Bethel Grounds Grace

Photo By Gary Nieter, Times-Union One mistake is all it really took against Grace Tuesday at Lancer Gym. The Lancers, who led by one at halftime, 36-35, were trailing the Pilots 57-56 with just over 9 1/2 minutes left in the game when Bethel's Jeff Clay was fouled by Grace's Brent Damer.Clay's layup was good, and he had a free throw coming. Damer got the ball after the basket and slammed it to the court in frustration.The ball got away from him, and the official near the play called a technical.With the personal and the technical, Damer went to the bench with five fouls.Clay went to the free throw line and made three free throws to give Bethel a 62-56 lead. It was the opening the Pilots needed.Sensing the Lancers were down emotionally from the exchange, the Pilots went on a 18-4 run and never looked back in their 82-67 Mid-Central Conference win. Bethel is now 20-3 overall and 6-1 in the MCC.Grace falls to 16-8 and 3-4.

The Ups And Downs Of Corporate Greed

It's been kind of fun to watch the GE/Honeywell merger attempt. I don't profess to be a corporate/business/finance expert or anything, but here is my humble understanding of the situation and what I perceive to be a little ironic. GE wants to merge with Honeywell. Those guys - among many other things - make airplane parts like jet engines and controls and stuff. In Europe, the airlines are owned and operated by the government. The European Union is afraid that if GE and Honeywell merge, the prices of airplanes might go up. Since the EU doesn't want to pay more for airplanes, it refused to give the GE/Honeywell merger anti-trust clearance. And my guess is the EU is putting pressure on airplane manufacturers, too. The EU might suggest to Boeing, for example, that if Boeing doesn't discourage the GE/Honeywell merger, the EU will buy its planes from Airbus.

City Planners Approve Amendments To Sign, Structure Rules

The Warsaw Plan Commission approved favorable recommendations Monday for amendments to the real estate sign and accessory structure ordinances. According to city planner Jeff Noffsinger, Dan Wildaman and Fred Johnson, on behalf of the Kosciusko County Board of Realtors, petitioned the city to make a revision to the ordinance to allow directional real estate signs in the community.

When Things Go Wrong In Iraq

I get the sense that the Iraq thing is going poorly. I know lots of people thought that from the outset.I was not one of those. I didn't disagree with W's assessment of Saddam Hussein. I would have liked to see a larger coalition.And I would have liked to see the U.N.'s blessing, but I always thought that the world would be a better place without Saddam running a Middle Eastern country. As for WMDs (big bombs), it's hard for me to blame W for believing Saddam had them. After all, everyone in the world believed the same thing.I mean everybody.All the other countries, the United Nations, all the prominent Democrats in this country - everybody. They all said the same thing.It was unanimous.Not one person was saying, "Hey, you know, maybe Saddam really doesn't have any big bombs." So it's difficult for me to blame W for believing that Saddam had big bombs.

Triton Hangs On For Win Over Whitko

Bourbon - Early it looked as though Friday's boys basketball game between the Whitko Wildcats and the Triton Trojans would be less than riveting. That quickly changed as both teams battled tooth and nail for four quarters. Triton held the lead for most of the game but lost it late in the fourth quarter.The Trojans were able to charge back and recapture the lead for good as they held on for a 46-45 win. The game started off slowly as both teams traded early baskets with Whitko's Jeff Martin and Triton's Brandon Zeider scoring for their respective teams.Both teams then went on a scoring drought for the next three minutes until the Wildcats' Ben Ryan broke the tie with a jumper. After Ryan's basket, the Trojans quickly stormed back with a 14-2 run that lasted until the opening moments of the second quarter.Triton was led early by senior Matt Savill, who had nine first-half points, giving his team 24-16 lead at the half.

Warsaw Wrestlers Win Sectional

PLYMOUTH - Five individual champions led the way for the Warsaw wrestling team to win the Plymouth Sectional Saturday. The Tigers won 21 individual matches to earn the championship, 18 of which came by way of pins, two by technical fall, and one by a decision. En route to its second straight sectional title, Warsaw finished with 207 points, followed by runner-up Plymouth with 194.5. Culver Military finished third with 191 points, followed by Triton (179.5), Culver Community (168.5), Rochester (137.5), Bremen (133), Wawasee (102.5) and Tippecanoe Valley (42). Through the first round of the Plymouth Sectional, all of the Tigers who advanced did so by fall and suddenly the team had a chance to win the event.

For Warsaw coach Al Rhodes, Friday night's postgame festivites are something he said he'd like to see turn into a common occurrence.

"We're hoping so," said Rhodes when asked if this was the first of many net-cutting ceremonies to come for his team."A team cutting down the nets is a good habit to get into." Warsaw may have cut down the nets after the game, but during the game, the Tigers continued their streak of phenomenal shooting.Again Warsaw shot near 50 percent from the field as it connected on 15 of 32 field goal attempts.The Tigers also shot 75 percent from the free-throw line.The Troopers (7-9) were 17 of 38 (44.7 percent) from the field. Warsaw's Chris Wiggins led all scorers with 14 points.Steve Siebenmorgen added 11 points to the Tigers' fourth win in five games.Zach Nelson and Ross Kesler tallied eight points each.Ross' brother, Rob, dished out eight assists.The Troopers were led in the scoring column by Roosevelt Ward's 12 points.Leroy Rogers contributed 10 in the losing effort.

Squires Take Control In TRC

NORTH MANCHESTER - After his team soundly defeated Valley 84-49 Friday night Manchester coach Gary Goshert told members of the media how poor his team shot in the Squires' two losses last week. In losses to Peru and Carroll, Manchester shot percentages of 36 and 43 from the field.In the victory over Valley, a win that moved the Squires' record to 10-3 and 5-0 in the Three Rivers Conference, the Squires shot 56.7 percent (34 of 60) from the field.The Vikings (10-4, 4-1) connected on just 17 of 46 (36.9 percent) field goals. Manchester's Eric Swan led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, Rex Reimer chipped in 18 points.Valley was led by Brandon Eaton's 13 points.Jarvis Shepherd and Josh Cumberland added 12 and 11 points respectively.

On The Court Basketball Previews

For Plymouth, Thumping Valley Is Mission Possible

AKRON -Ê"Plymouth seemed to be on a mission." Tippecanoe Valley coach Gary Teel summed up Friday night's round two sectional game in that one sentence.The No.7 Plymouth girls basketball team doubled up the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings 66-33 to advance to the 3A sectional final tonight in Akron. The Vikings kept up with the Pilgrims early in the first quarter, staying within three points until the 1:01 mark.Then Lesley Blackburn hit a three-pointer to put Plymouth up 12-7, and that's where the score remained until the second quarter. Plymouth's Nichole Cox hit a free throw, and Valley's Rebekah Parker answered with a basket of her own to make the score 13-9. However, Plymouth scored nine straight points to increase its lead to 13, 22-9.Parker hit two free throws with 3:29 on the clock to make the score 22-11, but the Pilgrims went on another run, 10-0, making the score 32-11.

Squires Tie For TRC Lead

NORTH MANCHESTER - When the Whitko basketball team has won games this year, the Wildcats have done so by crashing the offensive glass and getting easy putbacks. Manchester took away those easy putbacks Tuesday night, and the Squires ran over Whitko 65-47.The Squires improved to 8-6 overall and 4-1 in the Three Rivers Conference, tying them for first with Northfield.Whitko fell to 5-8 and 1-2 in the TRC. Whitko coach Dave Henson did everything but offer a full refund to Whitko fans. "We were very disappointing," Henson said."In a big game, a big rivalry, I thought we'd play hard.I'm disappointed we didn't.They were outhustling us to the ball.They came to play.We didn't." Whitko seniors Zach Henson and Jason Ayres entered averaging a combined 33 points per game.They had 14 against Manchester.Henson scored 14 on 3-of-12 shooting from the floor.Ayres had none on 0-of-9 shooting.

Grace Men's Basketball Team Snaps Four-Game Losing Skid

WINONA LAKE - Grace ended one of the most heart-breaking losing streaks possible Saturday with an almost-flawless second half effort against Marian College.After losing four games, two against teams ranked in the NAIA top 15, by a combined total of 10 points, the Lancers shot 57 percent in the second half and committed only one turnover in the final 20 minutes to beat the Knights 73-65 on Senior Day. After playing in eight consecutive games that came down to the final few possessions, Grace was ready for a game in which the win would not ride on the final moments.Although Grace never put the game out of reach, Marian was unable to get close enough during the final seven minutes to put the win in jeopardy. The deciding run came midway through the second half as Grace held a 52-51 advantage.The Lancers went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and the team scored eight consecutive points to build a 60-51 lead.Marian never got closer than six the rest of the way.

Civility And Political Discourse

I know that politics has not always been the most civil of pursuits, but it just seems nastier these days. Examples abound. It seems that conservatives are out to make liberal a dirty word. I mean there is some serious liberal-hate speech going on out there.No wonder liberals favor passing hate speech laws. (That raises an interesting point.Can you be discriminated against by political ideology? I mean, could I only hire conservatives?) Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter.There are some pretty uncivil opinions bandied around by that crowd. So not to be outdone, the liberals have trotted out the likes of Michael Moore, Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo to foist propaganda, hurl invective and generally rant, respectively. "So what?" you say. Well, I just think it's harmful to the political process as a whole.

Triton Defeats Unfocused Valley 68-61 In OT

BOURBON -ÊTippecanoe Valley's boys basketball team lost to Triton 68-61 in overtime Saturday, and as far as Valley coach Bill Patrick was concerned, the downfall could be traced back to the junior varsity game. "In the junior varsity game, I saw some of our kids eating nachos," Patrick said."We were not ready from the start of the game." Valley dropped to 12-6, while Triton improved to 9-8.Valley's Josh Cumberland hit 6 of 7 field goals and 12 of 13 free throws to lead all scorers with 24 points.Austin Unterbrink led Triton with 15 points, and Matt Savill added 13.Jarvis Shepherd scored 15 for Valley. For the second night in a row, Triton pulled out a win in a close game.Triton hosted and beat Whitko 45-44 Friday.

Local Swimmers Set For State

NAPPANEE - According to her coach, Mary Robertson, it's no fluke or suprise that Julia Warnken is swimming in the state finals tonight. The NorthWood freshman will compete in three events at the state finals to be held at the University of Indianapolis' natatorium, the 100 butterfly, 200 individual medley and with her sister Jessica as well as Jessica Doriot and Rachel Eaton in the 400 freestyle relay. "We were pretty sure she'd make it," said Robertson."We expected it, she's very fluid.She's the most dedicated girl on the team.Maybe not the most dedicated to get in the water first but she'll finish her warmup routine first.She just has a lot of ability in the water." Warnken's time in the 200 IM was seven seconds faster than the rest of the field at the Penn Swimming Sectionals but Robertson thinks her stronger event will be the 100 butterfly.

Manchester Squires See Season End

WABASH -ÊMaconaquah brought the Manchester Squires' girls basketball season to an abrupt end when the Braves defeated the Squires 49-48 in the Northfield Sectional Thursday. Although Manchester netted the first basket of the game, the first quarter belonged to Maconaquah as the Braves outscored the Squires 17-8 in the frame. "We knew they could score points quickly, so we made sure that we didn't panic after the first quarter," said Nichols."We kept our heads up and got back in it." Manchester was down, but not out as the Squires made a comeback in the second stanza, Jennifer Jester started the quarter with a spark as she sank a three-pointer with 7:25 remaining in the half. Then Megan Eckert stepped up.In the last seven minutes of the first half, Eckert helped the Manchester squad go on a 18-2 but scoring 13 points.At the half, Manchester held a 29-21 lead over Maconaquah, and Megan Eckert had 18 of her total 28 points.

Lancers Snap Losing Streak In Big Way

Tuesday night in Lancer Gymnasium, the Grace College men's basketball team used opportunities to snap a 12-game losing streak.The Lancers avenged a 14-point loss to Goshen earlier this year by defeating the Maple Leafs 96-54. Because the Lancers' leading scorer, Ryan Bricker, played few minutes with a stomach virus that held him out of the previous two games, Shannon Brown was given a rare starting role.Brown responded with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists and made the most of his opportunity. With the lineup shuffled, Jeremy Swanson had the opportunity to garner extra minutes.He responded by making 6-of-6 field goals in the first half, including a three-pointer, for 14 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Manchester Girls Claim TRC Title

CONVERSE - Boy, how those Squires like to make it interesting. In a game to decide the Three Rivers Conference championship, Manchester shot just 24 percent from the floor in the first half in falling behind by as many as 12 points.But when the chips were down, the Squires turned up the heat on defense and ran away with a 51-36 win over Oak Hill on Thursday. Manchester came into the game with a 6-0 conference record.The Squires had already clinched a share of the TRC title, but a win would give them the championship by themselves.Oak Hill, on the other hand, was 5-1 in the TRC and could tie for the championship with the win. The Eagles, however, were without Erin Rhodes.She averages more than 14 points and 11 rebounds a game, and Oak Hill could have used her as only five Eagles scored the entire night and only two scored more than four points.

Valley Stays Perfect In TRC Play, Wins Over Manchester

AKRON -ÊTippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick was pleased with his team's 65-46 win over Three Rivers Conference foe Manchester Friday night, but he was more pleased with the way his team played. "This is probably the best game we have played overall this year," said Patrick."We played well all 32 minutes tonight." The Vikings jumped out early and never looked back.After passing the ball for more than a full minute before taking a shot, Tippecanoe Valley got the ball to big man Shane Drudge for the first basket of the game. David Lash followed with two free throws, Stuart Jackson hit back-to-back baskets, and then Cory Vanlaningham aced a three-pointer to put the Vikings up 11-0 at the 4:20 mark. Manchester's first basket came at the 3:52 point when Nick Poe netted a three-pointer to put the Squires on the board. By the end of the first frame, Valley held a 16-7 lead.

No. 1 Bethel Too Much For Grace Men

MISHAWAKA - When talking about basketball games, Grace coach Jim Kessler likes to have statistics in hand.He looks at the stat sheet and usually can point to three or four areas that determine the outcome of a game. After his Lancers lost 81-67 to No.1 (NAIA Div.II) Bethel Tuesday, he pointed to only one area.The turnovers read - "Grace 25, Bethel 9." "We spotted them 16 possessions," Kessler said."It was one glaring factor.That is the game.If we had an even number of possessions, who knows? It is almost impossible odds to overcome.It comes down to how many chances you get." The aggressive and quick Pilot defense came up with 16 steals and converted 29 points off of Lancer turnovers.Ryan Bales led the way with six steals for Bethel, while Michael Edison added four.Bethel attempted 72 shots, while Grace could get only off 51.