On The Court

NORTHWOOD AT WARSAW

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

COACHES: Dan Gunn (NorthWood), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)

RECORDS: NorthWood 3-5, 0-0 NLC; Warsaw 10-2, 3-0 NLC

LAST GAME: NorthWood 45, Wawasee 41; Warsaw 92, Gary Wallace 78

MATCHUP: ...Warsaw and NorthWood are in similar situations, having not played a lot in the past three weeks. The Tigers have just one game under their belts since Dec. 28, and the Panthers, because of postponements, have not played since the end of December in the Goshen Holiday Tournament. Warsaw is coming off a brutal game with Gary Wallace on Tuesday where the Hornets fouled the Tigers 47 times and sent them to the line for 75 free throws, second-most all-time in the nation. Warsaw converted on only 44 of those freebies. Tom Krizmanich leads Warsaw with 17.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds a contest. Bobby Brown, not the singer, paces NorthWood with 18.2 ppg. Mitch Walters is adding 12.5 ppg.

GAME TALK:

Gunn... "If they shoot 75 free throws, we have less of a chance than I thought we did. Warsaw's team plays well together, and they appear to be close on the outside. I think they are getting a lot of good things done this year in a year where maybe people thought they wouldn't. As far as working on any of their weaknesses, I am not sure we can exploit any. ... We are pretty young. I think my kids will be aggressive and play hard. They have a lot of experience, and I am sure we will learn a lot about ourselves by just playing them. This group for me can't seem to catch a break. We started late because of football and then started with double weekends. And now because of the postponements, we are going to play five games in eight days. I just hope we can show up and give the Tigers a good ball game. We are steadily improving. That is something that we can to do."

Rhodes... "Coach Gunn's teams are always dangerous because they always play great halfcourt defense. Overall, they have been close with everybody. I see it as a dangerous situation. We have to concentrate and execute versus their halfcourt defense. Brown is a wing-type of player. He is an excellent shooter from 17 feet and in. It is another good matchup for Tom Krizmanich, and we might use Tyler Charlton as well. They seem to like to use the three-point shot to their advantage. They run a motion-type offense with a lot of screening. They seem to have been playing their best in the big games, and they always play us tough. ... I was glad to have played the Gary Wallace game. I didn't want the NorthWood game to be our first one back after our break. We came out and played excellent in the first quarter against Gary Wallace. Overall, I was pleased with how we came into the game. It will be a good lesson for us and help us put a better 32 minutes together for NorthWood."

VALLEY AT NORTHFIELD

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at Wabash

COACHES: Gregg Sciarra (Valley), Chris Keisling (Northfield)

RECORDS: Valley 6-4, 2-1 TRC; Northfield 6-3, 2-1 TRC

LAST GAME: Southwood 76, Valley 65; Northfield 86, White's Institute 32

MATCHUP:... The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings lost to Southwood Tuesday evening, and the schedule doesn't get any easier this weekend. Valley plays the preseason favorite to win the TRC, Northfield, on Friday. Then the Vikings play a Caston team with only two losses on Saturday. Valley and four other teams are tied for first in the TRC with 2-1 records. Northfield's Dewayne Krom is third in the TRC with 18.8 points per game and first in the TRC with 10.1 rebounds per game. Northfield has three other scorers in double figures: Bernie Schuck (16.5), Coley Schenkel (14.8) and Darin Marante (13.5).

GAME TALK:

Sciarra... "You know how coaches always say they have to focus on their own team? That's what we have to do now. We're not playing well defensively. Krom, whoever, it doesn't matter who Northfield has on the low post with the way our defense is right now. With him, Schuck, Schenkel and Marante, that's tough enough looking at game film and seeing them. Our problem the last three games has been our man-to-man defense. We're working on getting better at that. (Southwood) was a very disappointing loss, but we're going to pick up and go on."

Keisling... "I think Valley's strength is their quickness. They have players with quick hands, and they play a nice man-to-man press. They have two kids who can knock down the three-pointer, (Eric) Love and (Darren) Parker. (Jeff) Brown is tremendous. They pose some problems. Certainly our strength will be our size. They don't seem to have anyone who can match up with us inside, and we'll look to exploit that. Valley is 6-4, but they've lost to Warsaw, Plymouth, Columbia City and Southwood. None of those teams are slouches. We're lucky this game is at our place, because Northfield has had a tough time winning at Valley. Whoever wins this particular game has somewhat of a driver's seat in the conference. It's a pivotal game. Each team controls its own destiny."

FW DWENGER AT WHITKO

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at South Whitley

COACHES: Chris Johnson (Dwenger), Dave Henson (Whitko)

RECORDS: Dwenger 3-3, Whitko 4-5

LAST GAME: Dwenger 71, Fort Wayne Northrop 67; Whitko 77, Wabash 63

MATCHUP:...All four Whitko wins have come at home. The Wildcats have won three in a row at home, where they own a 4-1 record. They are 0-4 on the road. Whitko is coming off of one of its most balanced offensive games of the season - four players scored in double figures. Dwenger star B.J. Carretta graduated and is now on Purdue's team. All told, Johnson has had to replace five starters and 53 points per game. Six-foot-three senior forward Al Calixte leads Dwenger with 15 points and 9 rebounds per game. Senior Luke Meyers adds 13 ppg, and Jared Glassley scores 12 ppg.

GAME TALK:

Johnson... "(Zach) Henson is going to be tough to match up with. We're so small - we start a 5-8 point guard and a 5-10 shooting guard. Henson's a good ballplayer. He can hit from outside. Then when you put a small, quick guy on him, he'll take him down low and post him up. We somehow have to figure a way to keep him from scoring in the 20s and keep Whitko from scoring in the 70s."

Henson..."Dwenger lost a lot of kids from last year. We know they play tough in-your-face type of defense. They will play hard and be physical. We have to be prepared for that kind of game. ...We are getting better. We did have more kids involved scoring-wise. A lot of it is how healthy we are. Bo Mullins has been having problems with his ankle, I don't know if it is a stress fracture. He is pretty iffy. If we are to be the best we can be, we really need him."

NORTHRIDGE AT WAWASEE

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Friday at Syracuse

COACHES: Steve Austin (Northridge), Jerry Davis (Wawasee)

RECORDS: Northridge 6-4, 0-1 NLC; Wawasee 3-7, 0-2 NLC

LAST GAME: Elkhart Central 80, Northridge 73; Plymouth 68, Wawasee 47

MATCHUP:...Wawasee will have to find a way to deal with Northridge's 6-8 center Ryan Thomas and 6-5 forward Todd Janes inside. The Warriors are 1-7 in their last eight games.

GAME TALK:

Austin... Northridge coach Steve Austin could not be reached for comment. Janes leads Northridge with 19.1 ppg. Thomas adds 15.4 ppg, and Jeremy Neely scores 14.1 ppg.

Davis.... "I think that (the inside game) is their bread and butter, their strength, and we need to find a way to defend that. They have two kids (Thomas, Janes) who play with a lot of confidence inside. They work on establishing them inside, then getting the ball in there. The number one thing we have to do is compete, play tough and play every single possession. We need to play 32 minutes of grind-it-out basketball."

NORTH MIAMI AT MANCHESTER

TIPOFF:8 p.m. Friday at North Manchester

COACHES:Bill Torgerson (N. Miami), Gary Goshert (Manchester)

RECORDS:N. Miami 2-7, 0-3 TRC; Manchester 5-4, 2-1 TRC

LAST GAME:Northwestern 100, N. Miami 67; Oak Hill 67, Manchester 62

MATCHUP:...Kenny Hanson leads North Miami with 14.0 ppg. Teammate Josh Nixon leads with 8.5 rpg, and Bob Kling leads with 3.0 apg. The Squires played games throughout Christmas break, but they got a breather last weekend when their game with Whitko was postponed. Manchester's last game was at Oak Hill on Jan. 3.

GAME TALK:

Torgerson... "I think Manchester is intelligent in that their players know what to do on the floor. They're not a physically overpowering team, but they do a lot of things right. They have two pretty solid 6-3 post guys, Jake Peden and Chris Enyeart. They may not overpower players on other teams, but they can give us problems. We're 6-1. Eric Swan, you can tell, is going to be a good player for them. They kind of go to him at the end of games. Manchester plays with good defensive intensity. We play five guards, so there is always the possibility of presenting matchup problems with the other team."

Goshert... "We played right through Christmas every weekend, so the break last weekend was sort of a blessing in disguise. That enabled us to have fresher legs and allowed us to get refreshed mentally. Friday we have a big TRC game against North Miami, a team pretty similar to Southwood. They have quick athletes, boys who are good shooters from the perimeter. Nixon can do a lot around the basket. They are a team that can be tough to match up with."

TRITON AT BETHANY CHRISTIAN

TIPOFF:8 p.m. Friday at Goshen

COACHES:Kevin O'Rourke (Triton), Jim Buller (B. Christian)

RECORDS:Triton 7-2, B. Christian 7-2

LAST GAME:Triton 67, Culver 52; Bethany Christian 57, Lakeland 38

MATCHUP:...These two schools have not always been renowned for their basketball programs, but this year Triton and Bethany Christian are a combined 14-4. Six-foot-three senior Eliot Friesen, who tallies 17.1 ppg, became Bethany Christian's all-time leading scorer this season. Anders Weaver, another 6-3 senior, adds 11.7 ppg. Marcos Garber, a 5-9 junior, scores 10 ppg and dishes out 5.7 apg. Friesen is Bethany's top rebounder with 8.2 boards per game.

GAME TALK:

O'Rourke... "Bethany Christian has a good basketball team. They are 7-2, and they have a number of returning starters back like Friesen and Weaver. Garber, a transfer from Goshen, is extremely quick. That's three solid players. Then they have the Burkhalter kid who can shoot the ball. To their credit, that makes them a better offensive team. You can't focus on one or two players. Friesen is approaching 1,000 points in his career there. You'd like to say we'll just focus on him. But you can't do that with this team."

Buller... "Triton is obviously a very talented team. The thing that stands out is their balance. They have a lot of players who get the job done, and that makes them difficult to defend. They are a group that has been together for years. I'm impressed with their defense, and they have played well on the road...We're interested in seeing how the matchups go. Friesen is playing well. We're excited about getting Anders Waver back. He's been out three weeks with a broken wrist. Marcus is playing well, and as of a week ago, he led Elkhart County in assists. We feel like we're a balanced team also. Offensive execution and fundamentals will determine who wins this game. Which team can get the second-chance rebound points? Which team can keep turnovers down to 10? Which team can shoot 75 percent at the free throw line?"