Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GARY WIRT AT WARSAW
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in Warsaw
Coaches: Omar Vazquez (Gary Wirt), Al Rhodes (Warsaw)
Records: Warsaw 12-4, Gary Wirt N/A
Last Game: Warsaw 50, Plymouth 44; Gary Wirt 67, Hammond 60
Last Year: Warsaw 53, Gary Wirt 39
Matchup: Warsaw's starting lineup is back intact. Starting at guard will be Chris Wiggins, Ross Kesler and Brad Seiss, and in the frontcourt, Steve Siebenmorgen and Zach Nelson. These five have not started together since Jan. 8 against Goshen. The only injury/sickness to report this week is to senior Chris Rhodes. Rhodes has had tonsilitis, and after spending four days in bed, returned to school Wednesday. He is doubtful for Friday's game against Gary Wirt.
Rhodes: "(Wirt) is extremely patient on offense, almost to the point of where they run four corners during the game. I've seen them go to a stall in the third quarter. Defensively, they play good half-court man-to-man with no switching, and now they are mixing in half-court zones and half-court presses. My biggest concern coming into this game is a letdown. We've had Marion, Channel 46 here the last two weeks, and then we had the documentary. Wirt is not as good as Marion or Plymouth, but if we overlook them, we will be in trouble. If they have a lead on us at halftime, we could be in trouble. We need to do two things if we want to make a push in February. One, we need to improve our patience on offense. Two, we need to improve our individual defense on the other teams' drivers. Our zone offense has come so far in terms of ball movement against zone defenses since the beginning of the year. Now if we take care of the last two things, we will be ready to step it up a notch heading into the tournament."
Vazquez: Vazquez did not return phone calls.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY AT No. 6 (2A) BREMEN
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in Bremen
Coaches: Bill Patrick (Valley), Gary Hudson (Bremen)
Records: Valley 12-3; Bremen 14-3
Last Game: Valley 63, Wabash 43; Bremen 51, New Prairie 47 (OT)
Last Year: Valley 79, Bremen 69, OT
Matchup: These teams come in with very similar records and only three losses each. Valley has won eight in a row; Bremen has won six in a row. The Lions are 5-0 at home and 9-3 on the road. Valley will look to Brandon Eaton's 21.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists to lead the Vikings. With the addition of Cody New, the Vikings have another rebounding and scoring threat as well. In just three games, New averages 12 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest. Trey Eaton and Dax Snyder join in the rebound attack with 5.5 and 5.4 rebounds per games respectively. Bremen is unbeaten in five games at home this season. The Lions will look to leading scorer Adam Mark to lead them against the Vikings. Mark is shooting 58.1 percent from the field and averages 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Patrick: "Bremen has some big kids, so size will be a real problem for us. This is probably one of the best teams we have played all year, they've only lost two or three games. We want to challenge them and do things to keep them from going inside. Rebounding may be a major problem for us. With their size we will really need to get in there and try to get the ball. This should be a good game that will help us get ready for sectional."
Hudson: "Tippecanoe Valley is a very athletic, well-coached team. They have excellent players. They are scary team because everyone knows about Brandon Eaton, who is their leading scorer, but every game, at least two other players step up and have a big game. They have a lot of capable players. This will be a tough game, and rebounding and defending well will be the keys."
WAWASEE AT No. 5 (3A) NORTHWOOD
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in Nappanee
Coaches: Robb Berger (Wawasee), Dan Gunn (NorthWood)
Records: Wawasee 5-10, 2-3 NLC; NorthWood 12-3, 4-1 NLC
Last Game: Wawasee 46, Manchester 44; NorthWood 67, Lakeland 56
Last Year: NorthWood 63, Wawasee 60
Matchup: The Wawasee Warriors are on a three-game win streak after defeating both Concord and Manchester last weekend. The Warriors will look to Jeremy High to lead the scoring attack with his 14.1 points per contest. Against Concord, Drew Gradle stepped up to score 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 3 of 3 from behind the arc. The Warriors will focus on defense and holding the Panthers to under 60 points in the game. NorthWood is currently leading the Northern Lakes Conference with just one loss. The Panthers will look to Charlie Roeder and Brock Doty to lead the scoring attack. Roeder averages 15.5 points per game while Doty adds 13.3. Roeder also pulls down 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Berger: "Thie thing that impresses me about NorthWood is how competitive they are. They play extremely hard and that is a trademark of Coach Gunn's teams. They do not relax at all on the basketball. We will need to be able to withstand their press because they live on other teams' mistakes. If we relax for a second they will have the ball down the court for a layup. On the defensive end, we will be playing for long periods of time because they are very patient offensively. They have some very good shooters, and we will try to limit them to just one shot per possession. The keys for us will be to take care of the basketball and to limit their number of shots."
Gunn: "I think Wawasee has improved quite a bit. They have won their last three ball games and they have improved greatly. Coach Berger must be doing one heck of a job with the team. They have a mix of veterans and young players. Jeremy High is a very aggressive player who scores a lot of points for them. The key for this game will be the same thing that wins most ball games -Ênot turning the ball over against their pressure and taking good shots. We will also need to rebound well."
TRITON AT NORTH MIAMI
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Friday in Denver
Coaches: Joe Bennett (Triton), John Burrus (North Miami)
Records: Triton 9-6, North Miami 3-12
Last Game: Triton 61, Argos 52; Cass 77, North Miami 63
Last Year: Triton 60, North Miami 57
Matchup: Triton has won five of its last six games. The Trojans will look to Brandon Zeider to lead the scoring attack with his 19.5 points per game. He also helps lead the defense by pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game. Brian Klingerman is the Trojan rebound leader, pulling down 6.1 boards per game. Austin Unterbrink dishes out 5.7 assists per game for the Triton squad. North Miami will look to Ross Nixon and his 11.8 points per game to lead the offense. Brad Fouts chips in 11.2 points and Matt Deeds adds 10.5 points per game for the Warriors. Joe Deardorff leads North Miami with 5.0 rebounds per contest.
Bennett: "(North Miami) is very aggressive, a team that likes to play physical. They play in a tough conference with Valley, Rochester, Southwood and manchester. They have a real good post player in (Matt) Deeds ... We have won five of six. We're just being a little more consistent in our offensive execution, and we're getting more balanced scoring."
Burrus: "I think Joe Bennett has done a good job of getting a lot out of his team. Brandon Zeider is a good inside and outside threat. Austin Unterbrink is crafty, his dribble penetration is excellent. Triton is a well-balanced team, the kind of team that is tough to defend. The key for us will be, can we keep them from scoring? If we can keep the score down in the 60s, we'll be OK. We have been stressing team defense and rebounding all week."
LAKEWOOD PARK CHRISTIAN AT MANCHESTER
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Friday in North Manchester
Coaches: Erick Messmer (Lakewood Park), Gary Goshert (Manchester)
Records: Manchester 6-10; Lakewood Park 10-7
Last Game: Wawasee 46, Manchester 44; Heritage Christian 66, Lakewood Park 52
Last Year: Did not play
Matchup: This will be the third game in a busy week for Lakewood Christian. Lakewood Christian will look to leading scorer Pat Jessup and his 22.5 points per game for an offensive spark. Jeff Heigl pulls down five rebounds per game for the Lakewood Park squad. Manchester has lost seven games in a row and will be playing without two of its early season leaders, Lee Shafer and David Bazzoni. Bazzoni has missed several game and is not expected to return this season after battling pneumonia. The Squires will look to Anthony Frieden to lead them with his 7.4 points per game. Frieden also nabs 1.5 steals per game for the Squires. Klay Bechtold is an outside threat for Manchester as well. Bechtold shoots 33 percents from behind the three-point arc.
Messmer: "Manchester is a traditionally good team. They are coming off a tough loss to Wawasee. Manchester plays an aggressive man-to-man game. We are working on our half-court sets and taking care of the basketball. Against their pressure, taking care of the basketball is going to be very important. We are outsized, so we will have to play smart and play hard.
Goshert: "Lakewood Park is a team with good size inside. They are a strong and physical team, and they have three players that can do a lot on the perimeter. Allthree can shoot the three and shoot it with accuracy. They are young in spots, but they are a nice basketball team. They really hustle off the boards. We want to put pressure on them and make it more difficult for them to do what they want to do offensively."
