On The Court

WARSAW AT WAWASEE (NLC)

Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in Syracuse

Coaches: Al Rhodes (Warsaw), Phil Mishler (Wawasee)

Records: Warsaw 2-2, 0-0 NLC; Wawasee 3-2, 0-0 NLC

Last game: Warsaw 84, Gary Wallace 69; Wawasee 58, Bremen 51

Last year: Warsaw 61, Wawasee 40

Matchup: Wawasee hasn't beaten Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Warsaw since 1995, when the Warriors topped the Tigers 60-54 in the sectional championship. The closest Wawasee has been since then was a three-point loss in the 1996-97 season. The Tigers have won the last three meetings by an average of 23 points. After playing Friday, these two teams will meet again Tuesday in the first round of the inaugural NLC tournament. Six-foot-4 senior Josh Buck leads the Tiger offense with 19.3 points per game, while 6-3 junior Greg Clay adds 12.8. Six-foot-3, 200-pound senior Andrew Packer leads the Warrior scoring attack with 13.4 points per game. He also averages 10.4 rebounds per game. Junior Scott Beasley is the only other Warrior in double figure scoring at 10 points per game. Andy Popenfoose is second on the team in rebounds per game with 4.8. Rhodes talked last week about making starting lineup changes, and he did. Brian Johnson and Chris Clay now start, while Jerad Shaw and Trent Martin come off the bench. Warsaw wanted a better defensive unit on the floor to cut down on the opponents' field goal percentage. Rhodes thought the new lineup fared better in its debut last week, an 84-69 home win over Wallace, but Wallace now is a 1-6 team. This starts a stretch of four games in eight days for Warsaw. Warsaw plays at Wawasee on Friday, at Elkhart Central on Saturday, at Wawasee in the NLC Tournament on Tuesday and in a second-round NLC Tournament game on Friday. If Warsaw advances to Saturday's NLC Championship game, it will be five games in nine days.

Rhodes: "Wawasee impressed me with their hustle and desire. They won fairly easily because of their excellent half-court and full-court defense. Packer is scoring some for them. He will be one of the better inside players we've faced so far this year. We want to play at a fast pace, but it's important we don't let their defensive pressure speed us up. We just need to make sure we play under control. I am expecting Wawasee to press us. They play a mixture of man and zone with hard denial. ... The new lineup improved our field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and Josh Buck stayed out of foul trouble. It also cut down the opponents' field goal percentage and their number of trips to the free throw line."

Mishler: "Warsaw is fundamentally sound like they always are. They work for a good shot. What we're concerned with is their height advantage on the perimeter and in the post. Defensively, they'll be ready for our intensity because they play at the same level. If we're playing at a level eight, we're gonna have to go to level nine."

WHITKO AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY (TRC)

Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in Akron

Coaches: Steve Pickett (Whitko), Bill Patrick (T. Valley)

Records: Whitko 2-2, 0-0 TRC; T. Valley 3-2, 0-0 TRC

Last game: Whitko 57, Opponent 55 2OT; John Glenn 65, T. Valley 53

Last year: T. Valley 69, Whitko 53

Matchup: After starting the season 3-0, Tippecanoe Valley finds itself in the midst of a two-game skid. Whitko enters after a thrilling 57-55 double-overtime win over Central Noble and a five-point win over Norwell before that. Senior Cody New leads the Three Rivers Conference in scoring with 23.8 points per game. Averaging 27.3 points per game, he was held to 12 in Valley's loss at Glenn. Sophomore Trey Eaton, now sixth in the TRC with 16 points per game, poured in 18 in the first half at Glenn and finished with 27. New and Eaton average 8.4 and 7.0 rebounds per game, respectively. Whitko's offense is led by a trio of double-figure scorers in Josh Hoffman (13.8), Alex Frantz (12.3) and Adam Wendel (11.5). Frantz leads the TRC in field goal percentage at 61.8 percent, while Ben Garber is at 60 percent.

Pickett: "To start with, they are extremely well-coached. They have, if not the best coach, one of the best coaches in the state. They always play hard and physical. They try to get the ball in the paint or force you to foul. They really crash the board and play smart. They wait for you to make mistakes. Cody New can score inside or outside, and Trey Eaton has done a tremendous job. They're also getting some production from some other players. What we want to do is match their intensity and aggressiveness. We want to limit their dribble penetration and block out. We have to treasure every possession."

Patrick: "(Whitko) has a lot of athletic ability. As far as athletes, they're one of the most athletic teams we'll play all year. They have at least three kids back that were starters last year, and some of their other kids got a lot of playing experience. Their sophomore class is real strong. Garber and (John) Woods have been playing well, so has (Brad) Walpole. Our shot selection has to be better than it was at Glenn. We took some shots we probably shouldn't have. We still have to do a better job blocking out on the boards. That's a big concern with Whitko. It's the first conference game, so if you want to be competitive in the conference, this is a good game to start with."

SOUTHWOOD AT MANCHESTER (TRC)

Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in North Manchester

Coaches: Steve McClure (Southwood), Gary Goshert (Manchester)

Records: Southwood 3-0, 0-0 TRC; Manchester 2-3, 0-0 TRC

Last game: Southwood 69, Eastern 47; Homestead 71, Manchester 60

Last year: Manchester 64, Southwood 39

Matchup: Southwood enters as the only team in the Three Rivers Conference with an unblemished record. Southwood, which won the sectional for the first time in history a year ago, has what Manchester coach Gary Goshert called a great combination of inside and outside players. Six-foot-4 senior forward Shawn Zellers leads the Knights in the scoring column with 17.7 points per game, the third-highest average in the TRC. Zellers also averages 7.0 rebounds per game. Five-foot-8 senior guard Brandon Ehret adds 13.7 points per game, while Brady Eltzroth chips in with 8.5 points per game. Senior guard Anthony Frieden paces the Squire offense with his 13.4 points per game, while Klay Bechtold and Nate Kerr chip in with 11.5 and 9.8 points per game, respectively.

McClure: "Anytime you play a team coached by Gary Goshert, they're gonna be very organized on both ends. This team, like all of his others, plays exceptional defense. Offensively, they move well and give their shooters good looks. We've got to guard all of them. They're all capable of making the three. We can't key on one person. I think defense will be a key for us."

Goshert: "Southwood has got some good size, some good perimeter shooters, and some players with good skills and quickness. I think they are very well-coached. They have a good combination of inside players and perimeter players, and it looks like they're meshing well together. I think they're a good team. They're undefeated right now. It's at our place, it's the first TRC game, it's gonna be a pretty exciting atmosphere. Zellers doesn't just score from inside, he can step back and shoot the 15-footer. He's got some teammates that can score as well."

NEW PRAIRIE AT TRITON (NSC)

Tip-off: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon

Coaches: Harry Beebe (New Prairie), Joe Bennett (Triton)

Records: New Prairie 2-3, 0-0 NSC; Triton 2-1, 0-0 NSC

Last game: SB Adams 62, New Prairie 53; Triton 58, Wash. Township 49

Last year: Triton 62, New Prairie 45

Matchup: After dropping the season opener by 30, Triton is on a two-game upswing. In that loss to NorthWood, the Trojans gave up 34 points to two NorthWood post players. Tommorrow Triton will have the task of trying to control 6-6 New Prairie center Jon Rhine. Rhine currently averages 16 points and 8.0 rebounds. Six-foot senior guard Kellon Brinkman adds 9.0 points per game for the Cougars. Triton is led in the scoring column by 6-4 senior Jim Read, the Trojans' tallest player. Read currently averages 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. In Triton's win over Washington Township, Read scored 16 points and pulled down 18 rebounds. Senior Joey Potter complements Read with 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while Eric Disher, Tyson Blackford and Steven Boyer score around 7.0 points per game each.

Beebe: "Obviously they've got some kids with good experience. Defensively, I was very impressed with them. Defensively, they do some very good things. I'm sure we'll have to play an exceptional game to stay with them. I was impressed with their entire team, they went after every loose ball, they hustled. You have to look at (Jim) Read and (Joey) Potter, but they have plenty of other players that can hurt you."

Bennett: "(New Prairire) has a balanced scoring attack. They can get scoring from a number of different players. They have a very good post player in Jon Rhine. He's improved his skills around the basket and he can step back and hit the 15-footer. We have to try and help eachother out in the post so it's not up to one guy. We have to play sound defense."