On The Court

Tipoff: 8 p.m. tonight at Syracuse

Coaches: Scott Miller (Fairfield); Jerry Davis (Wawasee)

Last year's records: Fairfield 10-12; Wawasee 9-12

Matchup: This game marks the debut of the Davis-led Warrior squad. It pits two teams that don't have a lot of experience coming back from last year, where both teams finished under .500. Fairfield might have the single advantage with senior guard Jayme Matthews on its roster. The 5-foot-11 Matthews, also an all-state running back in football, averaged 18.7 points per game last year and could cause the Warriors some matchup problems with his bulk and strength.

Game Talk

Miller: "We are not very big. We have some good guard play, but we are inexperienced inside. You are going to use this game to see who can get it done in there. It is no secret that Matthews can score. We are going to get points out of him. Outside of him, I don't know. We have to find some place else to get some points. Nobody is going to beat you by themselves. ... They have a couple of good-sized kids. We are going to have to find a way to work on them inside. It is guesswork at this point. I don't know how much they showed at the jamboree."

Davis: "I think (Matthews) is a very big concern. He is a proven scorer and an outstanding athlete. He creates problems for us as far as matching up. We feel like he is the key to their ball club. ... We are going to be looking to maintain some composure over the course of the game. We are going to be looking to hang onto the ball better than what we did in the jamboree. I know we will play hard and play together. But we have to be able to cut down on turnovers and give ourselves a chance to score every time we touch the basketball. They have a lot young kids, and we have a lot of young kids. It will be a matter of which set of kids comes more at ease, more relaxed and more concentrated on what they have to do."