Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
CASTON AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Akron
Coaches: Doug Hicks (Caston), Bill Patrick (Valley)
Records: Caston 5-3; Valley 7-3
Last Game: Caston 43, South Newton 34; Valley 57, Argos 35
Last Year: Valley 55, Caston 36
Matchup: Caston will try to bounce back from an important conference game against Argos Friday night when the Comets play Valley Saturday. Caston will rely on Eric Walsh and Josh Craig to lead the team. Walsh leads the scoring drive with 12 points per game, while Craig adds 10. Walsh and Craig lead the Comets in rebounding as well. The Vikings are looking to up their record with two home games this weekend. After a Three Rivers Conference matchup against Northfield Friday, the Vikings will face off against Caston Saturday. Valley will look to Brandon Eaton, who is ranked 25th in the state in scoring, for a big offensive push. Eaton also grabs 2.6 steals and dishes out 3.3 assists per game. Noah Silveus and Anthony Domenico lead the Vikings in assists with 4.9 and 4.7 respectively. Dax Snyder leads the Vikings in rebounding with 6.1 per game, while Trey Eaton chips in 5.9.
Hicks: "Right now we are preparing for Argos on Friday, so we have not really concentrated on Valley yet. The Eaton kids are good players. Brandon is one of the leading scorers in the state right now. Silveus is a good point player who can score as well. Valley has loads of players who can step up and play well. To be honest, we'll need a miracle to pull off a win at their place."
Patrick: "Caston beat Northfield by 20 this year. They were a physical team last year. We struggled with them. At halftime, the score was 13-11. We scored a bunch in a three-minute period in the fourth quarter. We both scored 11 in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, it was 24-22. We scored 33 points in the last quarter to beat them 55-36. We called a timeout and changed everything we were doing. We put (Josh) Cumberland in. We put Cumberland, (Eric) Prater and (Brandon) Eaton on the blocks. They couldn't handle the kids inside."
BISHOP DWENGER AT MANCHESTER
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Saturday in North Manchester
Coaches: Matt Kostoff (Bishop Dwenger), Gary Goshert (Manchester)
Records: Dwenger 6-3; Manchester 6-3
Last Game: FW North Side 57, Dwenger 54; Manchester 54, Whitko 45
Last Year: Manchester 46, Dwenger 32
Matchup: After winning the Summit Athletic Conference Holiday Tourney, Dwenger lost a close game to Fort Wayne North Side 57-54. The Saints are looking to get back on the winning track against a fundamentally sound Manchester team. Dwenger will look to John Gensic, Brandon O'Leary and Mike Hopen to lead the varsity squad. While Gensic leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game, O'Leary and Hopen score in double figures as well. Several players, including John Filler, come off the bench to contribute as many as 8.0 points each contest. Manchester is on a two-game winning streak, and the Squires are looking to extend that streak to four games after this weekend. The Squires will look to their man in the middle, Lee Shafer, to lead the scoring and rebounding attacks. David Bazzoni and Anthony Frieden are players to watch for the Squires as well.
Kostoff: "Manchester is always a very fundamentally sound team. They are a tough team to play, especially at their place. Coach Goshert always has his team prepared and ready to play. They don't have one dominating player - any one of them can break out for 15-20 points. Manchester is a hard team to play against."
Goshert: "Dwenger won the SAC Holiday Tourney and they are on an upswing right now. Gensic and Hopen are good perimeter players who create problems for us. Dwenger has some good-sized kids who are athletic and have some skill. We will need to play hard and take care of the basketball."
WHITKO AT BLUFFTON
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Bluffton
Coaches: Steve Pickett (Whitko), Wayne Barker (Bluffton)
Records: Whitko 1-8; Bluffton 5-4
Last Game: Whitko 84, Wabash 46; Bluffton 64, Southwood 54
Last Year: Whitko 70, Bluffton 59
Matchup: Whitko is looking to improve on its 1-8 record as the Wildcats face Bishop Dwenger and Bluffton in two non-conference games this weekend. The Wildcats will look to leading scorers Shane Henderson (12.7 points per game), Bryan Howard (10.8 points per game) and Ben Ryan (9.6 points per game) to set the tone and lead the offense. J.R. Manuel leads the Whitko rebounding attack with 5.6 caroms per game. However, the Wildcats have been battling illness all week, so they will have another obstacle to overcome. Bluffton will look to Josh Crist with his 16 points per game to lead the scoring drive for the Tigers. James King leads the Bluffton squad in rebounding with 6.2 per contest.
Pickett: "Bluffton is playing well now. They are a well-coached team, and since we are going there, it is a tough place to play. I think rebounding and hanging on to the ball will be two keys to this game."
Barker: "I don't know much about Whitko right now, but I've got their tape. We have a big conference game Friday, so that is our main focus right now. Whitko has some kids with good size, and of late they have been playing very well. The key for us will be our ability to defend them and wrap up their offense."
JIMTOWN AT TRITON
Tip-off: 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Bourbon
Coaches: Randy DeShone (Jimtown), Joe Bennett (Triton)
Records: Jimtown 2-5, 0-1 NSC; Triton 5-5, 1-2 NSC
Last Game: Bremen 65, Jimtown 26; Triton 60, Culver Military 48
Last Year: Jimtown 62, Triton 50
Matchup: The Trojans will be looking to get above .500 after playing two games this weekend. Triton will look to leading scorer Brandon Zeider and his 18.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game to spark the Trojans in this big conference game. Austin Unterbrink is another player to watch as he nets 7.9 points, pulls down 2.4 rebounds and dishes out 6.5 assists per contest. Joe Potter pulls down 4.8 rebounds per game for the Trojans as well. The Jimmies are led by Ryan Vest's 10 points per game. Tyler House, David Sharpe and Vest lead the team in rebounding.
Bennett: "In spite of their record, Jimtown is a tough team, and this will be a tough conference game. They beat Bethany Christian, and when they put it together for a whole game they are awfully good. This is a big weekend for us. We are 5-5 now, and we want to start the second half of the season on a good roll."
DeShone: "They have a good point guard, and they are athletic inside. The main thing is they have a good point guard, and he makes the team better. He's tough, handles the ball well and shoots well."
