Warsaw girls basketball coach Michelle Harter says her team will need to be at the top of their game for sectional play.

If the Tigers want to return to the top of the first step in the tournament trail they will have to be on top of their game from the opening tip-off too.

Warsaw and Northridge, arguably the two favorites in a well-balanced field, clash Tuesday in the opening game of the Class 4-A Goshen Sectional.

“We knew at some point we would probably have to play Northridge and Memorial and I thought we would draw one of them,” Harter said. “We have to come out focused on what we need to do and ready to play Tuesday night.

“I think this sectional is more even this year and pretty wide open. Each night we have to be on top of our game. We will have to come out and play well to win it.”

Warsaw posted a 37-35 win in overtime over the Raiders in a Northern Lakes Conference game in Middlebury back on Jan. 10.  Northridge rallied to beat Warsaw 42-41 in a sectional semifinal game a year ago en route to the program’s first-ever sectional title.

“We have to take better care of the ball this time time and not give them easy opportunities,” said Harter of playing Northridge again. “We have to play each possession and make sure we execute and get the shots we want to get in the flow of our offense.”

Warsaw (12-10) allows just 41.7 points-per-game. The Raiders, who are 17-7, give up just 36.3 ppg.

Elkhart Memorial is a dangerous team in the Goshen Sectional. Coach Steve Scott’s young team is 10-11, but lost 45-44 in overtime at home to Warsaw. Northridge, which is 4-1 versus the sectional field, beat Memorial 51-46.

Sophomore Dayton Groninger leads Warsaw at 11 points per game. Sophomore Madi Graham averages 7.4 ppg., while seniors Vicki Harris and Pam Miller check in at 6.7 and 6.1 respectively for the Tigers.

Triton In Loaded Sectional

The Trojans are one of four ranked teams in a loaded field at Oregon-Davis.

The good news for Triton is that they will have to win just two games to claim the hardware since they got a bye and play on Friday night. The No. 7 Trojans (15-7) will face either No. 5 South Central (18-5) or No. 6 Culver (19-4). Triton beat South Central 42-35 and have lost twice to conference foe Culver, 40-38 in double overtime and 41-32.

“Getting the bye can be both good and bad,” said Triton coach Adam Heckaman.  “The nice thing about it is that it allows us extra time to prepare.  In this particular case though it’s difficult because we don’t really know which team to prepare for because Tuesday’s game could go either way.  I like the idea of the extra time to fine tune some things but I also know that sometimes when you have extended time off from games at this point in the year you can come out a little sluggish.  That is definitely something we have to try to guard against.”

All six teams in the Oregon-Davis field have winning records. The host and No. 4 Bobcats are the Class 1-A defending state champions and had won 55 in a row at home before a recent loss to NorthWood.

Heckaman knows his team will have a big test regardless of the foe come Friday night.

“Our match up next Friday night will be a difficult task with either team,” remarked Heckaman. “Both teams are very good in different ways and can present problems for us.  We have beaten South Central early in the season but also haven’t played them without Krystal Sellers. Either team will have had to play well Tuesday night to have gotten to Friday night and will be riding a lot of momentum so we will have to be ready to play our best game against either team.

Class 4-A
At Goshen
Feb. 10: 6 p.m.: Warsaw (12-10) vs. Northridge (17-7)
Feb. 10: 7:30 p.m.: Elkhart Memorial (10-11) vs. Concord (7-15)
Feb. 13: 6 p.m.: Elkhart Central (5-16) vs. Warsaw-Northridge winner
Feb. 13: 7:30 p.m.: Goshen (10-12) vs. Memorial-Concord winner
Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 3-A
At Wawasee
Feb. 10: 7 p.m.: Fairfield (15-8) vs. Tippecanoe Valley (19-2)
Feb. 11: 6 p.m.: West Noble (14-8) vs. Whitko (14-8)
Feb. 11: 7:30 p.m.: Wawasee (6-16) vs. Lakeland (9-13)
Feb. 13: 6 p.m.: NorthWood (19-5) vs. Fairfield-T. Valley winner
Feb. 13: 7:30 p.m.: West Noble-Whitko winner vs. Wawasee-Lakeland winner
Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 1-A
At Oregon-Davis
Feb. 10: 6:30 p.m.: Culver (19-4) vs. South Central (18-5)
Feb. 10: 8 p.m.: Argos (13-9) vs. Oregon-Davis (14-7)
Feb. 13: 6:30 p.m.: Triton (15-7) vs. Culver-South Central winner
Feb. 13: 8 p.m.: LaCrosse (13-8) vs. Argos-Oregon-Davis winner
Feb. 14: 8 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 1-A
At Lakewood Park Christian
Feb. 10: 6 p.m.: Bethany Christian (6-15) vs. Lakeland Christian Academy (7-16)
Feb. 10: 7:30 p.m.: Hamilton (5-16) vs. Elkhart Christian Academy (9-12)
Feb. 13: 6 p.m.: Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian (8-13) vs. Bethany-LCA winner
Feb. 13: 7:30 p.m.: Lakewood Park Christian (3-16) vs. Hamilton-ECA winner
Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m.: Championship Game