On The Court

NO. 3 (3A) PLYMOUTH AT WARSAW

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

Coaches: Jack Edison (Plymouth), Warsaw (Al Rhodes)

Records: Plymouth 13-1, 4-0 NLC; Warsaw 10-5, 3-2 NLC

Last game: LaPorte 59, Plymouth 51; Warsaw 76, Elkhart Memorial 67

Matchup: Although not for the NLC championship, as it usually is, this is still a big game. Any time the Tigers and the Pilgrims match up, it is always big. This one might even be more so with this being the only time these two teams will play each other because of class basketball. The Pilgrims enter the game having lost their first game of the year last week to LaPorte.

Edison: "We still feel like we have everything important ahead of us - the conference, the tournament. Hopefully everyone realizes we're not what the rankings say we are ... Warsaw's non-conference schedule is incredible. The thing Al does so well is play nine or 10 people. From mid-January on, that can only benefit you. Warsaw has great depth. The biggest problem we will have with Warsaw is their four extremely strong post players. They have the strongest post players we've seen all year. That alone is a big concern."

Rhodes: "We certainly have our hands full. They are a traditionally-style team. They play great defense and rebound well and are patient on offense. Perhaps it (the loss) lets them know that they are mortal. Traditionally we have been able to do better against them when we have strong inside play. So, one key to the game will be how our post people play against theirs. We will try to do all that we can against him (Brian Wray), but obviously you are not going to hold him scoreless or anything. ... We can take a lot of positives from Marion, except our execution down the stretch. We really controlled the game. When you are playing against a team of that caliber, and you are able to do that, it should add to your confidence. We have to learn from the mistakes we made in the last three minutes. Sometimes the thing that people miss is that we have won some close games as well. It may be by eight or 10 points, but that is because we hit our free throws down the stretch. We have come through in a lot of close games."

CONCORD AT WAWASEE

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday at Syracuse

Coaches: Ron Dietz (Concord), Jerry Davis (Wawasee)

Records: Concord 4-9, 0-5 NLC; Wawasee 2-12, 0-4 NLC

Last game: SB Adams 59, Concord 51; East Noble 49, Wawasee 44

Matchup: Last weekend exemplified Wawasee's season. The Warriors lost 49-46 to Whitko and 49-44 to East Noble. The Warriors have lost nine of their 12 games by 11 points or less. Wawasee's starting center Brody Stipp was in a car accident on Sunday and has not practiced yet this week. He has a stiff neck and Davis is not sure if he'll be ready to play on Friday.

Dietz: "I think these are two teams who are the same. Both are hungry for a win, both have been playing pretty good ball, both have some pretty good players who provide senior leadership, both play pretty good defense. (Wawasee's) quickness concerns me, but their big boys have played well of late, and that's a concern."

Davis: "We learned some things about ourselves (last weekend). In both games we were either tied or within one possession with three minutes to play and couldn't win ... (Concord) is very athletic. (Nick) Treadway is a good shooter and Josh Maron is becoming a force inside. We need to play at a quicker pace and we're trying to instill that with our press."

WHITKO AT OAK HILL

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday at Converse

Coaches: Fred Fields (Whitko), Flava Sirk (Oak Hill)

Records: Whitko 3-11, 1-2 TRC; Oak Hill 7-8, 3-1 TRC

Last game: Whitko 49, Wawasee 46; Oak Hill 76, Peru 61

Matchup: Oak Hill has a Division I player, IU-bound Jarrad Odle, but the Golden Eagles are still a team under .500. Oak Hill averages 78 points, so the Golden Eagles want to turn this game into a run-and-gun game. Whitko likes to play the opposite style, deliberate. The Wildcats try to find good shots in their halfcourt sets. The Wildcats will be without Jered Deckena. He sustained a hip injury this week. Also, Whitko has the flu going around and Fields doesn't know who will be ready to play on Friday because of that.

Fields: "We're basically just playing better and getting more consistency in our play. We're passing and catching the ball better than we were. The little things are coming together. We don't go into practice anymore wondering whether or not the JV team is going to beat us. However, we still haven't put together 32 minutes ... I saw Oak Hill expand their lead against Peru with Odle on the bench. I only say that to show that they have other players that can hurt you. They're a lot better now than they were five weeks ago. It would be nice if we could find someone to contain (Odle) without a lot of help

Sirk: "We know Whitko has a real good frontline. We'll have to find a way to match up with them. We're hoping to get ahead early and dictate the tempo so we play the game the way we want to play it. When we hold the opponents around 60, we have a good chance to win. We like to push the ball up the floor."

NO. 2 (2A) MANCHESTER AT 'BUSCO

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday at Churubusco

Coaches: Gary Goshert (Manchester), Ross Hales (Churubusco)

Records: Manchester 14-2, Churubusco 7-8

Last game: Manchester 46, Valley 39; Churubusco 75, Angola 61

Matchup: Churubusco may be the best-kept secret around. In years past, when coaches looked at Churubusco on their schedule, it was an automatic "W." Not so this year. Churubusco has wins against the likes of Angola, Lakeland and Leo. The most impressive win is probably against Central Noble, which has been ranked in the top 10 most of the year.

Goshert: Goshert was unavailable to comment.

Hales: "I had a feeling we could turn it around this quickly. We have a good group of guys who play hard. Once you get kids to play hard, you've overcome a lot of the battle right there ... (Manchester) pretty much doesn't have any weaknesses. They have a great inside game, their perimeter game is good, and they're quick. Defensively, they can play good man-to-man or a good 2-3 zone. They're a mix between Central Noble and Leo. They have some good size like Leo, but they execute like a Central Noble team. We have to take care of the basketball every possession against Manchester. And the times they give us an open shot, we have to take advantage of it."

NORTHWOOD AT GOSHEN

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday at Goshen

Coaches: Dan Gunn (NorthWood), Mike Sorrell (Goshen)

Records: NorthWood 10-4, 2-2 NLC; Goshen 12-3, 3-2 NLC

Last game: NorthWood 98, LaVille 36; Goshen 54, Penn 39

Matchup: These two teams met in the Goshen Holiday Tournament earlier this year with the Redskins coming away with a one-point win. Both teams are basically out of the NLC race, but that doesn't take anything away with this traditionally tough matchup.

Gunn: Gunn was unavailable to comment.

Sorrell: "I think the more points that are scored, the less our chances are. If they get 60 points, we don't have much of a chance. As the points scored goes down, we have more of a chance. I would like to keep it in the 50s and 40s. ... We are pretty much out of the (NLC) race, but it is big because it is NorthWood, and we only have a few games left. We are going to try to treat it like a tournament game. We have had some very close games with them over the years. I think we have been playing well, even though I didn't see the last game. We looked good on tape, and my assistant coach said we played well. I have a lot of faith in his judgment."

VALLEY AT WABASH

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday at Wabash

Coaches: Gregg Sciarra (Valley), Larry Rans (Wabash)

Records: Valley 4-10, Wabash 4-11

Last game: Manchester 46, Tippecanoe Valley 39; Wabash 61, Northfield 55

Matchup: The Vikings still feel like they gave one away to the Squires last weekend. After owning several leads, they had the crucial turnover late in the third quarter that turned the game around. How will Valley respond? Well, Sciarra said Monday's and Tuesday's practices this week have been the best practices all year. Wabash's top three scorers are J.R. Hensley (12.8 points per game), Ryan Elward (12.1) and Ben Rans (11.7). Nick Gorman is the top rebounder with 5.5 boards per game.

Sciarra: "At times, Wabash has been decent, better than what we thought they would be at the beginning of the year. They are the one team to beat Caston at Caston. This ought to be a competitive game. It seems like every time we're at their place, we seem to have a physical match. Rans is doing well. (Wabash) is more of an outside (shooting) team. Both Elward and Hensley have been scoring."

Rans: "Our biggest threat is (Valley's) size and athletic ability. They've definitely played better since Christmas, and they're definitely a better team than their 4-10 record. (JayDee) Parker is playing well, and we'll have to watch (Eric) Love on the perimeter all the time. (Six-foot-nine Maurice Looman) can be a problem if we let him catch the ball inside ... We're playing a smaller lineup now. Seven of our losses have come by seven points or less. We were down to Northfield last week I think 12 at halftime, but we held them to 13 points the second half and came back to win. We'll try to use our quickness, play smart defense and value each possession. We're glad the game is at home. They killed us at their place last year. I'm not looking for a repeat of that."

ARGOS AT TRITON

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday at Bourbon

Coaches: Chuck Evans (Argos), Kevin O'Rourke (Triton)

Records: Argos 7-6, Triton 4-9

Last game: Washington Township 59, Argos 57; New Prairie 64, Triton 50

Matchup: Triton met Argos back on Dec. 19 in the Culver Tourney. Triton led 23-18 at halftime only to lose 57-42. The Dragons slapped a full-court press on the Trojans and outscored them 39-19 the second half. O'Rourke believes this time his team will handle the press.

Evans: "We've struggled on the road. We're 5-1 at home and 2-5 on the road. We've struggled shooting the ball away from home. We're not putting points on the board, and shot selection is part of that ... We played (Triton) earlier, and they were up five at the half. Then we played well the second half defensively. They want to win this game as much as any game, but maybe even a little more. Our kids will have to match that intensity. We haven't had that mental edge when we go on the road."

O'Rourke: "I hope we're in the same situation again in the second half, where we have the lead and we anticipate the full-court press. That was either the fourth or fifth game of the season the first time they did that to us; this is the 13th. The nice thing is, usually when you're being pressed, it indicates a team that is trying to work its way back into the game. (Argos) has a lot of talent. We have to block them out on the offensive boards. The New Prairie game, that was the difference in the game."