On The Court

Warsaw at Wawasee

Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Friday in Syracuse

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

Records: Warsaw 4-0, 1-0 NLC; Wawasee 0-3, 0-0 NLC

Last game: Warsaw 58, Valparaiso 34; DeKalb 63, Wawasee 49

Last year: Warsaw 71, Wawasee 50

Matchup: The Tigers come in averaging 57.8 points per game, while their defense only gives up 42.0 points per game ... Wawasee scores an average of 57.6 points a game, while its defense gives up 65.3 ... Warsaw is led by Zach Nelson's 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game ... For Wawasee, Andrew Warner and R.J. Wilson come off of respective 13- and 12-point perfomances against DeKalb.

Rhodes: "The thing about it is, we are (Wawasee's) game of the year. You can throw the records out. I can guarantee their kids will play better in this game than in any game so far this year. When you play a Northern Lakes Conference team on the road, it's always tough. We had the same concerns a week ago when we were facing an 0-2 Goshen team. Our kids need to make sure they are ready to play and not feeling too good about themselves. Wawasee is a hard-working defensive group that has had to some degree, problems on offense but I'm sure those things will be corrected for this game. The one thing that is hard to factor in is just how bad Wawasee wants to beat Warsaw."

Davis: "Warsaw is a very skilled team offensively. They are well coached and this year they have an outstanding defense as well. Warsaw is a tough opponent, and it's a big rivalry. Our guys are ready for the challenge of playing this game. Warsaw has some big inside people who score points and control the backboard. (Chris) Wiggins is a good shooter as well. We'll be looking to contain those guys."

Whitko at Tippecanoe Valley

Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Friday in Mentone.

Coaches: Fred Fields (Whitko), Bill Patrick (Tippecanoe Valley)

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

Last Game: Whitko 42, Central Noble 36 OT; Valley 68, North Miami 51

Last year: Valley 62, Whitko 59

Matchup: Bill Patrick makes his return to coach against a school he led to a 478-180 record in 29 years ... The Vikings come in riding a two-game win streak ... The Wildcats come off a thrilling overtime victory over Central Noble ... Brandon Eaton leads Valley with 17.3 points per game, and Jarvis Shepherd chips in 13 ... Whitko is led by Ben Mohr's 17 points a game.

Fields: "We played Valley in our preseason scrimmage. They have the best shooters in the conference. They have three shooters who are better, by far, than anybody else in the conference. They are a lot like us in that they lack dominance inside. We match up athletically even though have really good shooters. Hopefully we can make this game helter-skelter. We will try to keep the basketball away from their shooters. We'll really, really need to work hard to match up out of the zone."

Patrick: "(Whitko) has good quickness. (Ben) Mohr and (Josh) Gonzalez are experienced guards; (Joe) Grant is a big, strong kid who scored well against Columbia City and has the ability to score, (Shane) Henderson jumps and shoots the ball well, (Ben) Ryan can shoot the three and goes inside well. Their strongest point is their quickness. We have to stop their transition game, keep turnovers down and rebound well, the basics."

Rochester at Manchester

Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Friday in North Manchester

Coaches: Gary Goshert (Manchester), David Burkett (Rochester)

Records: Manchester 3-0, 1-0 TRC; Rochester 0-2, 0-0 TRC

Last game: Manchester 84, Southwood 66, Winamac 70, Rochester 61

Last year: Manchester 60, Rochester 54

Matchup: Rochester has gone winless through its first two games with a depleted lineup ... Kyle Schnitz is out with back problems, Craig Kuyler with tonsilitis, and Deric Beck with a broken thumb on his shooting hand ... Manchester is led by Rex Reimer and Eric Swan, who are coming off 23- and 18-point respective performances.

Goshert: "(Rochester) has some people back with experience, and they play a lot of different defenses. Offensively they have a lot of people who can shoot the three. They create quite a few obstacles. We need to stay organized against their defenses."

Burkett: "They are the cream of the crop in the conference. They have two super players in Reimer, who has little to no weaknesses and averages 22 to 23 points per game. He has speed and can shoot from anywhere. They all have super quickness and get in your face. The second player is Swan, who averages 19 to 20. They have a lot of athletic ability coming off the bench. We have to shoot a good percentage. Against Winamac, we were outscored by 21 points at the free throw line."

Triton at Plymouth

Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Friday in Plymouth

Coaches: Joe Bennett (Triton), Jack Edison (Plymouth)

Records: Triton 2-1, Plymouth 3-0

Last game: Triton 80, Elkhart Baptist 48; Plymouth 54, Penn 45

Last year: Plymouth 66, Triton 39

Matchup: Both teams' leading scorers get their points in the post area ... For Triton, Matt Savill comes off a 28-point performance against Elkhart Baptist and is the leading scorer ... The Pilgrims are led by Joel Grindle in points and rebounds ... Last game Triton committed 16 fouls in the first half but cut it down to five in the second half.

Bennett: "Plymouth is one of the best prepared teams in the area. They have an excellent coach. We'll be facing a team that's ready to compete. They play hard and do what their coach asks them to. Plymouth has several talented players. When you play Plymouth you don't have the luxury of focusing on one player, because they have an entire team that's tough to play. We'll have to play well at the defensive end of the court. We need to contest shots and execute offensively. Plymouth does a good job of taking teams out of what they're going to do. We'll try to stop them from doing that."

Edison: "This is one of the better teams, and they've had some good ones the last 10 years. They have some good kids back, and they're well balanced. (Brandon) Zeider takes it to the basket hard, they have (Matt) Savill back, (Austin) Unterbrink has experience at point guard, and (Jim) Read does a good job down low. Any time a team plays as hard, agressive, and smart as they do, Joe (Bennett) has done a great job with them, they're a threat at any time. We know we're in for a battle and it's a rivalry. There's so many areas they can hurt you, we have to be consistent with our one-on-one and help-side defense."

NorthWood at East Noble

Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Friday in Kendallville

Coaches: Dan Gunn (NorthWood), Marty Johnson (East Noble)

Records: NorthWood 0-0, East Noble 2-1

Last Game: Fort Wayne Snider 63, East Noble 47

Matchup: East Noble has two key returning starters in Zach Lear and Sean Gabbard ... Gabbard averaged 9.5 ppg. and 4.2 rpg. last year ... Lear averavged 7.9 ppg. last year ... 6-8 senior center Kyle Young will give support to East Noble under the basket ... NorthWood will be playing its first game of the year after a successful football season ... Charlie Roeder, Nic Bradley and Aaron Huber are returning for the Panthers ... Last year, Huber averaged 9.2 ppg., Bradley averaged 6.1 ppg. and Roeder averaged 5.2 ppg. ... 6-4 Chad Martin also returns for the NorthWood squad after averaging 2.7 ppg.

Gunn: "East Noble has (Zach) Lear and (Sean) Gabbard returning. Those two players were a large part of the team offensively last year. East Noble also has a 6-8 senior center who will also be a threat. (Coach) Marty (Johnson) is a good coach who has a disciplined offense and an aggressive defense. We'll have to be prepared for that. We have to be albe to defend East Noble in their flex offense and limit Lear's three-point shooting. Rebounding will also be important, and we don't want to forget our ability to score.

Johnson: Johnson did not return phone calls.