Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
ARGOS AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Mentone
Coaches: Doug Snyder (Argos), Bill Patrick (Valley)
Records: Argos 4-1; Valley 5-3
Last game: Argos 54, River Forest 42; Valley 54, Glenn 48
Last year: Argos 82, Valley 64
Matchup: Valley will have to wait one more night to return to the court following Christmas break ... With a victory the Vikings would have the same number of victories as all of last year ... Valley is led in scoring by Brandon Eaton and Jarvis Shepherd.
Patrick: "I don't know a lot about them, but I think their record is pretty good. They play well and have one of the better guards in the area, but at this point I don't have a lot of information about them. I know they beat Valley at Valley last year, and they have some of those kids back. We'll watch tapes on Saturday morning and have a walk through. Then we'll see what we can do Saturday night."
Snyder: Snyder did not return phone calls.
WABASH AT WHITKO
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in South Whitley
Coaches: Mike Noszka (Wabash), Fred Fields (Whitko)
Records: Wabash 3-6; Whitko 2-4
Last game: Manchester 92, Wabash 34; Churubusco 63, Whitko 49
Last year: Whitko 67, Wabash 65
Matchup: Whitko hasn't played a game since Dec. 18, and with the recent snowstorm hasn't been able to practice ... The Wildcats' scoring surge is led by Ben Mohr ... Joe Grant leads the team in caroms.
Noszka: "We usually try to prepare for Friday first, and this week Friday is a conference game so that will be our focus. We'll try to prepare for Whitko in our shoot-around on Saturday morning. We're coming off a rough county tournament, so right now we are focusing on ourselves offensively and defensively. We'll try to do what we need to do to improve. Saturday we play at Whitko, and it's a tough place to play beacuse of the tradition there."
Fields: "At this point we don't even know if we will be playing tomorrow (Friday), so I don't know how you can ask about Saturday."
TRITON AT CULVER MILITARY ACADEMY
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Culver
Coaches: Joe Bennett (Triton), C.J. Kersey (CMA)
Records: Triton 4-2, CMA 2-4
Last game: Triton 44, Caston 38; S.B. St. Joe 50, CMA 39
Last year: Triton 54, CMA 47
Matchup: Triton and CMA come back from Christmas break with different scenarios ... Triton enters the new year on the heels of a win, while CMA lost its last game and looks to start the new year with its third win of the season ... CMA is led by Jackson Atoyebe's 18 points and 12 rebounds per game ... Nicholas Weaver and Joe Palmer chip in 11 and 10 points respectively.
Bennett: "CMA has some players back that are good. They have a young sophomore kid in the post that is very athletic. They played mostly a 2-3 zone at the beginning of the season. We have to be prepared for the zone."
Kersey: "We've seen Triton play a few times. Offensively they're a challenge for us. (Matt) Savill inside and outside is what we're concerned with. (Austin) Unterbrink can handle the ball and lead the offense. Overall they have great balance, (Brandon) Zeider and (Jim) Read and everyone else, they all have contributed. The big thing for us is, it's the first time we've played in three or four weeks and we have to get a good start and settle down and take care of the ball."
WEST NOBLE AT WAWASEE
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Syracuse
Coaches: Tom Schermerhorn (West Noble), Jerry Davis (Wawasee)
Records: West Noble 3-3; Wawasee 0-8
Last game: Goshen 73, Wawasee 62; West Noble 65, Angola 50
Last year: Wawasee 70, West Noble 59
Matchup: With the cancelation of its game Friday night, Wawasee's hopes for victory number one are still on hold ... Andrew Warner, Jeremy High and Chris Lambert pave the way for Wawasee's offense.
Schermerhorn: "I had the opportunity to watch them a couple times over the last month. They play well as a team. I thought the holiday tournament was good for them, and they're looking forward to the new year and getting some consistency. Warner in the middle is tough, and they've had some good guard play at different times. They have a lot of different weapons. One important thing is you have to shake the rust off. They have some too, but we haven't played since Dec. 19. We played well in that game, but it has to carry over. We need to have a balanced attack of inside and outside. We have to knock down the open shots."
Davis: "West Noble is probably one of the most improved teams in the area. (Joel) Dragoo is in his third or fourth season as a varsity player. He is an experienced veteran player who can score from the perimeter. We'll try to concentrate on him and try control their outside shooting. We'll also try to keep more offensive boards."
