Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GARY WALLACE AT WARSAW
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Warsaw
Coaches: Al Rhodes (Warsaw), John Hoover (Gary Wallace)
Records: Warsaw 13-2; Gary Wallace 7-4
Last game: Warsaw 77, Elk. Memorial 51;
Last year: Gary Wallace 76, Warsaw 74
Matchup: Warsaw is led in scoring by Steve Siebenmorgen's near 15 points per game, Chris Wiggins and Zach Nelson contribute close to 13 points each; Wallace averages 78.7 points per game, sixth in the state.
Rhodes: "Gary Wallace has received some votes in the polls. They have the same player back who beat us last year almost single-handedly. They always play up-tempo, mix defenses and put pressure on your guards. This is tough for us because we have Plymouth the night before. The two teams present two very different styles."
Hoover: Hoover was not available for comment.
WAWASEE AT MANCHESTER
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in North Manchester
Coaches: Jerry Davis (Wawasee), Gary Goshert (Manchester)
Records: Wawasee 0-14; Manchester 11-3
Last game: East Noble 53, Wawasee 38; Manchester 70, Whitko 46
Last year: Manchester 65, Wawasee 54
Matchup: Andrew Warner led the Warriors against East Noble with 14 points, Chris Lambert added 11 points ... Manchester outscored last week's opponents by an average of 29.5 points ... Eric Swan leads the Squires with 19.6 points while Rex Reimer chips in 15 ... Swan pulls down an average of 6.0 rebounds per game, Chris Betten contributes 5.5 boards per game.
Davis: "They're obviously playing with confidence with big wins over TRC teams last weekend. Rebounding will be a big factor again. They play very hard. We have to defend them in the halfcourt and they shoot the three really well."
Goshert: "Wawasee plays a tough schedule. Since they're in the NLC, they must play NLC teams game in and game out, and that is a very tough conference to play in. Wawasee is scary because at any time they could put both ends of the floor together and beat anybody remaining on their schedule. They could bust out and break open at any time and be a good team."
NORTHWOOD AT LAKELAND
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Saturday in LaGrange
Coaches: Tim Sirk, Dan Gunn (NorthWood)
Records: Lakeland 5-9; NorthWood 7-6
Last game: Lakeland 52, Bethany Christian 47; NorthWood 75, Triton 45
Last year: Did not play last year
Matchup: NorthWood is coming off of a double-win weekend with wins over Plymouth and Triton ... in a 30-point win over Triton Nic Bradley and Charlie Roeder led the Panther scoring surge with 15 and 12 point outputs ... Lakeland is led by Josh Weimer who scores 15 point per game ... his brother Jerod leads the team in assists ... Matt Grossman and Nate Yoder lead the team with almost four rebounds per game ... Mitch Todd, junior team captain, averages 11 points per game and is a team leader in rebounding as well.
Gunn: "They're a pretty young team, not real big, but they are steadily improving. They have good three-point shooters. On Saturday nights after big Friday night games it's important for us to show up mentally. Taking care of the ball will be a big key in this game."
Sirk: "NorthWood is a very athletic team. They are quick and strong. They played very well against Plymouth last weekend. (Aaron) Huber is a team leader who works hard to get the ball. (Chad) Martin and (Charlie) Roeder both play hard. Roeder always seems to be around the ball and he gets a lot of offensive boards. The entire NorthWood team is doing good things, and Coach Gunn is doing a great job with them. We will need to be strong and try to handle their tough man-to-man and tough presses."
NORTH MIAMI AT TRITON
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Bourbon
Coaches: Joe Bennett (Triton), Bill Torgerson (North Miami)
Records: Triton 6-6; North Miami 4-9
Last game: NorthWood 75, Triton 45; Northwestern 61, North Miami 44
Last year: Did not play last year.
Matchup: The Trojans are trying to come back from a 30-point loss to NorthWood ... Matt Savill leads the Trojans, averaging 14 points per game while Brandon Zeider adds 11.6 points per game ... Jim Read and Zeider pull down 4.3 and 3.6 rebounds respectively ... Austin Unterbrink adds an average of 3.8 assists per game ... the Warriors are led in scoring by Kenny Hanson's 21 points per game ... Hanson also pulls down an average of six rebounds per game, as does Brandon Wideman.
Bennett: "I don't know much about them, but I know they've got one player who is an outstanding scorer. They play a zone defense. The key for us will be ball handling. I don't really know the specifics yet because we are concentrating on Friday's game first."
Torgerson: "I've seen them play agressive man-to-man defense. They don't have great size but they can run the floor. Their attitude is to outwork you. We're 4-11 and have lost five in a row, including a disappointing loss to Rochester, and we have to get them to respond and show some desire to play."
