Nick’s Picks: The After School Special
(After school special, because it’s after 3 p.m. Do you get it??? Yeah, you get it.)
Here we are, a new week of games and a new week of picks.
Usually I try to come up with something mildly interesting to talk about before getting to my picks for the week, but I really don’t have anything this week that jumps out at me. I guess I’ll just keep it simple.
Congratulations to Brenna Morgan of Warsaw, Paige Miller and Bre Robinson of Wawasee. All three girls took home multiple individual titles at last weekend’s NLC swim championships. Wawasee’s 200 free and 400 free relay teams also won conference titles at the meet. Great job, ladies.
Good luck to all of the wrestlers competing at the NLC Championships Saturday at Goshen High School.
This is so weird, I swear I had something important to talk about this week. It will come to me later, I’m sure. This week’s issue will just be a little deflated I guess.
Last Week: 8-2
Overall: 93-40
High School Girls Basketball 1/24
Whitko (10-7, 3-2) at Northfield (10-9, 3-2), 2:30 p.m.
The Scoop: Whitko played a very interesting game earlier this week against Wawasee. The ‘Cats held a 19-point lead at the half, but watched that lead nearly slip away after putting it into cruise control. The team is very talented and could, with maybe a break or two, win a sectional title this year. The Wildcats just need to trust the process and avoid getting to comfortable when playing inferior teams.
Northfield is also a talented team and very capable of winning this game, but last week I picked the Wildcats to win the rest of their games this season. So…
The Pick: Whitko 44, Northfield 38.
No. 10 Tippecanoe Valley (15-2, 5-0) at Southwood (8-9, 1-4), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: Are we serious right now? Look, anything can happen in sports, but I will not entertain the thought of Southwood winning this game. I watched this Lady Viking squad take down the mighty Rochester Zebras last week. I don’t meant to have any sarcasm in that comment, Rochester is a very good team. I predicted the win and predicted a big game for Caylie Teel. This blind squirrel found two nuts by hitting on both calls.
Valley only needs two more wins for an outright title and I believe that TRC title will be firmly in coach Kindig’s hands at the end of the season.
The Pick: Valley 56, Southwood 40.
Warsaw (11-8, 4-1) at Concord (7-11, 0-4), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: Speaking of teams looking for a conference title…
I picked wrong last week when I chose Goshen to knock-off the Lady Tigers. I will not make the same mistake this week. Concord sports are having an all-around rough year, save for Tom Johnson’s swimmers. The girls basketball team is no exception.
Warsaw has been inconsistent this year but I don’t think the Tigers will slip up in this game.
The Pick: Warsaw 52, Concord 40.
Wawasee (4-13, 0-4) at Plymouth (11-6, 2-2), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: Wawasee has had several good games in a row, the team has turned a corner in how it plays but still doesn’t know how to play a complete game. If the Lady Warriors can get their offense working early, then they could have a shot in this game. But another slow start will doom this team against a talented Plymouth squad.
Balanced scoring will be key here for Wawasee as well as confidence. This team is a lot better than it thinks it is, but that means nothing if the players don’t think that way.
This is just another chance to take a step forward for the Lady Warriors.
The Pick: Plymouth 45, Wawasee 32.
High School Boys Basketball 1/23
Concord (2-11, 0-3) at Warsaw (11-2, 2-0), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: Yeah, that is Concord’s actual record. I have no idea what has happened to that team. The Minutemen are usually on top of the conference, clearly that is not that case this year. Warsaw gets to play in the comfort of the Tiger Den against a Concord team that isn’t sure which way the hoop even is this year. Yeah, I’m going with the Tigers.
The Pick: Warsaw 61, Concord 48.
Plymouth (9-3, 1-1) at Wawasee (5-6, 0-3), 7:45 pm.
The Scoop: The streak ends tonight. 24 straight losses in the NLC for Wawasee. That streak ends tonight. I’ve been saying since last season that this is the one game Wawasee would win for sure in the NLC. Do I have a good reason as to why I say that? Not really, it’s just a good feeling. It’s a “Black Out” at the Hardwood Tee Pee tonight and I’m expecting Plymouth to leave with a big black eye. The streak needs to go and it needs to go now.
The Pick: Wawasee 56, Plymouth 47.
Southwood (5-7, 3-0) at Tippecanoe Valley (7-6, 2-0), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: What a huge game for the Vikings tonight. The TRC is at stake from here on out and it all starts with beating Southwood tonight. This game is completely dependent on which Valley team shows up. If the Vikings can move the ball around and get more than one kid scoring, then they will win and win big. This game cannot be put on the shoulders of one player. My fear is that Southwood will limit the Vikings and steal a game late. I hope the Vikings can prove me wrong.
The Pick: Southwood 59, Valley 56.
Northfield (5-6, 1-1) at Whitko (2-10, 0-3), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: Whitko is fresh off of win No. 2 of the season but a big challenge awaits in an underrated Northfield team. I’ll just be honest up front, Whitko is getting better, but I don’t think the Wildcats are getting a TRC win just yet. Northfield has a pretty potent offense and I don’t see the Wildcats keeping up with the Norsemen tonight. If Nate Walpole and River West can get in a groove early, I might be proven wrong. I just don’t see it happening tonight for the Wildcats.
The Pick: Northfield 67, Whitko 51.