Previewing weekend hoops
Conference games and a potential school record highlight the boys and girls high school basketball schedule this weekend. Here are capsule previews for 18 games slated to take place Thursday through Saturday involving area teams.
Thurs. thrillers
South Bend Saint Joseph @ Glenn (girls)
Only five of the Northern Indiana Conference teams have nine wins or more and these are two of them. Glenn (9-5, 5-2 NIC) has won three straight, while St. Joseph (10-8, 5-4 NIC) is trying to break a twogame losing skid. This is a varsity only contest with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off at North Liberty Elementary School.
Argos @ Oregon-davis (girls)
Mercedes Rhodes is on the doorstep of becoming the all-time leading scorer at Oregon-davis, boy or girl. The senior standout needs 23 points to break the current record of 1,867 set by Ashley Campbell in 2014. The Lady Bobcats (8-8) are coming off a close loss to Glenn Tuesday. Argos (7-8) won at Culver Monday night. O-D won by eight in last year’s meeting.
Elkhart @ Bremen (girls) In a battle of Lions, Bremen (6-8, 2-5 NIC) returns to conference play with this home game versus Elkhart (7-8, 5-2 NIC). Bremen is coming off a seven-point win over the defending Class 3A state champs (Northwood), snapping a three-game losing streak in the process. Bremen’s last NIC win
came way back on Dec. 11. Of Elkhart’s last six games (3 wins, 3 losses), the closest contest was decided by 15 points.
Frantic Friday
Plymouth @ Concord (boys)
Plymouth (2-10, 0-2 NLC) will try to snap a three-game skid when it travels to Concord (1-5, 0-1 NLC) for an Northern Lakes Conference game Friday night. Both teams have allowed 48 ppg and score in the 40s so this could be a close one. Each has had one overtime outing, with Concord’s coming in its last game (a 47-45 loss to Goshen).
South Bend Saint Joseph @ Glenn (boys)
Second place in the Northern Indiana Conference is on the line when Glenn (9-0, 3-0 NIC) hosts No. 6 (Class 4A) South Bend Saint Joseph (7-2, 3-1 NIC). The Falcons won their fifth straight game decided by seven points or less with their win over Elkhart Tuesday. This could be their biggest test yet and will have to deal with 6-foot-7 scorer and Notre Dame recruit J.R. Konieczny. The game will be played at North
Liberty Elementary School.
Bremen @ Elkhart (boys) Bremen (6-3, 2-1 NIC) will try to bounce back from its defeat Tuesday to Elkhart Christian with an NIC date against another set of Lions - these from the newly merged Elkhart High School (4-7, 1-4 NIC). The Elkhart Lions’ record is not impressive, but they do have wins over SB Washington, Northridge, Goshen and Valparaiso.
Laville @ Knox (girls, boys)
This is a Hoosier North Athletic Conference girls/ boys doubleheader.
The Laville Lady Lancers (2-6, 0-1 HNAC) have had four of their last five games postponed and have only played once since Dec. 5. They have also lost their last five games and it won’t be easy facing No. 11 (Class 3A) and HNAC leader Knox (18-2, 6-0 HNAC). First place is on the line on the boys side for both teams though. Laville (4-4, 2-0 HNAC) evened its overall record Tuesday night. Knox (4-5, 3-0 HNAC) has won its last two after a four-game losing streak.
Culver @ boys)
This is another HNAC girls/boys doubleheader. It’s the third game this week for the Lady Cavaliers (4-7 overall before Wed game with Frontier, 0-4 HNAC) and the second of three for the Lady Trojans (5-10, 1-5 HNAC). Triton won, 34-31, in the last meeting between these two a year ago.
This is the only game
Triton (girls, this week for Triton’s boys, who are ranked No. 13 in Class 1A this week. A Triton (6-2, 2-0 HNAC) win makes them one of just two teams still undefeated in the HNAC (the Lv-knox winner on Friday the other).
Argos @ Oregon-davis (boys)
Argos (7-3) takes a threegame winning streak into the Bobcat Den when it faces sectional foe Oregondavis (4-3) Friday. After starting 4-0, O-D has lost three straight. Argos scored 81 points in its last outing while O-D put up 70 so maybe this one will keep the scoreboard operator busy as well.
Sat. showdowns
Concord @ Plymouth (girls)
The first of two games at The Rock on Saturday has the Lady Pilgrims (7-8, 1-2 NLC) taking on conference foe Concord (5-10, 0-4 NLC before Wed night game vs. Northwood) at 1:30 p.m. Plymouth has a modest two-game winning streak going after defeating potential sectional foe Laporte Tuesday, its second straight road win. Concord started the season 3-0, but has won just twice in its last 12 games.
Elkhart @ Plymouth (boys)
The Pilgrims’ two-game weekend ends with a home contest with newly merged Elkhart HS (4-7, 1-4 NIC). The combined team made up of former schools Elkhart Memorial and Elkhart Central now plays in the Northern Indiana Conference, but has wins over NLC members Northridge and Goshen this season. The Lions have lost their last four games by a total of 16 points. Their only loss of more than seven points came against Class 4A No. 6 South Bend Adams (7158).
Laville @ Elkhart Christian Academy (boys)
ECA (3-4) got the Lancers attention with its relatively easy 59-41 win over Bremen Tuesday. This will be LV’S third game this week. The last time these two met was back in Feb. 2012 (a 53-36 Laville win).
Triton @ Bremen (girls) This is the third game this week for both teams. Bremen has won 12 of the last 20 games between these two SR 331 rivals, the most recent a 31-22 win a year ago.
Glenn @ Winamac (girls) The Lady Falcons end their three-game week with a trip to Winamac for a Saturday afternoon matinee. The Lady Warriors (9-4) eked out a one-point win over Triton Tuesday night in their last outing. These two teams have not met since Nov. 2012 (a 47-41 Glenn win).
Winamac @ Oregondavis (boys)
This is the third game this week for the Bobcats as it hosts Winamac (2-6 before Friday night’s game at North Judson). The Warriors won easily last year (67-34) so O-D is looking for some payback.
Argos @ Pioneer (girls) Argos wraps up a threegame week at Pioneer (11-3 before Thursday night game vs. Southwood), which is ranked No. 6 in Class 1A. The Lady Panthers have not lost since Dec. 10. Pioneer defeated Argos by 25 during last year’s run to the state finals.