Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SOUTH BEND ADAMS AT WARSAW
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m Saturday in Warsaw
Coaches: Pat King (Adams), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)
Records: S.B. Adams 8-3, Warsaw 10-1
Last game: S.B. Adams 80, Carmel 49; Warsaw 65, NorthWood 51
Last year: Warsaw 60, S.B. Adams 58 OT
Matchup: The Tigers come in with a five-game win streak on the line ... Warsaw is led in scoring by juniors Steve Siebenmorgen (14.6), Chris Wiggins (11.3) and Zach Nelson (11.9) ... Siebenmorgen also leads the team in rebounds with 5.9 per game ... Dan Sizemore leads the Eagles with 15 points and seven boards per game ... Craig Williams adds 14 points and seven boards per game
King: "I know very little about Warsaw, it's next to impossible to prepare for them. First thing, it's at Warsaw and that's one of the toughest places in the state to win. I know they're winning with young kids. Obviously we need to shoot well and defend inside. Traditionally they're tough inside. We'd like to make them do some things they don't want to do."
Rhodes: "Adams has a very strong team this year. The nights we scouted them, they won games by 20 and 30 points. They play excellent defense and rebound well, which creates transition offense. For us, controlling the tempo will be important. This is probably the strongest test we will have faced in rebounding. They mix defenses well, so it's very important that Rob Kesler and David Grossnickle read and get us in the appropriate sets. Coach King has them playing well. They will use a full-court press and half-court traps. They will show everything."
WHITKO AT FORT WAYNE NORTH SIDE
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Fort Wayne
Coaches: Fred Fields (Whitko), Glenn Heaton (Northside)
Records: Whitko 4-5, North Side 11-2
Last game: Whitko 70, Bluffton 59; Northside 74, Ft. Wayne Wayne 50
Last year: North Side 58, Whitko 57
Matchup: Ben Mohr leads the Wilcat scoring surge with 17.4 points per game ... Josh Gonzalez and Ben Ryan chip in 8.9 and 8.2 points per game respectively ... Joe Grant pulls down an average of 7.4 rebounds per game for Whitko
Fields: "They're one of the better teams in the area and they haven't played their best ball yet, they're usually ready at tournament time. They have a big kid (6-8 Ross McGregor), and (Vernard) Hollins and then you have to throw in (Glenn) Heaton's coaching. Their size is a problem. We can't worry about matching up with them but make them match up with us. We can't go crazy with all of our efforts, they can absolutely pummell you. We need to control the tempo and make them work for their score. If the score is in the 40s that's great."
Heaton: "The biggest thing for us is we have a big conference game Friday with Southside. We have to get the kids right back up for Whitko we can't just worry about tonight (Friday). It's always difficult with Whitko, (Ben) Mohr is an excellent ball player and Coach Fields will have his team prepared. The keys are things that are always keys. We have to play good defense, rebound and execute our offense."
NORTHWOOD AT ELKHART MEMORIAL
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Fort Wayne
Coaches: Dan Gunn (NorthWood), Steve Johnson (Elkhart Memorial)
Records: NorthWood 4-5; Elkhart Memorial 5-5
Last game: NorthWood 68, Glenn 38; Elkhart Memorial 62, Goshen 58, OT
Last year: NorthWood 86, Elkhart Memorial 57
Matchup: Elkhart Memorial is led by leading scorer and rebounder Aaron Maurer who averages 15.1 points per game ... Nick Slabaugh adds 15 points per game to the Memorial scoring drive ... Darin Nunemaker leads the Panthers with 13.6 points per game ... Charlie Roeder adds 8.6 point per game to the NorthWood effort ... Aaron Huber leads the team with 30 steals this season.
Gunn: "Elkhart Memorial is better than everyone expected them to be. Maurer scores well and he's quick. They also like to play a lot of younger kids in their lineup. This will be a rough basketball game against a physical team. Defense is important in this game because they are quick and do a good job of penetrating and getting the easy shots under the basket. We also need to withstand their defensive pressure.
Johnson: "We have a conference game against South Bend Clay, so that is our primary concern right now. NorthWood always comes to pay. This is a nonconference weekend for them so they've had all weeek to prepare and put a little extra effort into thier preparation. NorthWood is always competitive and they have a good balanced scoring so we can't just isolate just one or two players."
MANCHESTER AT CARROLL (ALLEN)
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Fort Wayne
Coaches: Gary Goshert (Manchester), Rob Irwin (Carroll)
Records: Manchester 9-1; Carroll 4-5
Last game: Manchester 45, Northfield 42; East Noble 48, Carroll 44
Matchup: Eric Swan leads the Manchester squad with 19.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game ... Rex Reimer chips in an average of 11.9 points and 4.9 assists per game ... Chris Betten leads the Squires in rebounding with 5.7 per game ... Carroll is led by Sam Gensic who averages 17.0 points per game ...Scott Buschong leads the rebounding effort for the Carroll squad.
Goshert: "Most of our preparation will center around Friday simply because it comes first. I know Carroll has good size. They have guys who are 6-6, 6-5, and 6-5 so they have strong inside shooting. They also have a nice point guard who is their leading scorer. They also have a 6-2 perimeter player who shoots from the arc and dribble penetrates. Carroll is a double threat because they can shoot from the arc and dribble penetrate. To be successful, we'll try to contain their scoring threat and try to control our turnovers."
Irwin: "At this point I know they are 9-1 and that's about it. We are preparing for a conference game tonight so that is our main focus right now. We'll try to prepare for them Saturday morning after we play tonight."
SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON AT VALLEY
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Mentone
Coaches: Milt Cooper (Washington), Bill Patrick (Valley)
Records: Valley 8-3, Washington N/A
Last Game: Valley 45, Northfield 42; Washington N/A
Matchup: Valley is on a four-game win streak ... Brandon Eaton leads Valley with 15.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while Jarvis Shepherd adds 13.3 points per game ... Eric Prater pulls down 6.1 rebounds per game.
Patrick: "I don't know a lot of things about them. We played Northfield Tuesday and Rochester tonight so we have been preparing for those conference games this week. I know they have some good athletes and they are always quick."
