ELKHART – The Warsaw boys basketball program will face a familiar face in sectional play come Friday night.

Penn, coached by former WCHS coach Al Rhodes, will be the opponent for the Tigers in a semifinal game of the Class 4-A Elkhart Sectional.

The Kingsmen opened sectional action Tuesday night by downing Northridge 55-48 in the sectional opener of the seven-team field at North Side Gym.

Penn (11-12) will face No. 5 Warsaw (21-1) at 6 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal contest.

Matt Trewhella turned in a big time performance Tuesday night to pace Penn past the Raiders. The senior canned a game-high 25 points in the win. He hit 9-14 shots from the field and 6-7 from the line for the Kingsmen.

Penn, which did not play Warsaw during the regular season, trailed 37-34 after the third period before outscoring the Raiders 21-11 in the final frame to rally for the win.

Gunnar Dittrich had 10 points and Tyler Seger and Noah Applegate each finished with nine points for Penn. Applegate led the winners with seven rebounds.

Penn hit 18-32 from the field, including 3-6 from distance. The Kingsmen were 16-19 from the free throw line in the victory.

Penn led 11-3 after the opening period before the Raiders rallied to tie the game at 17-17 at halftime.

Kurtis Hochstetler led Northridge with 18 points. Luke Morrison scored 10 points and Connor Utley eight for the Raiders.

Northridge, which finishes its season at 8-14, shot 19-45 from the field. The Raiders were just 4-18 from 3-point range and finished 6-7 from the line.

Rhodes, who is in his eighth season at Penn, has faced Warsaw just one time. The Kingsmen lost to the Tigers during the 2008-09 season, which was Rhodes’ first at Penn. Rhodes is 117-69 at Penn and 571-261 in his 35th season overall on the bench. Rhodes guided Warsaw to a state championship in 1984.

Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, who is in his 14th season, was the longtime JV coach under Rhodes at Warsaw.

The Elkhart Sectional continues Wednesday night with Elkhart Memorial (5-17) versus Goshen (9-13) at 6 p.m., followed by Elkhart Central (14-7) versus Concord (6-16). The Wednesday night winners play in the second semifinal game on Friday night, following the Warsaw versus Penn game at 6. The championship game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.