On The Court

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at Syracuse

COACHES: Al Rhodes (Warsaw), Jerry Davis (Wawasee)

RECORDS: Warsaw 4-1, 1-0 NLC; Wawasee 2-1, 0-0 NLC

LAST GAME: Warsaw 46, Goshen 34; DeKalb 71, Wawasee 47

MATCHUP: ...The Tigers have three players scoring in double figures. Tom Krizmanich leads with 15.4 points per game, while Tyler Charlton adds 11.8 and Andy Plank 10.0. The Tigers are shooting well from the floor, 55 percent, while allowing their opponents to shoot just 46 percent. Free throws are another story. The Tigers have made just 61 of 104 free throws, 58.7 percent. The Warriors are shooting okay from the field, 46 percent. The problem for them is their opponents are shooting 54 percent. Jerry Davis, a manager under Bob Knight, has his team successfully following one Knight philosophy: make more free throws than the other team attempts. The Warriors have made 37 this season while their opponents have attempted 28. Rebounding will be key for the Warriors as Warsaw has 6-foot-6 Luke Reed and 6-5 Krizmanich. Wawasee has only one player averaging more than three rebounds a game, 6-5 Brody Stipp, who's pulling down eight a game. Ryan Mikel leads the Warriors with 16.7 ppg, and Stipp adds 12.7.

GAME TALK:

Rhodes... "I think it shapes up to be an excellent game. They have built their team around their center (Stipp) and Mikel. Stipp presents all kinds of problems for us because of his size and width. We will have to work hard defensively inside. I have been impressed with the way they have been working on defense. They have continued a lot of the same ideas on defenses (from Gary Goshert's era), and then Davis has come in and done an excellent job in teaching the motion offense. Wawasee is very quick and puts a lot of pressure on the basketball. They have continued to get better each week since the jamboree. ... With us, maybe it will depend on which team shows up. Our play has been up and down. I would like to see our offensive execution improve. We need to pass the ball better and at the right times. Through earlier games, we were too lackadaisical with the ball. We tried to see if we could get the ball there, instead of knowing it is a pass that should be thrown."

Davis... "I think with Warsaw you have tradition and a well-coached team. Coach Rhodes is respected throughout the state. Krizmanich is a good player who can step out on the floor and shoot the basketball. They don't have a 6-10 center or a 6-5 point guard like we faced last week, so we feel we match up a little better. Charlton poses problems inside and outside. ... We've been very inconsistent. We played pretty well the second half of the Fairfield game, played pretty well the middle 12 minutes against Mishawaka and played not very well at all against DeKalb. We were totally outmanned and outmatched at every position. We want to play consistent defense against Warsaw and not give up a big run. If we're going to be close, we will have to rebound well, defend well and take care of the basketball."

WHITKO AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at Mentone

COACHES: Dave Henson (Whitko), Gregg Sciarra (Valley)

RECORDS: Whitko 2-2, 1-0 TRC; Valley 2-2, 1-0 TRC

LAST GAME: Whitko 69, C. Noble 54; Valley 81, N. Miami 59

MATCHUP:... Everybody knew Whitko would not be winless forever. The Wildcats started the season 0-2 and were on their way to 0-3, trailing Northfield 52-24 in the third quarter last Friday. But 6-foot-5 senior guard Zach Henson bailed out the Wildcats by leading them on a 44-14 run the final 12 minutes. Henson hit 11 of 14 shots from the floor in the second half as Whitko came back to win 68-66. Henson is second in the TRC in scoring (24 ppg) and is third in assists (7.5 apg). Whitko's inside defense, which was nonexistent in the first two games, was much more effective the last two games. Six-foot-seven Northfield center DeWayne Krom had just nine points before he fouled out. The Vikings have only 11 turnovers in their last two games combined. Valley's Jeff Brown is third in the TRC with 18.8 ppg, and Eric Love is eighth with 13.8 ppg. Nick Stutzman adds 11.0 ppg.

GAME TALK:

Henson... "They're experienced. Darren Parker is basically in his fourth year of starting. Stutzman and Brown have a lot of experience. They're a team that's very good at spot-up shooting. We have to keep them off the boards. For us to win, we have to keep the ball out of the middle of the floor on defense. We can't allow Parker to penetrate, and we can't allow Brown a running start and hit the board. I'm more worried about (Scott) Cooksey, (Eric) Love and JayDee Parker. We have to hold those guys down. If they have good games, we're in trouble. We can't let those players get carried away like Love (32 points) did at North Miami. This is a key game for us. I still feel we haven't proved we can be respectable."

Sciarra... "They will be tough for us to match up with inside with players like (Jeremiah) Laws and (Bo) Mullins. We've been fairly weak inside defensively, and we've been working on that this week. (Jason) Ayres is a good player, (Zach) Henson is a good player, and Mullins is strong on the boards. They like the transition game and do a good job getting up and down the floor. We need to make Zach give up the ball at certain times. Hopefully, we can make him overdribble at times. We don't want him shooting all the time, because he'll nail them."

ROCHESTER AT MANCHESTER

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at North Manchester

COACHES: Scott Newcomb (Rochester), Gary Goshert (Manchester)

RECORDS: Rochester 0-4, 0-0 TRC; Manchester 2-1, 1-0 TRC

LAST GAME: Winamac 65, Rochester 54; Manchester 68, Southwood 62

MATCHUP:...The Squires are 2-1, thanks to two things they do well. One, they shoot well. They have shot at least 47 percent from the floor in all three games. Two, they take care of the ball well. They have 13 turnovers in each of the last two games. Manchester 6-5 junior center Chris Enyeart leads the TRC in field goal percentage. He has hit 16 of 23 shots from the floor, good for 70 percent, and is scoring 12 points per game. The Squires have three people - Enyeart, Eric Swan and Scot Croner - each scoring 12 ppg. Guard Mike Smith paces Rochester with 10.5 ppg.

GAME TALK:

Newcomb... "Gary has his kids playing hard, just like when he was at Wawasee. They play a man-to-man defense and run a motion offense. Manchester has a great tradition. Their kids know how to win. They have good shooters in (Rex) Reimer and Scot Croner. (Jake) Peden and Chris Enyeart inside are big and strong for them. It's a tough place to play at. They have some experience. (Rex) Reimer is only a sophomore, but he played a lot of varsity last year. (Eric) Swan's tough. Peden played a lot last year. They're really pretty balanced. We have to stop their three-point shooting."

Goshert... "They have good athletes, but they are pretty young in some respects. They have some size, a pretty good shooter and a point guard who can handle the ball well. I don't know what their record is, but I know they've played a lot of teams well. They are a scary kind of team, the kind of team that can break loose and have one of those evenings. We have to go out and be prepared. Scott just has some young kids. It takes time to realize how intense you need to be, and that's what we're kind of going through. We need to be a lot better defensively. That comes down to intensity."