On The Court

Tippecanoe Valley at Warsaw

Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. in Warsaw

Coaches: Bill Patrick (Valley), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)

Last year's records: Valley 6-15, 3-4 TRC; Warsaw 14-8, 4-2 NLC

Last year: Warsaw 62, Valley 51

Matchup: This game marks Bill Patrick's return to coaching after a three-year hiatus from the high school courts ... Warsaw has key returners in shooting guard Chris Wiggins, center Zach Nelson, forward Steve Siebenmorgen and point guard Rob Kesler ... Wiggins led the returners with 11 points, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.6 rebounds per game last season ...Valley will look to Noah Silveus, Jarvis Shepherd, Eric Prater and Brandon Eaton for leaders this season ... Eaton averaged 10.2 points, 4.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Patrick: "Obviously, Warsaw is supposed to have an excellent basketball team. Coach Rhodes has one of his better teams. They have a lot of size. They had a lot of kids who worked hard over the summer and they have improved. Warsaw has a solid basketball team year in and year out, and Al Rhodes is one of the better coaches in the state. Warsaw will be one of the best teams we play all year. Size will definitely be a factor in this game. Our key to success will be to control the basketball and control the tempo. Rebounding and defense will also be key."

Rhodes: "First of all, this is always a big game from Valley's side of it. Add in the fact that coach Patrick is a tremendous coach. Those two factors alone make this game a concern for us. Everything went pretty well at our scrimmage. We had a slow start and found some things in our man-to-man defense that our kids needed to correct, and they did. Our offensive execution was good, our defense was good, and our offensive rebounding was good. We still need to improve our defensive rebounding ... (Patrick's) teams always play solid defense and rebound well. His teams have always put those things together well. His teams also have good offensive game plans, and they take good shots."

Whitko at Columbia City

Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. in Columbia City

Coaches: Fred Fields (Whitko), Chris Benedict (Columbia City)

Last year's record: Whitko 5-17, 1-7 TRC; Columbia City 18-6, 6-1 NHC

Last year: Columbia City 70, Whitko 45

Matchup: Fields enters his second season at the helm of the Whitko program coming off a 5-17 season that ended in the second round of the sectionals ... The Wildcats return Ben Mohr, Josh Gonzalez, Shane Henderson, Joe Grant and John Wendel ... Gonzalez led the returners with 6.8 points per game, 1.8 rebounds per game, and 2.5 assists per game last season.

Fields: "They have one player back with a whole bunch of new names. We know as much about them as they know about us. The key for us will be rebounding, we're so small that will be a key for us all year long. They have a real tough kid in the middle, we don't have anyone like that. We just need to play and find some things out."

Benedict: "They're a well coached team, and they return two of their guards, Mohr and Gonzalez, from last year. They have an experienced backcourt that can do things offensively. From the defensive standpoint we're more concerned with ourselves. The biggest thing for us is keeping control of the ball, we need to take care of the ball and get some shots."