Warsaw Whips Cold-Shooting Gary Wirt

The Warsaw Tigers lost five starters from last year's basketball team that went to state, but this year's group did something even they did not do. They went undefeated at home.Thirteen and zero. "I didn't know we would have as many players stepping forward as we have and our team unity would be as good as it is," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "Our five seniors have done a tremendous job.Undefeated at home as a senior class.That's something we always reach for." The Tigers played their last regular-season home game Friday and trounced Gary Wirt 58-34. Warsaw improved to 16-3.Wirt fell to 4-12. Plain and simple, this Gary Wirt team could not shoot.The numbers back it up.The Troopers attempted 52 shots from the floor and hit but 14, 27 percent.Those weren't perimeter shots, either.They attempted only three three-pointers.The shots they missed were near the basket.

Lawsuit Fails To Make The Grade

If I had to give the lawsuit from Oklahoma a grade, it would have to be an "F." In one of the most bizarre episodes in modern juris prudence, a mom has sued to keep a teacher from asking students to grade each other's papers. Kristja Falvo lives in a school district in Owasso, outside Tulsa.She has three kids. Two of the kids do really well in school.The third is reading disabled and struggles a bit. A routine part of the educational process in her school district - and school districts all across the U.S., for that matter - was for teachers and students to go over schoolwork together, with students grading one another's work.The practice is known as peer grading. In peer grading, kids in class get to see other kids' scores. Apparently her son's scores were lower than many of his classmates' scores so they made fun of him. They called him "stupid" or "dummy" or some other derogatory term associated with lower than average intelligence.

Triton Continues Quest For Repeat

BOURBON - Triton girls basketball coach Mark Heeter admits to being superstitious, and he wants nothing more than a little taste of deja vu. The Trojans lost to Rochester a year ago late in the regular season, and then won their last two regular season games before smashing the state tournament competition, finishing with a 20-7 record and the school's first state title in any sport. Triton enter's Wednesday's Kouts 1A Regional game with a 19-3 record, its last loss came to Rochester, and so far the Trojans have smashed their tournament competition. While the Arby's resteraunt chain advertises different as being good, Heeter and his top-ranked team are fine with things being the same.

Seven Local Wrestlers To State

FORT WAYNE - You name the emotion, Saturday's wrestling semistate at Fort Wayne's cavernous Memorial Coliseum housed it. Exhilaration.The euphoria of making it to the state finals, the last level.Twenty local grapplers competed at the semistate.Seven of them - Wawasee's Chet Wortinger, Ryan Johnson, Kevin Carr, Jason Carr; Warsaw's Aaron Banks, Chris Wilson; and Whitko's Ben Watson - placed in the top four and will wrestle at the state championship at Market Square Arena this weekend. Vengeance.Kevin Carr, 41-1, experienced this when he beat Fort Wayne Snider's Anthony Lapsley 10-3 in the 145-pound championship match.Kevin's one loss? To Lapsley in late December in the Mishawaka Invitational.Lapsley's current record? 34-1.Kevin was a semistate champion last year as a sophomore in the 125 weight class. "(Lapsley) beat me in overtime," a soft-spoken yet confident Kevin said."He pinned me with two seconds left in overtime.I knew the key mistake I made.

Warsaw Ruins Memorial Plan

GOSHEN - Elkhart Memorial girls basketball coach Scott Geist had an uneasy feeling as early as his pregame chat with Will Wienhorst. "We wanted to shut Hilary O'Connell down," Geist said."Before the game Will and I were talking, and I said if we do that, I told him [Amie Poling] would probably step up.She did." Poling hit four three-pointers in the first quarter as the Tigers ran over Elkhart Memorial 79-44 in their Friday Goshen 4A Sectional semifinal game.Warsaw, 16-6, plays 9-12 East Noble in the championship at 7:30 p.m.today.East Noble beat 4-19 Goshen 72-48. In a classic example of taking what the defense gives you, girls who normally don't pile up the points for Warsaw played key roles in the first half. Memorial played a diamond- and-two defense designed to contain Warsaw's starting backcourt of junior Hilary O'Connell and senior Kara Kesler, the Tigers' top scorers at 17.9 and 10.9 points per game, respectively.

Warsaw's Dynamic Duo Dives In Sectional

Triton's Rachel Speicher takes a shot while an Oregon-Davis fan offers "encouragement."Speicher got the last word as she hit the shot. The Warsaw diving team is all about having fun during practice, but when Sam Hood and Kevin Cowan step on the board, they are all business. "At the beginning of the season, Kevin and Sam set their goal, and they decided they wanted to go one and two all season," said Gretchen Naugler, Warsaw Diving Coach. The divers, who have reached their goal by placing first and second in most of their meets this year, are preparing for the Wawasee Sectional Saturday when they will compete to advance to regional competition. Cowan, a senior, has been diving for Warsaw for four years.Last year he placed second in the NLC, fourth in sectional, fourth in regional and 17th in the state. Hood, a sophomore, is in his first year of diving at Warsaw after transferring from West Lafayette Harrison where he dove as a freshman.

Trojans Win Third Straight Title

BOURBON -ÊHome sweet home. The Triton Trojans girls basketball team hosted the Class A sectional last week; they host the regional and semistate this week as well.And they figure they might as well be playing as long as they are at home. The Trojans got one step closer to reaching that goal after defeating Culver and Oregon-Davis in the sectional Saturday.After defeating Culver 54-25 in the semifinal round, the Trojans faced off against Oregon-Davis in the sectional final and came out on top 64-46.The Trojans won their third straight sectional title. Although the Triton squad earned an 18-point victory, it was not an easy victory.After the first half of play, the Trojans held a slim 19-18 lead.

Valley To Battle Jay County Patriots

AKRON - This isn't a "We're just happy to be here" situation. Not here at Tippecanoe Valley. While the Vikings have won just one regional in the school's 31-year history, and are in the same 3A Blackford Regional with a Wawasee team that defeated them in the regular-season finale, true happiness lies in a trip to Conseco Fieldhouse on the second-to-last weekend of March. "I told them to set the goal of making it to state," said Valley head coach Bill Patrick."But they also know that they need to not look ahead and worry about Jay County." The pieces are there for Valley to potentially reach the 3A state finals in Indianapolis March 23. But first the Vikings must take on Jay County (17-6) in Saturday's first game of the Blackford Regional.Wawasee (19-4) takes on Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran (16-6) in the days second game while the winners meet for a semistate bid at 8 p.m.

Carr State Champ

INDIANAPOLIS -ÊThe Carrs have improved yet again. The Carr brothers -ÊDarrell, Jason, Kevin - have each advanced to the state finals in their wrestling careers.But when Jason won his 160-pound state title match Saturday, it marked the first time one of them finished first. Jason beat Evansville Mater Dei's Nick Miller (40-8) 7-3 in the finals. Jason, a senior, finished the season 44-0. "I've been working extremely hard for this," Jason said."I told myself I would win, no matter what.I not only wanted to win, but I wanted to dominate my weight class.I kept that in my mind the whole way through. "I've always wanted to win a state championship.That's what I've been working toward." Jason had advanced to the semistate but no further each of the three previous years. Kevin, a junior, has gotten a step closer to winning a state title each year in school.He placed fifth his freshman year, fourth his sophomore year and second this year.

After Tearing ACL, Kuhn Returns In 11 Weeks

AKRON -ÊFriday, October 15, 1999 started out like any other football game day for Tippecanoe Valley senior Craig Kuhn.Little did he know that what was about happen in the game would end his high school football career and jeopardize his chances to play his final season of basketball. On a fairly routine play, Kuhn was supposed to catch a pass over his right shoulder and run down the field.But this time something went wrong. "The pass was supposed to be thrown over my right shoulder," said Kuhn, "but instead it was thrown over my left shoulder and it was a little short. "I hadn't worn a back cleat in my shoe all season, but before the game I put one in.When I turned to the inside, the cleat caught.My foot stayed, but my leg moved, and I just fell." "I saw it happen, and knew as soon as I saw it what had happened," said Louis Desenberg, Valley's athletic trainer."Then I knew I had to tell his parents and get him to the doctor.

Wawasee To Square Off With F.W. Concordia

SYRACUSE - After years of utter futility, it seems Wawasee is poised to put itself on the map as a basketball program. Just seven years ago the Warriors trudged through a 1-21 season.Three more losing seasons followed that. Then the program turned the corner. Credit it to an upswing in talent or the foundation of a program being built, but whatever it is Wawasee seems like its here to stay. And where here is, is another appearance in the regional. Last year, Wawasee defeated Tippecanoe Valley and Delta on a Saturday at NorthWood High School to advance to the Huntington North Semistate. This year, Wawasee (19-4) will take on Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran (16-6) in the second game of the Blackford Regional at noon Saturday.Tippecanoe Valley (19-4) will take on Jay County (17-6) in the day's first game at 10 a.m.The winners win take each other on for a spot in the Northern semistate at 8 p.m.

Valley Ends Season With 2OT Loss To Knox In Sectional Final

PLYMOUTH -ÊIt wasn't the ending the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team would have hoped for, but the game could not have been much closer. The Vikings ended their season with a 49-43 double overtime loss to Knox in the Plymouth Sectional final game Saturday night. "We beat ourselves," said Valley coach Bill Patrick."We played good defense, but we took some bad shots at the end.Our shot selection was not what it should have been." After the Vikings and Redskins played to a 36-all tie after regulation and a 40-all tie after the first overtime, the Knox squad outscored Valley 9-3 in the second overtime period to win the sectional title. Viking senior Trey Eaton hit a three-pointer to open the game, and by the end of the first quarter, the Vikings held a 9-6 advantage. Valley outscored Knox 5-4 in the second quarter to take a 14-10 lead at the half, but the Redskins left the halftime break ready to play.

Shall We Mine For Some Data?

Let's discuss data mining, shall we? For a long time I have been having conversations with friends and associates about the absence of terror attacks on U.S.soil. I wonder why there hasn't been a single - even minor - terrorist event since 9/11.Don't get me wrong, here.I am thankful, ecstatic, thrilled that there hasn't been. But I also realize that this is a pretty big and difficult country to defend and there are plenty of extremists who truly hate America and would like nothing more than to blow something up over here. In short, I don't think the lack of terror is from a lack of desire on the part of the extremists. I think most of the credit goes to the U.S.government. And while, as I said earlier, I am thrilled at the success, I wonder just how they are going about it. Well, I think a lot of it has to do with what they like to call data mining in Washington these days.

Tigers Cruise To Title

DUNLAP - For a brief moment in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Concord 4A Sectional championship, Goshen's girls basketball team was close to Warsaw. In reality, this was thanks to an inadvertent error by the scoreboard operator, as Warsaw cruised to its second sectional championship in three years, 75-42. The Tigers won their sectional games by an average of nearly 29 points. The 33-point win improves Warsaw's overall season record to 14-9; Goshen, a team the Tigers topped 71-43 in the regular season, ends its season at 5-17. Warsaw wasted no time in taking control of the game, jumping out to a 10-point lead with just over five minutes gone from the first-quarter clock.Warsaw led 17-7 after one quarter of play.

Warsaw Looking To Continue Success

When Warsaw heads to Syracuse for the Wawasee Boys Swimming Sectional tonight, the Tigers will be looking to win the sectional in the same fashion with which they've won most of their meets this year - with depth.Warsaw's team is larger than most and that has helped the Tigers to their first undefeated season of the '90s. Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde never imagined that her team would go through the season going without a loss, despite some help from a big conference foe.

Triton Downs O-D

"She is one-third of our points and one-third of our rebounds," Triton girls basketball coach Mark Heeter said."That's a lot by one of 12 people." Triton met Oregon-Davis in the Culver Sectional Wednesday, and the Bobcats' plan was obvious as the 2-3 zone it stubbornly stayed in: Don't let Salyer beat us. Salyer didn't by herself, but she and her teammates did, as Triton (7-14) downed Oregon-Davis (5-14) 57-39. Oregon-Davis started with a 2-3 zone and stayed in a 2-3 zone until the final three minutes. The defense worked in the first half as they packed players around Salyer under the basket.She picked up her second foul with 7:09 to go in the second quarter, and rather than risk letting her pick up her third, Heeter put her on the bench until the third quarter. Triton led 25-22 at halftime.

DeKalb Derails Tiger Boys' Tournament Run

WATERLOO - A train that had been on the right track much of the season, Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team simply ran out of steam Saturday in the championship game of DeKalb 4A Sectional. Having to play their third game in four days, the seventh-ranked Tigers appeared fatigued in the latter stages of the game, falling 62-50 to No.5 DeKalb, a team that drew the bye and played just two games to win the title. "Truthfully, we ran out of gas with our traps," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said."That, and we were never consistent on offense." The loss finishes Warsaw's season at 21-3.DeKalb, which won its first sectional since the days of Luke Recker and the one-class tournament, improved to 21-1.The Barons will play Anderson Saturday in the Marion Regioinal. Coupled with a second-quarter run by DeKalb, the Tigers did themselves in with poor shooting, hitting 22 of 52 shots overall and going 0 of 13 from the three-point arc.

Minus Swan, Squires Beat N. Miami

BUNKER HILL - Earlier in the week Manchester boys basketball coach Gary Goshert said he didn't want to have to think about what Eric Swan meant to his team. Tuesday night in the first game of the Maconaquah Sectional, a game Manchester won 55-39 over North Miami, Goshert may have found out what he did or didn't know already. "Nobody understands what that statement meant when I said I couldn't answer that question," said Goshert."We had the same situation last year when Eric wasn't here.You never know until the opportunity arises what kids can do.These kids have tremendous character." The 6-foot-3 Swan, the Times-Union's Player of the Year, came in averaging 18 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.He left Bunker Hill last night with the exact same averages; he didn't play.Swan turned an ankle Monday night in practice and walked to the bench from the locker room on crutches.

On The Court Basketball Previews

Carroll Wins Rematch, Ends Warsaw Girls Season In Sectionals

COLUMBIA CITY - The smallest girl on the court, 5-foot-3 Carroll senior Abby Noll played the biggest role in downing fifth-ranked Warsaw Friday in the semifinal round of the Columbia City 4A Sectional. With Warsaw leading 21-20 at the half, Noll ignited the Chargers with a barrage of second-half three-pointers, leading Carroll to a 66-57 victory over the Tigers. Noll, who finished the evening 7 of 12 from the field overall, shot 4 of 5 from the arc in the second half, including a deep three with 2:08 remaining that gave the Chargers a 53-47 lead. "Noll's three that put them back up by six in the fourth was a big play," Wienhorst said."She's a very good basketball player.To go 5 of 9 (from the arc) at any level is remarkable, nonetheless to do it from where she was shooting from.Her toes weren't on the line, they were three or four feet back." Noll finished the game with 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.