Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GARY WIRT AT WARSAW
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Warsaw
Coaches: Omar Vazquez (Wirt), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)
Records: Gary Wirt 6-2; Warsaw 7-4
Last game: Terre Haute 76, Gary Wirt 44; Goshen 61, Warsaw 49
Last Year: Warsaw 56, Wirt 43
Matchup: Brandon Lee, Wirt's tallest player at 6-foot-3, leads the Troopers with 14 points per game, and Marcus Ford adds 10 ppg. James Johnson leads in rebounds with 6.0 per game. Wirt went 12-9 last year and advanced to the sectional championship, and even though most of those players are gone, the Troopers have a solid 6-2 record with a young team this year. The two teams have similar numbers. Wirt averages 58 ppg and gives up 51 ppg; Warsaw averages 61 ppg and gives up 54. Warsaw is shooting 49 percent from the field but just 66 percent from the free throw line. Warsaw is forcing its opponents to commit 20 turnovers per game, five more than the Tigers commit per game.
Vazquez: "We have only two seniors and returned only three players from last year's team, but we have six kids who play together and play very hard. We have a lot of quickness. Warsaw is always very well coached, a typical Warsaw team. They run the same plays and are a good-shooting team."
Rhodes: "I know Wirt will be very disciplined on offense. They are a contrast to some of the other teams in the region. They play a slow tempo and zone defense. We want to try to speed this game up, while they will try to slow it down."
SOUTHWOOD AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY (TRC)
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Akron
Coaches: Steve McClure (Southwood); Bill Patrick (Valley)
Records: Southwood 7-2, 2-1 TRC; Valley 9-3, 3-0 TRC
Last game: Southwood 65, Whitko 60; Caston 57, Valley 55
Last year: Valley 60, Southwood 48
Matchup: The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings are coming off a heartbreaking two-point loss to Caston Tuesday night, and coach Bill Patrick hopes the Vikings can bounce back to get a crucial Three Rivers Conference victory over Southwood. The Vikings will look to Cody New and his 24.2 points to lead the scoring attack. New also pulls down 8.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 3.0 assists per game. Trey Eaton leads the TRC in field goal percentage (67 of 106 for 63.2 percent) and free throw percentage (66 of 74 for 89.2 percent) and is Valley's second-leading scorer with 18.5 points per game. Drew Shafer has become a three-point threat for Valley after netting 8 of 17 treys. Southwood is coming off a come-from-behind victory over TRC opponent Whitko. The Knights will look to Shawn Zellers for leadership. He leads the TRC in rebounding with 11.2 rpg, and averages 15.4 ppg. Brandon Ehret adds 10.8 ppg and leads the TRC in assists with 6.1 per contest. Brady Elzroth is another scoring threat for Southwood with 10.6 ppg.
McClure: "(Valley is) very well coached. It was bad enough when just Bill Patrick was coaching, but now you've got Bill and Chad coaching together. Together with their staff, they do an excellent job of preparing their players for games. Especially with personnel like leading scorers Cody New and Trey Eaton. They are the hub of the wheel, so to speak. The other players do a good job of getting the ball to their scorers. They play defense extremely well and give their scorers a chance. We, with all due respect to our opponents, focus on the one thing we can control, ourselves. We are working on our transition defense and moving the ball. The key for us, since we are on the road, is to put forward an outstanding defensive effort. We also need to rebound the ball well."
Patrick: "Southwood's big. They can shoot the ball inside, but they can turn around and shoot it outside, too. In the Caston game, we did not have good ball movement. Caston held the ball for a big part of the game. We are trying to get more movement, pass the ball five, six, seven times. This is a big conference game. They've lost one, and we haven't lost any. This should be a very good game."
MANCHESTER AT ROCHESTER (TRC)
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Rochester
Coaches: Gary Goshert (Manchester), David Burkett (Rochester)
Records: Manchester 7-5, 2-1 TRC; Rochester 3-6, 1-2 TRC
Last game: Carroll 55, Manchester 44; T. Valley 76, Rochester 74 OT
Last year: Manchester 72, Rochester 62
Matchup: This road game is huge as far as the Three Rivers Conference goes, as the Squires come into this weekend with a 2-1 conference mark and are in a pack with Oak Hill and Southwood. Tippecanoe Valley is the only team in the TRC with an undefeated record. An 11-point loss Tuesday at Caroll stopped Manchester's six-game win streak. Senior Anthony Frieden leads the Squire offense with 12.2 ppg, while Klay Bechtold and Nate Kerr add 10 each. Kerr leads the team in rebounds at 5.5 per game. Rochester brings a 1-2 conference mark into this contest and is led in the scoring column by Billy Newton's 13.0 ppg. Nick Patterson adds 11.1, while Landon Barts chips in with 10.5 ppg. Patterson leads the Zebras in assists with 3.7 per game, while Barts leads the team in steals with 2.3 per contest.
Goshert: "It's important for us to get some momentum back. It's important to how we play the game overall, but we would like to stay in the hunt for the TRC, so that is important, too. The chance for a TRC championship is important, but even more important is that we get some momentum back. To beat a team like Rochester you have to play well on defense and offense. Their record is very deceiving. They have some kids with skill and athleticism that are very aggressive. Rochester is at their best when they are getting up and down the floor. We have to handle their pressure and get to their scorers, which is anyone they put on the floor. They're a handful defensively."
Burkett: "I think we've gotta stop Manchester's shooters. They've got three kids in double figures, Kerr, Frieden and Bechtold. They like to shoot the three, but yet they can score inside. They've beat and played with some pretty good teams. They beat Oak Hill, they're ranked in the top 10. They beat a good team in Peru. They've got a couple 6-foot-3 kids, we don't match up with their height. We're playing well, we just haven't won the big one yet. We played Lewis Cass right to the end, they're No. 1 in 2A. Valley, a fine team and last year's sectional champion, we took them to overtime. Manchester has a good nucleus back. It'll be a good game if we can play our game. We want to get up and down the floor and run."
TRITON AT BETHANY CHRISTIAN
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Goshen
Coaches: Joe Bennett (Triton), Jim Buller (Bethany Christian)
Records: Triton 5-3, Bethany Christian 5-4
Last game: Triton 80, Culver 45; Bethany Christian 79, How Military 28
Last year: Bethany Christian 57, Triton 56
Matchup: Joe Bennett has coached Triton for three years now. The last three meetings of these teams have all been won on last-second shots, with the Trojans on the downside all three times. Bethany Christian is coming off a 79-28 thrashing of Howe Military. The Bruins lost their first four, but have now won five straight. Five-foot-11 junior point guard, Elkhart County's leading scorer, paces Bethany Christian with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game. Jose Ortiz adds 16 ppg, while Kyle Leeper is at 12.
Bennett: "The last three years it's come down to a last-second shot, and Bethany Christian has won all of them. I don't mind the last-second shot, as long as we're the ones that make it. We'd like to break that trend. We have to play our kind of ball, and utilize our advantage in the post, which I think we have an advantage there."
Buller: "We play Mishawaka Marian tonight (Friday), so we'll find out what we're made of. We (Triton, Bethany Christian) do seem to have kids that like to line up and play each other. They have a little bit more size than we do. Focusing in on Jim Read will be a big key for us. Their team speed is good, they can get up and down the court. We have to focus on their transition baskets and low post points. We depend on outside shooting. We're gonna need to get to the free throw line. I think it should be an up and down, exciting game."
