Western looks to avenge tournament loss to Taylor in conference fight Friday

Posted: Thursday, February 4, 2010 9:45 pm | Updated: 4:40 pm, Fri Feb 5, 2010.

By Peter Adelsen staff writer padelsen@kokomoperspective.com | 0 comments

(The Western at Taylor game has been postponed to a later date. To see other area basketball postponements, click here.)

For the second time this season, the Western Panthers travel to face the Taylor Titans at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a pivotal Mid-Indiana Conference battle.

The last time the two teams met was on Jan. 15 at the Howard County Tournament where the winner would advance to the tournament championship. In that game, the Titans defeated the Panthers 75-67 reroute to defeating Eastern for the championship.

"(Western) is going to be loaded and ready for a little revenge and we have to step up the challenge," Taylor coach Jeff Fisher said.

Like Western (9-6, 2-2 MIC), Taylor (10-5, 3-2 MIC) has won three out of their last four games. The one loss for both teams has been to 3A second-ranked Peru. Those two losses to Peru have been two of Peru's toughest games on their 12-game winning streak.

"Our toughness has gotten better," Fisher said. "Hopefully that will continue to get better."

The key to the game may be rebounding.

"(Western is) a little more physical than we are," Fisher said. "They generate some offense through offensive rebounding."

Both Western and Taylor have been playing with a balanced-scoring offense. Western's Drew Larrick, Jamal Johnson and Matt Reida have consistently been averaging near double-figures scoring and on any given night another player could step up to play a pivotal role in a game. The same is with Taylor. The Titans have seen great games from Reomey Northington, Drake Herr, Seth Vautaw and Cody Hinton.

Throughout the season for Western, they have played different styles depending on the situation and they are comfortable with that, Western coach Andy Weaver said. The Panthers have scored between 41 points last week against Peru and 85 points against Tri-Central, the week before.

Other games Friday:

Kokomo (10-5, 3-1 NCC) at Huntington North (4-11, 1-3 NCC), 7:45

Eastern (8-6, 2-3 MIC) at Elwood (2-14), 7:30

Northwestern (9-5, 2-2 MIC) at #6-2A Tipton (10-3), 7:30

#2-3A Peru (13-1, 4-0 MIC) at Lewis Cass (4-10, 0-4 MIC), 7:30

Maconaquah (6-8, 1-4 MIC) at Hamilton Heights (11-4, 3-1 MIC), 7:30

Saturday's games:

Kokomo (10-5, 3-1 NCC) at Lebanon (9-6), 7:30

Twin Lakes (5-9) at Western (9-6, 3-2 MIC), 7:30

#15-2A Taylor (10-5, 3-2 MIC) at #6-2A Tipton (10-3), 7:30

Southwood (8-4) at Northwestern (9-5, 2-2 MIC), 7:30

Oak Hill (4-10) at Eastern (8-6, 2-3 MIC), 7:30

Tri-Central (6-9) at Maconaquah (6-8, 1-4 MIC), 7:30

Manchester (2-13) at #2-3A Peru (13-1, 4-0 MIC), 7:30

Lewis Cass (4-10, 0-4 MIC) at Winamac (3-10), 7:30

Hamilton Heights (11-4, 3-1 MIC) at Westfield (9-5), 7:30