On The Court

GARY WALLACE AT WARSAW

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at the Tiger Den

COACHES: John Hoover (Wallace), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)

RECORDS: Wallace 3-5; Warsaw 9-2

LAST GAME: Warsaw 76, SB Washington 74

MATCHUP:...After taking a weekend off after winning their own holiday tourney Dec. 27-28, the Tigers get a crack at another very athletic team in Gary Wallace. The Hornets handed Warsaw one of its three losses last season.

GAME TALK:

Rhodes... "They beat us a year ago, and I think the kids see a real challenge in the situation. Our confidence seems to be good. They present the same problems (as SB Washington) in terms of defense both full and half court, and they are an excellent rebounding team. They are very similar to what they were a year ago. ... We have been working on the concepts that we feel are important. We are trying to take care of ourselves. We have been trying to work on our rebounding, especially against Wallace, we need a strong defensive rebounding performance."

WHITKO AT MANCHESTER

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday

COACHES: Dave Henson (Whitko), Gary Goshert (Manchester)

RECORDS: Whitko 3-5, 1-1 TRC; Manchester 5-4, 2-1 TRC

LAST GAME: Caston 82, Manchester 73; Oak Hill 67, Manchester 62

MATCHUP: ...The Wildcats enter with a two-game losing streak. The Squires started the season 4-1, but they have lost three of their past four games. They were competitive in every game - they lost to Columbia City by two, to Southwood by nine and to Oak Hill by five. Zach Henson scored 38 for Whitko the last game. His teammates combined for 35. Henson is averaging 25.5 points, 6.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. Bo Mullins is Whitko's only other scorer in double figures, 10.3 ppg. Eric Swan leads the Squires with 13.6 ppg. Scot Croner, Chris Enyeart and Jake Peden add 9 ppg each. Peden is Manchester's top rebounder at 4.9 rpg.

GAME TALK:

Henson... "(Manchester) is in kind of a transition mode with a new coach. They're a fairly young team. I know one of the Reimers (Brandon) has been hurt (hip). With a few more games under their belt, they should be a pretty decent team. (Jake) Peden's been playing well inside for them. Defensively, they seem to try to play some sort of matchup zone. They have pretty decent quickness. It's at their place, and they always seem to play well on their floor."

Goshert... "We're trying to take care of little things on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor so we can become the type of team we want to become. We need to eliminate a few mistakes defensively and some lapses offensively. We're not going to be a team that's overpowering. We're going to be a team that's scrappy and takes care of the ball...Zach Henson is a kid who can carry a team through the whole game. If you don't find a way to keep him contained - if that's your defensive philosophy going in - he can carry his team. He's difficult to defend because one, he's a good ball handler for as tall as he is, and two, he is a good shooter off the dribble. He's pretty much an offensive machine. Bo (Mullins) has capabilities close to and far from the basket. He helps bring the ball down the floor against full-court pressure. He's tough to handle inside, plus he can shoot from the perimeter."

WAWASEE AT PLYMOUTH

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at Plymouth

COACHES: Jerry Davis (Wawasee), Jack Edison (Plymouth)

RECORDS: Wawasee 2-6, 0-1; Plymouth 8-1, 0-0

LAST GAME: NorthWood 45, Wawasee 41; Plymouth 81, Valley 60

MATCHUP:...This is a battle between two teams headed in the opposite direction. The Warriors began the season 2-0, but since then have gone 0-6. Plymouth has won seven in a row. Ryan Mikel leads Wawasee with 14.4 ppg, and Brody Stipp adds 10.1 ppg. The Warriors average 22 rpg, and Stipp accounts for eight of them. Plymouth coach Jack Edison recently won his 350th game two games ago, when the Pilgrims beat John Glenn 79-62 in the Plymouth Holiday Tournament.

GAME TALK:

Davis... "Plymouth has a lot of things going for it right now. They have a lot of confidence and are playing very well. We are hungry for a win right now. We have really improved over the last 6-7 days, and we are really looking forward to the challenge. We started out good, but we have played some good teams in there (the losing streak) in DeKalb, Warsaw and Goshen. We did get a bit overzealous and lost our focus as to what we had to go out and accomplish. We have matured through that, and we are looking to put a couple of wins together."

Edison... "I was impressed with Wawasee against Mishawaka especially considering how young of a team they have. Their three guards (Ryan Mikel, Jared Mahnensmith and Jay Haugh) are good ballhandlers and three-point shooters. That makes a tough matchup for anybody. They are bringing in the new coach and the new system, and that takes a little while. They are a very competitive team, and they love to play us. ... "I felt like we started off slowly, and we played our best over the holiday tourney (Dec. 27-28). We took some time off, and we started up again this week. Now, we are trying to figure out if that was the right thing to do. We are not practicing at our best right now. You can't do that heading into the conference."

SOUTHWOOD AT VALLEY

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at Mentone

COACHES: Steve McClure (Southwood), Gregg Sciarra (Valley)

RECORDS: Southwood 3-6, 1-1 TRC; Valley 5-3, 2-0 TRC

LAST GAME: Northfield 72, Southwood 59; Plymouth 81, Valley 60

MATCHUP:... At 2-0, the Vikings are the only undefeated team left in the TRC. Jeff Brown is averaging 17.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game for the Vikings. Nick Stutzman and Eric Love each add 11 ppg. Love has hit better than 50 percent behind the three-point arc, 21 of 41. Darren Parker dishes out 6.4 assists per game for the Vikings. Scott Stumbo leads Southwood with 12.1 ppg. Paul Wright adds 10.2 ppg, and Brian Knight 9.7 ppg. Stumbo is the top free throw shooter in the TRC. He has made 27 of 32 free throw attempts (84.4 percent). Stumbo leads Southwood with 5.9 rebounds per game.

GAME TALK:

McClure..."??????????????illville at Merrillville. They are probably as athletic of a team as we will play this year. They are super quick and attack the glass, run, press and shoot the three. This being our first (double weekend), we're looking for quality minutes out of our bench. We have kids on our bench who can score. We have been sticking primarily with a six- or seven-man rotation, but we'll go a little deeper this weekend. If they (reserves) don't do any more than rebound and play defense, I will be happy."

Sciarra..."This is a pivotal game for both teams. If they win, they will still have only one loss in the conference, and that puts them with everyone else. They just beat Manchester, and if they win this game, they're feeling pretty good about themselves. If we lose, it's our first conference loss and puts us with everyone else. They're 3-6, but then you consider their first three games were all losses. They could have two more wins."