Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
TRITON AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m Saturday in Akron
Coaches: Joe Bennett (Triton), Bill Patrick (Valley)
Records: Triton 9-6; Valley 12-3
Last Game: Triton 61, Argos 52; Valley 63, Wabash 43
Last Year: Triton 68, Valley 61, OT
Matchup: Valley has won eight in a row, and 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. These teams come in with very similar records and only three losses each. 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 12.0 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 game, respectively. Bremen is unbeaten in five games at home this season.
Patrick: "Triton has several kids who score in double figures. Against Rochester, they had four kids score in double figures. They have most of the team back from last year. Their kids shoot the ball well and they have good quickness. They are pretty balanced in scoring, so you can't just stop one person because two others will step up. They beat us at their place in overtime last year. The key to the game will be defense and turnovers."
Bennett: "I look at Valley as one of the most talented teams we've faced this year, and we've played some good teams -ÊBremen, NorthWood, Plymouth and John Glenn. Any team that takes Warsaw to double overtime has to be a good team. Brandon Eaton is as good of a player as we've faced all year, and his brother (Trey) is a handful in the post. (Noah) Silveus is very athletic, and now you add Craig Kuhn and Cody New. They have very good role players. We have to find a way to slow them down. They're just so athletic."
MANCHESTER AT HARDING
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Fort Wayne
Coaches: Gary Goshert (Manchester), Al Gooden (Harding)
Records: Manchester 6-11; Harding 9-5
Last Game: Wawasee 46, Manchester 42; FW Wayne 81, Harding 60
Last Year: Harding 51, Manchester 47
Matchup: Harding will look to Trey Essex, who scores 17 points and pulls down nine rebounds per game. The Hawks will also rely on Matt Alexander and his 14 points and six rebounds per game. After losing seven straight games, Manchester is searching for a win to boost the Squire confidence. The Squires will look to Lee Shafer to lead the offensive attack. He averages 13 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. The Squires will be without another leader, David Bazzoni, who will most likely miss the rest of the season after battling pneumonia. The Squires will look to Anthony Frieden to help the offense with his 7.4 points and 1.5 steals per game for the Squires.
Gooden: "Right now we are not looking at Saturday. We have an NCC game Friday and that's what we are concentrating on at this point. We just take one game at a time. Manchester is a good disciplined team with good shooters."
Goshert: "Harding is extremely athletic. Trey Essex is an excellent post player who is big and strong. He is a tremendous inside threat. Harding also likes to shoot the three. Year in and year out, Coach Gooden has a good basketball team that likes to put a lot of pressure on the basketball. The key for us will be to handle their half-court pressure. We will also have to find a way to stop Essex inside."
WHITKO AT ROCHESTER
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m Saturday in Rochester
Coaches: Steve Pickett (Whitko), David Burkett (Rochester)
Records: Whitko 3-12, 0-4 TRC; Rochester 8-7, 2-3 TRC
Last Game: Oak Hill 74, Whitko 62; Rochester 67, No. 4 (2A) Northwestern 56
Last Year: Rochester 64, Whitko 54
Matchup: Whitko will play with a small roster the rest of the season after J.R. Manuel and Bryan Howard left the team. However, the Wildcats wtill have leading scorers Shane Henderson (13.9 points per game) and Ben Ryan (11.5 points per game), who both average in double figures. Adam Wendel leads the team in assists with 3.4 per game. Henderson also nabs 1.6 steals per contest for the Wildcats. Rochester will look to Deric Beck, who is averaging 16.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game for the Zebras. Nick Bowers is another Zebra threat, averaging 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest.
Pickett: "Rochester is an excellent basketball team. They are very, very athletic, and they are led by (Blake) Newton and Beck. Once they get the ball in to the post, that will present a difficult matchup for us defensively. They put a lot of pressure on the ball. The key for us will be turnovers and rebounding. They beat a very good Northwestern team, and they are playing with a lot of confidence right now."
Chuck Evans, assistant coach: "We've won three in a row, and we're coming off our first win over a quality opponent this season. We're not happy being 8-7. We feel we should be 10-5. We squandered leads against Oak Hill and Plymouth. We were up 48-40 with two minutes to go against Plymouth and lost. Tuesday against Northwestern, we played the best basketball we've played all year."
