Matchups include Jackson vs. Torres, Concord seeking 100th over Jimtown and Westview putting a 14-game win streak on the line against Goshen.

Anthony Anderson

aanderson@etruth.com

It’ll be a bragging-right sort of night around area boys high school basketball Friday, Feb. 15.

At Concord, the Minutemen shoot for their 100th victory of Elkhart County’s most-chaptered rivalry when Jimtown visits, while the Jimmies shoot for the upset of the season to date.

At Penn, where the Kingsmen are shooting for at least a share of the Northern Indiana Conference title, fellow Notre Dame recruits and good friends Demetrius Jackson of Marian and Austin Torres of Penn take shots against each other. One might be hearing about it for the next four years.

And at Westview, it’s a battle to see which area team with a Native-American nickname is best as the Warriors welcome the Goshen Redskins.

More than any bragging rights, though, Westview coach Rob Yoder is eyeing, and embracing, challenges.

His Warriors (17-1) — winners of at least 14 straight games for the third straight year — close the regular season by facing not only Goshen (11-6), but follow that next week with trying to wrap up a perfect Northeast Corner Conference run by beating Fremont (10-7) and then visiting Concord (17-1).

“We’re fortunate our schedule is set up like it is,” Yoder said. “I love it. We like to have a challenge ahead of (postseason). Obviously, you don’t like losing, but I’d always rather play a team that is good and makes you focus. You don’t get away with your mistakes and it just sharpens you up. I appreciate that fact.”

Coach Brian Bechtel’s Redskins head to Westview off a pair of blowout home wins last week, by 39 over Wawasee and 34 over East Noble, and are presently on pace for the program’s best record in a decade.

“I think they have a really good team,” Yoder said. “Obviously, they have experience and good players who have been through it with (Sam) Stegelmann, (Jesse) Good, (Austin) Henke, and I think Brian’s son (freshman Brady) is doing a really good job at the point. They’re a nice team and will be a real challenge for us. We have to play really well to have a chance.”

Goshen, which beat Westview last season, is a Northern Lakes Conference team. Over the last three regular seasons, the Warriors are 7-6 against NLC clubs and 46-2 against everybody else.

Over in the Northern Indiana Conference, Penn and South Bend Adams each enter their Friday league finales at 6-1 and tied for the top spot. While the Kingsmen (13-4) are hosting the Knights (9-8, 3-4), the Eagles (16-2) will be traveling to South Bend Clay (12-7, 4-3).

Jackson and Torres, a pair of Indiana All-Star hopefuls, will be engaged in the first area square-off of Division I teammates-to-be since Western Michigan recruits Derek Drews of Central and Shawntes Gary of Concord paired up in 2005, not that Jackson, a guard, and Torres, a post, will necessarily be on each other much.

Kidded Jackson in a tweet during Notre Dame’s five-overtime win over Louisville last Saturday, “Let Austin Torres, V.J. Beachem (another Irish recruit) and myself get a jersey!!”

Penn is seeking at least a share of an NIC title for the first time since 2007, while Adams hasn’t claimed a piece of one since 1989.

It hasn’t been nearly that long since Jimtown beat neighboring Concord — it happened as recently as 2008 — but Elkhart County’s most enduring series hasn’t been real close, either. The Minutemen lead 99-36, have won 27 of the last 29 meetings and have taken each of the last four by at least 19 points.

Concord enters Friday’s contest with an eight-game winning streak, while the Jimmies (6-11) snapped a five-game skid Tuesday at Bethany Christian.

As an aside, it’ll be former Concord boss and first-year Jimtown coach Ron Dietz’s first-ever face-off against the Minutemen.

Dietz, who coached CHS from 1994-95 to 1998-99, remains chairman of the business department at Concord.



@Breakout heads 08:Boys Basketball Schedule

Friday, Feb. 15

• Central (5-13) at SB St. Joseph (9-8)

• Jimtown (6-11) at Concord (16-1)

• Goshen (11-6) at Westview (17-1)

• Northridge (8-10) at Lakeland (6-11)

• NorthWood (12-6) at Bremen (9-8)

• Churubusco (2-17) at Fairfield (9-10)

• Marian (9-8) at Penn (13-4)

• FW South (2-14) at Wawasee (5-13)

• Benton Bucks (18-9) at Clinton Christian (16-6)

• Dowagiac (15-1) at Edwardsburg (13-3)

Saturday, Feb. 16

• Elkhart Christian (12-5) at Argos (5-13)

• Bethany Christian (3-14) at LaVille (12-6)



Boys Basketball standings

Northern Lakes Conference



School Conf. All Off. Def.

c-Concord 7-0 16-1 61.6 45.6

Plymouth 4-3 16-3 60.6 46.6

Goshen 4-3 11-6 53.2 49.8

Memorial 4-3 8-10 55.7 61.1

NorthWood 3-4 12-6 62.7 52.4

Warsaw 3-4 10-8 57.7 53.6

Northridge 3-4 8-10 53.8 53.3

Wawasee 0-7 5-13 51.0 64.1

Northern Indiana Conference



School Conf. All Off. Def.

SB Adams 6-1 16-2 70.2 57.6

Penn 6-1 13-4 66.8 53.5

x-SB Riley 5-3 11-6 66.9 61.3

SB Clay 4-3 12-7 64.4 58.3

Marian 3-4 9-8 66.7 61.7

SB Washington 3-4 8-9 63.4 58.8

Mishawaka 2-5 9-8 54.2 54.6

SB St. Joseph 2-5 9-8 58.0 57.8

Central 1-6 5-13 49.7 52.8

Northern State Conference



School Conf. All Off. Def.

Triton 5-1 13-5 54.7 43.4

New Prairie 5-1 11-7 61.1 54.7

Bremen 4-2 9-8 56.1 59.8

LaVille 3-3 12-6 51.9 44.6

Glenn 3-3 8-10 48.8 53.7

Culver 2-4 11-7 51.2 45.7

Jimtown 2-4 6-11 44.6 49.1

Knox 0-6 2-15 45.5 60.4

Northeast Corner Conference



School Conf. All Off. Def.

t-Westview 9-0 17-1 63.7 41.3

West Noble 7-1 14-3 58.2 48.3

Fremont 5-3 10-7 62.7 57.1

Fairfield 5-3 9-10 51.1 51.6

Eastside 5-3 7-11 51.0 50.1

Prairie Heights 4-4 9-11 54.3 59.6

Lakeland 3-5 6-11 42.6 53.8

Angola 2-5 6-10 48.1 54.1

Churubusco 2-6 2-17 42.8 60.9

Hamilton 1-7 5-12 46.6 63.7

Central Noble 1-7 4-13 45.9 53.9

Independents



School All Off. Def.

Clinton Christian 16-6 61.2 53.5

Elkhart Christian 12-5 65.6 50.8

Bethany Christian 3-14 47.3 59.9



c- won conference title.

t- has clinched at least tie for conference title.

x- Wednesday’s game not included.