On The Court...

SB ADAMS AT WARSAW

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at the Tiger Den

COACHES: Pat King (Adams), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)

RECORDS: SB Adams 6-5; Warsaw 10-2

LAST GAME: SB Riley 78, SB Adams 69; Warsaw 92, Gary Wallace 78

MATCHUP: ...Warsaw and South Bend Adams head into this Saturday game after big conference games on Friday: Warsaw with Concord and Adams with South Bend LaSalle. Adams, coached by former North Miami coach Pat King, has been up and down this season. Jewel Martin, a 5-foot-10 point guard, leads Adams with 15.1 points per game. Craig Foor is at 13.2 ppg, and Doug Barnbrook scores 12 ppg and 6.5 rebounds. Warsaw is just trying to play some games, having played only once (Gary Wallace) since the end of December.

GAME TALK:

King... "We have beaten the teams we are supposed to beat. Our biggest win of the season was Penn. There has been some growing pains with this being my first year. And I am their fourth coach in four years. We are not very big, and we have some kids playing out of position. I have some long-range plans for this program, and I am trying to teach them things other people may have missed getting ready for games. With Warsaw being nonconference, it is just another Saturday game for us. We just want to go over there and play well. We have been getting better each week. ...With Warsaw, you are watching out for the system. Everybody said Warsaw would be rebuilding, but they never rebuild, they just reload. Krizmanich is scoring well."

Rhodes... "I am very concerned about this game because of where it falls in the sequence. We have a huge conference game on Friday and Adams is a very dangerous team. They are better than what their record shows. Jewel Martin is a tremendous player. ... It has been tough (with the lack of games). I have been proud of the team. We have taken a positive approach to it, although there is never a guarantee it will show up in games. They are very hungry for a game. Yet we still recognize we have our work cut out for us and a lot of big games up ahead."

WAWASEE AT TRITON

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Bourbon

COACHES: Jerry Davis (Wawasee); Kevin O'Rourke (Triton)

RECORDS: Wawasee 3-8, Triton 8-2

LAST GAME: Northridge 58, Wawasee 40; Triton 64, Jimtown 52

MATCHUP:... Wawasee's top scorers are Ryan Mikel (14.5), Jay Haugh (10.3), Brody Stipp (9.4) and Jared Mahnensmith (7.5). Triton's top scorers are Cory Monesmith (19.1), Jeff Rupe (13.5) and Philip Reed (12.5). Stipp leads Wawasee with 6.9 rebounds per game. Bill Salyer, Monesmith, Scott Blackford and Reed all average between 4.7 and 5.5 rebounds for the Trojans.

GAME TALK:

Davis... "Triton is a team playing very well right now, playing with a lot of confidence. When you do that, you seem to shoot the ball a little better and run a little quicker. The thing for us is, we need to play with consistency at both ends of the floor. It's a lot better going against the size of players Triton has rather than going against 6-6, 6-7 players that we have been playing. We hope we can establish some sort of inside game against Triton. We're looking to shoot the ball better. That's a concern, especially with the pressure defense we'll see from them."

O'Rourke... "Wawasee has three very quick guards who are good athletes and good shooters. They can all put the ball in the basket if they're left open on the perimeter. The have a nice complement with (Brody) Stipp inside, who's just a man. He can push you around. Wawasee has quite a few offensive weapons. The first key will be to push them out on the perimeter. We can't give up uncontested shots. We must make them take contested shots. We have to stop their penetration to the basket. Coaches will tell you those are keys in any game to beat any opponent, but it's even more so the case against Wawasee."

VALLEY AT SB WASHINGTON

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at South Bend

COACHES: Gregg Sciarra (Valley), Milt Cooper (SB Washington)

RECORDS: Valley 7-5; SB Washington 8-3

LAST GAME: Northfield 60, Valley 58; SB Washington 81, SB LaSalle 80

MATCHUP:...Washington may be the highest-scoring team Valley faces this season. Cedric Moodie leads the way with 28 ppg. Wayne Avance adds 19, Edmund Kyle 13 and Jamal Henry 11 ppg. They don't miss many, either. Avance, Kyle and Moodie are shooting 50 percent or better. Henry shoots better than 50 percent from three-point range. Avance paces Washington with 8.5 rpg, and Moodie adds 7.5 rpg. Valley's top scorers are Jeff Brown (17.9), Eric Love (12.1) and Nick Stutzman (10.5). Brown is the top rebounder in the area with 8.1 rpg. Teammate Darren Parker leads local schools with 7.1 assists per game.

GAME TALK:

Sciarra... "I would think they are the best team in South Bend right now. They are quick, and they have big kids. They are just a real good basketball team. I know our kids are looking forward to playing competition they've never played before. I hear they do get up and down the floor. I know our kids won't mind getting into a transition game. We're trying to push the ball more, trying to get out of the half-court set mode we have been in."

Cooper... "Valley has very, very good guards. Jeff Brown is a good player. Nick Stutzman is a good player. Valley isn't very tall, but looking at the film, their post people play pretty good defense. They do their best with what they have...I'll say this about Cedric Moodie: I'm glad I have him. It's sure a lot better than going up against him. He won't get Mr. Basketball because there is too much politics in Indiana."

MANCHESTER AT FW CARROLL

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Saturday at Fort Wayne

COACHES: Gary Goshert (Manchester), Rob Irwin (Carroll)

RECORDS: Manchester 6-5, Carroll 9-1

LAST GAME: FW Dwenger 70, Manchester 59; DeKalb 85, Carroll 55

MATCHUP:...Carroll's only loss is to DeKalb, the team that has Luke Recker and a team that has been ranked in the top 20 for much of the year. Six-foot-three Brett Macy leads DeKalb with 16 ppg, and 6-4 Kevin Krouse paces the team with 6 rpg. Kris Bond is Carroll's top assist man with 3.8 apg. Manchester's top scorers are Eric Swan (13.2), Chris Enyeart (10.1), Scot Croner (9.1) and Jake Peden (8.5). Enyeart leads the Squires with 6.5 rpg, and Peden adds 5.3 rpg. Jonathan Price paces the Squires with 5.0 apg.

GAME TALK:

Goshert... "I think Carroll is a team that puts a tremendous amount of defensive pressure on the opponent. They've had success every game except against DeKalb. Then again, when you talk DeKalb, DeKalb is different than most teams. Carroll likes to press a lot. The have good athletes, athletes who are 6-0 to 6-3 and can run, jump and shoot the ball well. Then they have 6-4, 6-5 and 6-6 kids who can all play inside. If we don't defend the post against Carroll, they're going to score easy points."

Irwin.... "Manchester isn't very big, but they are playing hard. I know Coach Goshert is an excellent coach. This game is on a horrible night for us - it follows a Friday conference game with East Noble. We're really deep. We're big - 6-6 and 6-4 - and then we sub players who are 6-4 and 6-5 for those two kids. We have three senior guards, and then we have three other guards we use. We have six guards who can all play. Last year we were playing kids who were freshmen and sophomores, and now we're playing everyone we have. We didn't play very well and got thumped by DeKalb. We're excited to see how we bounce back this weekend, beginning with East Noble."

WHITKO AT FW NORTH

TIPOFF:8 p.m. Saturday at Fort Wayne

COACHES:Dave Henson (Whitko), Glenn Heaton (North)

RECORDS:Whitko 4-6.

LAST GAME: Bluffton 47, Whitko 39.

MATCHUP:...The flu that hit several teams earlier this winter hit Whitko this week. Several Wildcats have battled illnesses. The good news for Wildcat fans' is Bo Mullins' ankle is bothering him less and less. This is an all Fort Wayne weekend for the Wildcats, who host a makeup game with Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger on Friday then travel to North Side on Saturday. Whitko's scoring leaders are Zach Henson (23.6), Mullins (9.8) and Jason Ayres (9.1). Kevin Miller, Henson and Mullins average between 5.1 and 5.5 rpg. Henson is second in the area with 6.2 apg. North's top scorers are Kenneth Johnson, Vernard Hollins, Jason Brown and Anthony Brewer.

GAME TALK:

Henson... "North Side is big, and they have a couple of kids who are pretty quick on the outside. It's just the type of team that can cause us problems, because their guards put a lot of pressure on you. (Jason) Brown is probably their best player. He's 6-6, and he and Johnson are the big bodies inside. Then we have to find a way to contain their point guard, Porter. They have some kids, where if things start going well, they will play well. You have to get on them early and get them down. That's what we did last year, and that's what we're hoping to do this year."

Heaton.... "????????s 7-3 and is an awfully good team. Their players are young as far as age, but they have veteran players who have been around. They are a hard-nosed group of kids. (Luke) Zartman can put up a lot of points in a hurry. The Pioneer game, he hit eight threes in the first half, and those were five or six feet behind the line. He has really good range. Blake Harness is a nice player inside. Those two give them a good inside/outside combination. Point guard Garrett Cain gets the ball where it needs to go. We've shown stretches where we've played well. I'm positive about that. But you don't to play your best basketball at Christmastime. You want to be playing your best in February going into the tournament."