Nick’s Picks: Rivalry Week
You’ll have to excuse the late post this week. It’s finals week in Fort Wayne and I’ve been a little preoccupied. You’ll be happy to know that I crushed two finals this week in addition to dominating two 10+ page papers as well. Writing about anything but sports does not come as easily as I would like it to so this was a big accomplishment.
I could have just skipped the picks this week but with so many sizzling contests on the docket I just had to make my opinion be known! (I know how thrilled you all must be.)
Big shout out to Whitko head coach Roger Fleetwood for picking up his 500th career win last Saturday. And a big early congrats to Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle who will hit one of two milestones tonight against Wawasee. Either win No. 200 or loss No. 100. The congrats is more planning for the win than the loss, but any milestone is nice I suppose.
Okay, I don’t want to waste too much time since we are creeping close to tip for these games. Lets’ get to it
Also, check out that unblemished mark from last week!
Last Week: 10-0
Overall: 73-37
High School Boys Basketball 12/18
No. 10 Triton (5-2, 1-0) at No. 14 Winamac (4-1, 2-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Scoop: It’s a battle of streaking teams in Catfish, Indiana. What’s that you’re asking? Why did I just refer to Winamac as Catfish? Because “Winamac” was the Potawatomi word for catfish….according to Wikipedia. Now I’ve passed that along to you. This article develops more and more into an educational piece every week. Moving along…The Warriors enter on a winning streak of four games while Triton comes in off of three straight wins. Winamac (Catfish) has impressed on offense by averaging 66 points per contest, but the defense has struggled to an extent surrendering 58. Triton’s defensive numbers remain solid as the Trojans surrender just 44 points per game, even with a 64-point game against NorthWood factored in. I’m leaning on that defensive play in this game for Triton. Though, to be fair, I have very little knowledge on Catfish (Winamac) except that you can catch them via noodling. So, there’s that.
Nick’s Pick: Triton 57, Winamac 49.
Tippecanoe Valley (1-5, 0-1) at Whitko (4-2, 1-0), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: It’s the first of two rivalry games on the slate tonight and I expect a great contest. Whitko is coming off of a nice win over Wawasee and the Wildcats are starting to find their stride.
Nate Walpole is making it known that he is one of the most talented players in the area and he is doing a great job at getting his teammates involved at this point as well. Valley has had trouble finishing games and is in need of a good win. Much like last week’s game against Wawasee I am going to lean towards Whitko given that it has the advantage with playing at home and with a much more proven scoring attack. Though anything could happen in this game and it would be foolish to count Valley out.
Nick’s Pick: Whitko 63, Valley 50.
Wawasee (1-4) at Warsaw (6-0), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: I don’t want to put too much stock into AP high school polls but somehow the Tigers have dropped out of this week’s 4A poll. Dropped out. I don’t even know how that’s possible. I know nobody on the team cares about polls and that’s good. It’s not the job of players or coaches to worry about polls. But it is my job (not really) to worry about this kind of stuff and it think it is beyond stupid that this team is not in the top 10.
There, I’ve said my peace.
Okay, the Tigers welcome in Wawasee tonight for a clash of county foes. These teams are on polar opposite end sof the spectrum right now and there is just not a better way to say that. Warsaw is playing with several of its key players from last year while Wawasee has just one player with any true varsity minutes before this season. Wawasee has shown it can play good defense but has yet to string together enough of an offensive effort to suggest it can hang with Warsaw. If the Tigers make this a shootout then Wawasee won’t be able to hang around. If Warsaw decides to make this a low-scoring affair then I still expect the Tigers to come out on top, just in a much closer game.
I expect Kyle Mangas to have a big night for the Orange and Black to get the conference season started off on a good note.
Nick’s Pick: Warsaw 59, Wawasee 42.
Girls High School Basketball 12/19
Warsaw (1-10, 1-0) at Wawasee 4-7 (0-2), 7:30 p.m.
The Scoop: This county clash has been much more balanced in recent memory and should provide a good game Saturday night. Warsaw finally broke its losing skid against Plymouth and then turned around to lose to Columbia City. Wawasee has played relatively consistent basketball this season and is figuring out how to close out games, it’s just not been very pretty.
I see a total toss-up in this game. Warsaw can’t let Madi Graham do it all by herself Saturday and Wawasee can’t let Kylee Rostochak carry the load. Whatever team can figure out how to effectively get other players involved will come out on top. I’ll give the edge to Wawasee, who has been a thorn in Warsaw’s side more often than not over the past decade.
Nick’s Pick: Wawasee 47, Warsaw 40.
No. 5 Whitko (10-1, 3-0) at No. 7 Tippecanoe Valley (10-1, 3-0), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: It’s the first major showdown of the year in the Three Rivers Conference and you should probably make the trip to Akron to see it all in person.
Whitko and Valley are just the first of several critical TRC tilts upcoming in the next month. Valley has home court, Meredith Brouyette and Anne Secrest. Whitko has a chip on its shoulder, Brianna Cumberland and Aly Reiff. The Vikings are coming off a short week while Whitko has had a couple of days to recover from a physical game with West Noble. I am so excited for this game that there simply are no words.
On a scale from 1 to Even, I can’t.
This will be an excellent contest. If Brouyette starts hitting from outside, watch out. If Cumberland finds her shot from deep, watch out. If they both start hitting the deep ball, good lord in heaven will we have a game! Saturday cannot come fast enough. I’ve made some bold picks before, and hardly ever against the Lady Vikings, but there is a first time for everything.
Nick’s Pick: Whitko 54, Valley 51.