advance

OSSIAN -ÊTippecanoe Valley took on the Fort Wayne Elmhurst Trojans in the Norwell Sectional semifinal Friday night.The game was a rematch of a game earlier in the year which the Trojans won 46-43. Valley got sweet revenge by beating Elmhurst 56-51 to face Norwell in the sectional final tonight. The final game will also be a game of potential revenge.The Norwell Knights beat the Vikings in the sectional final last year by one point. Valley jumped off to an early 10-2 lead in the first quarter.The Vikings used a full-court press early to take the Trojans away from the game. Elmhurst then finished the quarter strong.They outscored Valley 6-3 to cut the lead at the end of the quarter to three at 13-10. "Early in the first quarter we did a great job of executing our game plan.You have to give Coach Mark Redding credit.He had his team ready to play.Once they got back into the game it just threw us of ours," said Valley head coach Gary Teel said.

Vikings Rout Wabash 75-32

MENTONE - At the end of Tuesday night's Tippecanoe Valley/Wabash girls basketball game, the scoreboard read Valley 75, Wabash 32.The coaches' stat sheets read something like this: Wabash 32, Rhonda Doud 27. On a night when Valley honored its seniors, playing in their last regular season home game of their careers, at midcourt with their parents, Doud went out in style.With Doud's 27 points, six steals, four rebounds and three assists, the Vikings improved their record to 11-8.Jenny Sanders chipped in with nine points.Wabash was led by Gina Curtis, its only scorer in double figures, with 10 points.Nikki Randas added eight points. All 12 rostered Vikings broke into the scoring column in the victory.

Tiger Girls Run Away From NorthWood

In a race for second in the Northern Lakes Conference, Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team made like a distance runner Saturday - saving its best for last and sprinting to victory. In a game that was close throughout, the Tigers led No.9 (3A) NorthWood 44-41 with 6:54 left in the fourth, but a 15-2 run in the final five minutes led Warsaw to a 65-45 win. "I thought we played pretty well," veteran Tiger coach Will Wienhorst said."We didn't shoot well in the first half but we did better in the second half.We made three steals there late in the game that led to six points, that made difference.We did a great job on defense." The 20-point win pushes Warsaw's record to 16-3 overall and 5-1 in the NLC, while NorthWood falls to 14-5 and 4-2.With one game left, the Tigers trail only 4A No.7 Wawasee (6-0) for the conference championship.

Energy Could Make For A Long Summer

You know, I guess I feel kind of sorry for W. I have a feeling he's really going to get hammered over the economy. A career in journalism does something to you. It makes you skeptical.It makes you pessimistic.It didn't start out that way, it just evolved over time. When I first got in the business, right out of college, I had this idealistic vision of what the thrill-a-minute world of big-time, professional journalism would be like. It wasn't like that. I had the idea that I would be able to change the world.I didn't. But what I did learn - real quick - was that you had to check things out.You had to be skeptical.You had to be pessimistic to be any good at journalism at all. Wordsmith and syndicated columnist James J.Kilpatrick once said, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." So that's why I'm pretty pessimistic and skeptical about the economy these days.

Tigers Send Four Wrestlers To Semistate

Seven area wrestlers advanced from the Goshen Regional to the Fort Wayne Semistate. Four were from Warsaw: Joey Navarro, Isaac Perry, Anthony Boley and Kris Hueber.Navarro and Perry were champions, while Boley was runner-up and Hueber took a third place. NorthWood's three wrestlers advancing to Fort Wayne were Jesse Espinoza, Nick Roelandts and Brandon Garner.Ê Espinoza was champion while Roelandts and Garner placed third. ÊÊTippecanoe Valley Tippecanoe Valley's representatives at the Goshen Regional included Wes Ramsey (145), along with Tim Miller (119), Kevin Day (130), Nathan Shewman (135) and Tyler Kottkamp (189).None of the Valley wrestlers advanced to the Fort Wayne Semistate. Miller, Day, Shewman and Kottkamp lost their first-round matches to bring their seasons to an end.Ramsey, after winning in round one, lost in round two when he was pinned in 30 seconds by the eventual champ, Jimtown's Clint Pontius.

Tigers Finish In Top 6 In 8 Events

Warsaw Wrestlers Fall To Jimtown

ELKHART - It was basically youth versus experience in the wrestling regional matchup between Warsaw and Jimtown Wednesday. And experience won out. A shorthanded Tiger squad plugged some needed holes with three freshmen against the No.18 Jimmies.Already sporting a lineup with only two seniors, it was tough for Warsaw to overcome as Jimtown pulled away for a 38-27 win in the team regional semifinals. "We had some young kids going up against upperclassmen," Warsaw coach Tony Boley said."I have no complaints about the effort.I think we stepped it up a little more.Hopefully, next year we will come up here and win one of these." It marks the second year for the team regionals, and the second year that Warsaw has fallen in the first round.Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen went onto beat Jimtown in the regional finals, 34-28, later in the night.The Redskins beat Prairie Heights 39-29 in the first round.

Drudge Leads TV Swimmers To State

Amber Drudge was a busy swimmer Saturday. After she placed second to Wawasee's Laura Karns by less than a tenth of a second, Drudge went on to compete in three other events and qualify for the state competition in each of them. "Amber lost a heartbreaking race in the 50 free," said Tippecanoe Valley coach Steve Doerscher."A lot of kids would have given up, but she came back to win the 100 free.She bounced back and found the determination it took to win.I think that broke the ice and got the other girls pepped up for the relays. "Amber has been disappointed in the past, but I think her experience really helped her today." After Drudge placed first in the 100 freestyle, she went on to lead the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams to first-place finishes as well.

Sluggish Tigers Fall To NorthWood

In its second to last game of the regular season, Warsaw may have taken a few steps back heading into sectional play The Tigers looked out of sorts on both offense and defense as they fell to NorthWood in Northern Lakes Conference play Saturday night 43-35 in the Tiger Den Saturday night Warsaw came into the game banged up as guard and leading scorer Julie Seiss is still nursing a sore shoulder. Forward Tasia Smith returned to the Warsaw lineup after sustaining a broken nose and wore a protective mask. Sophomore Kate Denlinger started in place of Smith. Reserve Kacie Conley also played despite a collision during Thursday's game at South Bend Adams. But perhaps the most servere blow Warsaw sustained was a performance against NorthWood that saw the Tigers commit 21 turnovers. Warsaw gave up 17 points off turnovers compared to just eight given up by the Panthers, a fact not lost on Tiger head coach John Snyder.

'Relaxed' Squires Shoot Down Warriors

SYRACUSE -ÊManchester basketball coach Gary Goshert returned to Wawasee High School on Saturday and did what he did 124 times as former coach of that school. He led his basketball team to a win.Goshert's Manchester Squires beat Wawasee 65-54. Goshert coached at Wawasee for 10 years and 124 wins before taking the Manchester job in 1996. Saturday night marked his first return visit. "Unbelievable ...unbelievable," he said."I haven't been in this locker room since I coached at West Noble, and we came over here and played these guys.Sitting on this side of the floor was completely different." Manchester, ranked second in 2A in the state, improved to 16-2.Wawasee dropped to 3-13. Last season - Goshert's first as Manchester coach - the Warriors went to Manchester and handed the Squires their worst loss, 46-30.The uptight Squires choked the life out of the basketball and shot a miserable 28 percent from the floor.

There Can Be No Replacement For Mike Royko

I was having kind of a bad week anyway. Then Mike Royko died. I'm not even going to try to replace his column in this newspaper. Royko was one of those "love him or hate him" columnists.There was very little middle ground. I loved his column. I wrote Royko a letter one time.My wife and I were going to be in Chicago for our anniversary so I invited Royko and the Blonde to dinner with us. Even though I wrote months in advance, he didn't reply. I wasn't surprised because he probably got thousands of letters each week.I'm sure somebody screened his mail so he may not have even seen my letter.And if he did, he probably thought I was some kind of psycho or something. In the letter, I told him journalism needed more guys like him. I got into journalism in 1980.Since then, I have observed this odious, insidious desire for political correctness creep into my trade.

On The Court Basketball Previews

Giants Stand Tall Against Warsaw

In games where Warsaw's boys basketball team has faced an opponent with a No.1 state ranking, coach Al Rhodes owns a 3-1 record. The "1" came Friday in the form of a 70-62 decision at home to Marion, also ranked third nationally in the USA Today high school poll. The loss drops Warsaw's overall season record to 10-4.Marion, which currently owns the state's longest winning streak, improves to 16-0. With last night's win, the Giants have won five of its last six games with Warsaw.The Tigers hosted and upset top-ranked Marion 55-52 in 1986, giving Rhodes his 100th coaching victory and snapping the Giants' 40-game win streak.

Wawasee Girls Surge By Jimtown

NAPPANEE - The Wawasee Warriors have finally gotten over that hump. The hump that is the first game of the sectional. For three straight years, the Warriors have come into the NorthWood Girls' Basketball Sectional with high expectations, only to be bounced out of the tournament in their first game. And they almost didn't do it. Jimtown ran up a quick lead on the Warriors in the first half, but Wawasee made a late surge to advance with a 50-41 win Tuesday. Wawasee now will face No.10 NorthWood Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Down by eight at halftime, Wawasee cut the lead to three at the end of the third quarter, and then the fourth quarter was all Wawasee. Karissa Evans hit a shot to bring the Warriors within one at the start of the quarter, and then Jimtown turned the ball over. Kari Wortinger gave her team a lead it would not lose with seven minutes left.