On The Court...

ARGOS AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Mentone

COACHES: Chuck Evans (Argos), Gregg Sciarra (Valley)

RECORDS: Argos 5-3, Valley 5-3

LAST GAME: SB Adams 70, Argos 58; Plymouth 81, Valley 60

MATCHUP: ...The Dragons have only three seniors on their varsity team. Junior Eric Stults leads Argos with 19.6 points per game. Junior Brent Johnson adds 11.3, and junior Bill Redinger scores 9.0. Junior Phillip Ummel dishes out 4.0 assists per game for Argos.

GAME TALK:

Evans... "They have a lot of players who can step up and score, a lot of different weapons. We feel we can be competitive with them. Eric has been around a while and is a third-year varsity letterman. The last four games, he's averaging more than 20. He's someone teams usually try to key on. From our standpoint, the key is being ready to play a full basketball game. We know what they can do. When we put a full game together, I think we can be a tough team to handle. The three games we lost, we came out flat. The key will be the start. If we don't have to battle back, we should be right there with them."

Sciarra... "Stults is a player, Johnson is a player and Redinger is a player. They're a small school playing well and probably looking forward to the class tournament. They have good spacing on the floor. Generally, they know who needs to take the shots on their team. They spread you out. They take care of the basketball pretty well."

WEST NOBLE AT WAWASEE

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Syracuse

COACHES: Tom Schermerhorn (W. Noble), Jerry Davis (Wawasee)

RECORDS: W. Noble 2-5, Wawasee 2-6

LAST GAME: Angola 72, W. Noble 41; NorthWood 45, Wawasee 41

MATCHUP:... Matt Cavanaugh leads West Noble with 14.5 ppg, and Jeremy Swank adds 12.5. Swank leads the team with 6.0 rpg, and Joel Dragoo paces the team with 4.0 apg.

GAME TALK:

Schermerhorn... "Wawasee has a squad that keeps pressure on you. (Brody) Stipp does a good job inside, and Ryan Mikel can knock down the three. Their quickness stands out. They may have six losses, but in those six games, they played good competition. ... Coming into a season, my expectations are always high, but they're reasonable. We had one kid back who played varsity last year. Before Christmas, we played in games that were tough to win. We hope we have smoothed off some of the rough edges."

Davis... "West Noble is another team that is a little bit smaller than us and has a lot of quickness around the perimeter. It is a big game for them. It is a big rivalry because of how close we are. This is a big game for us and a chance for us to get back on our home floor. It will be nice to get back in front of our home crowd, play hard and hopefully come out of it with a win."

WABASH AT WHITKO

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at South Whitley

COACHES: Larry Rans (Wabash), Dave Henson (Whitko)

RECORDS: Wabash 0-8, Whitko 3-5

LAST GAME: Manchester 67, Wabash 56; Caston 82, Whitko 73

MATCHUP:...The Wabash Apaches have four scorers in double figures. Freshman Ben Rans leads the way with 13.5 ppg. Junior Ryan Elward paces the team with 6.0 rpg. Whitko's Bo Mullins, Chad Schipper and Jeremiah Laws have been dealing with ankle sprains. Earlier this week, Coach Henson listed Laws as out, Mullins as questionable and Schipper probable for action this weekend.

GAME TALK:

Rans... "I saw them play Caston, and I was impressed with Bo Mullins. He brought the ball up the floor, has a good shooting touch outside and is strong inside. Our biggest concern is Whitko's size. (Zach) Henson is 6-5, (Kevin) Miller 6-5 and Mullins 6-3. Our biggest is 6-2. If we play man-to-man defense, who will we put on Miller, Mullins and then on Henson? Henson is a good shooter, a good basketball player. He's somebody we're obviously concerned with. I am surprised Whitko has won only three games."

Henson..."Wabash played Northfield real tough and played Manchester tough. They are just a team that at this point in time doesn't know how to win yet. The biggest thing for them is team height. They're not very big. A freshman is their leading scorer. You won't win many games with a freshman as a leading scorer unless he is a standout player. Wabash has been in several games. The ones they've been in, with more experience, they may have won them...We need a couple of W's. That's the biggest thing for us. These are important games. We have to turn the corner at this point in time."