On The Court

NO. 10 DEKALB AT WAWASEE

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday

COACHES: Cliff Hawkins (DeKalb), Jerry Davis (Wawasee)

RECORDS: DeKalb 1-0, Wawasee 2-0

LAST GAME: DeKalb 76, FW Northrop 49; Wawasee 49, Mishawaka 39

MATCHUP: ...Luke Recker, the Indiana University recruit who has been rated the top shooting guard in the nation, leads the Barons into Wawasee. Recker, the frontrunner for Mr. Basketball, averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists per game last season. He plays the point guard position for DeKalb. DeKalb presents height matchup problems all over the place. The Barons start a 6-10 center, Jan Thompson, and Recker is 6-5. Every other starter is at least 6-2. The sixth man, Shane Monroe, is 6-6. Wawasee will start 5-10 Ryan Mikel, 5-9 Jay Haugh, 5-10 Jarod Mahnensmith, 6-4 Jordan Bender and 6-5 Brody Stipp.

GAME TALK:

Hawkins..."No doubt about it. Luke Recker is the best player I've ever coached. We never had a Division I player until last year, Jeremy Pfister, who's at Wisconsin-Green Bay. Luke is the most outstanding basketball player I've been around and will probably be Mr. Basketball. I think Wawasee has good perimeter players who do a nice job, and they have an inside player (Stipp) who's been doing a whale of a job. We need to try to set the tempo. If you haven't seen us, you might think we're big and slow. But we're big, and we like to fly down the floor."

Davis..."Number one, I'm concerned with what our team does. We're making improvements offensively. We've gotten better as we've gone through the past week. DeKalb's size and quickness present problems as far as matching up. Recker is a great player we will have trouble matching up with. He's probably the most highly acclaimed player that we will face. But he's like everybody else, he has to perform every night. We must have a team defensive concept and take good shots. Tempo is something we will have to look at in this game. DeKalb, with the offensive weapons they have, we have play to our game. We can't play to their game.We're young, inexperienced, and the players are trying to grasp a new concept. We knew we were better than what we displayed at the jamboree. The kids have come back and played well. The trick is to continue that every game."

NO. 18 WARSAW AT GOSHEN

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Goshen

COACHES: Al Rhodes (Warsaw), Mike Sorrell (Goshen)

RECORDS: Warsaw 3-0, 0-0 NLC; Goshen 1-0, 0-0

LAST GAME: Warsaw 56, Col. City 46; Goshen 45, Elkhart Central 44

MATCHUP:... This will be Goshen's second game of the season, while it will be Warsaw's fifth (after a game Friday with Huntington North). That gives the Tigers a little advantage in terms of getting young kids early season playing time heading into both team's first Northern Lakes Conference game of the season. Both teams have close wins over Elkhart Central this season with the Redskins' victory coming last weekend when Andy Ganger scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 2:12 to help Goshen rally for the 1-point win. ... It will be a tough double weekend for the Tigers as half their varsity roster, including Coach Rhodes, has battled the flu all week. Warsaw has three players scoring in double figures with Tom Krizmanich leading the way at 17 ppg, Tyler Charlton is next at 12.7, and Andy Plank is getting 11.3.

GAME TALK:

Rhodes..."Goshen, as they have been since Coach Sorrell took over, is very much a ball control team on offense and an excellent halfcourt, sagging man-to-man defensive team. They do a great job of protecting the basket area. It will be a real test of our patience on offense. ... We have played with too many turnovers. This coming weekend, we just can't do that. We need to get a good shot at the basket a high percentage of the time."

Sorrell..."Obviously they have a different team this year, but I think they play a lot the same. You have to change some, but your philsophy stays the same and why shouldn't it when you won 300 games with it. They play good pressure defense and hit the boards hard. Those are traits that will stay with them no matter who is playing. Individual roles might change. For example, Krizmanich is expected to shoot the ball more than what if they had Ault. I think this team might be a little more balanced than they have been in the past with (Tyler) Charlton, (Andy) Plank and Krizmanich. ... Winning is always a boost. I think the good point is that we can learn from it too. We played an extraordinary 4 minutes against Central. The other 28 minutes we didn't play super at all."

TIPPECANOE VALLEY AT NORTH MIAMI

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Denver

COACHES: Gregg Sciarra (Valley), Bill Torgerson (N. Miami)

RECORDS: Valley 1-1, 0-0 TRC; N. Miami 1-1, 0-0 TRC

LAST GAME: Warsaw 63, Valley 62 (OT); N. Miami 66, Wabash 51

MATCHUP:...North Miami's Josh Nixon, a 6-0 center, leads the Warriors with 15.5 ppg. Forward Jeff Brown leads Valley with 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Forward Nick Stutzman adds 13.5 ppg., shooting guard Eric Love 10 ppg., center Scott Cooksey 8.0 ppg. and point guard Darren Parker 3.0 ppg. JayDee Parker adds 7.5 ppg. off the bench. The Vikings are shooting 53 percent from the floor (52 of 98) this season.

GAME TALK:

Sciarra..."(Jason) Yochum is a good threat from outside. I think they're playing a more of a full-court game now. Their full-court press has been unrelentless. They have people excited about the way they're picking up the tempo on defense. I think just with their effort they will win a lot more games than last year."

Torgerson..."We're concerned with getting back on defense. Valley tries to get a lot of points off of transition and turnovers. They're not real big, but we're concerned with their athleticism. We're glad we don't have to go up against anybody 6-7. To be honest, (Darren) Parker bothers me the most. He takes care of the ball and is averaging eight assists a game. Anything we can do to make it a tougher night for him will help us. He makes them go."

TRITON AT LAVILLE

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Lakeville

COACHES: Kevin O'Rourke (Triton), Jody Martinez (LaVille)

RECORDS: Triton 2-1, 1-0 NSC; LaVille 1-1, 1-0 NSC

LAST GAME: Triton 59, Bremen 54; Plymouth 76, LaVille 43

MATCHUP:...Six-foot-three center Jeff Hartleroad scored 28 and 6-2 Brenton Fish 26 in LaVille's win over Culver. Hartleroad, at 6-3, 250, will be a load for Triton to handle. Cory Monesmith leads Triton, scoring a shade over 21 points per game. Philip Reed adds 10 ppg., and Jeff Rupe is just over 9 ppg.

GAME TALK:

O'Rourke..."From when I've seen them play, they are a very athletic team. They have some size. The Hartleroad kid can put up numbers. Fish is known for his athletic ability on the football field and on the court. They are 6-3, 250 in the middle. We have no one who can match up with that. Our biggest player is 6-0, 175. They have a nice mix inside and outside. We will have to play as well as we are capable of playing."

Martinez...."I've noticed Triton is more of a fast-breaking team. They attack the basket and kick the ball out for the three. They look for Monesmith. Their guards are quick and are good shooters. Defensively, they mix it up. They will run a full-court diamond trap and several different half-court defenses. We have to get back on defense, and we have to know where Monesmith is. He dictates a lot. They should be 3-0."

CENTRAL NOBLE AT WHITKO

TIPOFF:8 p.m. Saturday at South Whitley

COACHES:Paul Baker (C. Noble), Dave Henson (Whitko)

RECORDS:C. Noble 0-1, Whitko 0-2

LAST GAME:E. Noble 46, C. Noble 36; Homestead 104, Whitko 77

MATCHUP:...Central Noble returns two starters from last year's 9-12 team, 5-11 junior point guard Mike Jacob and 6-1 junior Ryan Bricker. Jacob scored 12 and Bricker 8 in the first game. in over Culver. Whitko has been having problems in the post, but the Wildcats have a definite size advantage over Central Noble. Central Noble has a 6-2 player, Korey Ehinger. Outside of him, the others are 6-1 or shorter.

GAME TALK:

Baker..."We're missing three starters from a year ago, and that's 38 points a game. We have two starters returning, Mike Jacob and Ryan Bricker. I think Whitko is a very talented ballclub. They have several kids with tremendous athleticism. They have great size. Those are tough qualities to deal with, and it's only a matter of time before they put it all together. How to guard Zach Henson will be importante. How many teams in the area have guards that size? Whitko will be difficult to defend. They make you have to change things defensively. Rebounding successfully is always a key."

Henson...."Central Noble has a vastly improved perimeter team. They are real patient. They like to pass the ball around a lot. Their best scorer is probably Ryan Bricker, who had 15 against us last year. They rely almost exclusively on a half-court game, trying to break your defense down."