LAKEVILLE - As the 59th annual Everwise Bi-County Basketball Tournament gets set to tip off, LaVille coach Michael Edison and his team are not looking at being the defending champions. As far as the Lancer basketball team is concerned, the 54-52 championship victory over 4-time defending champion John Glenn is in the rearview mirror. "Nope," said Edison when asked if his team thought of being the defending champion or pressure to repeat. "We don’t get too concerned about things we’ve done in the past. We are just focused on trying to do the best we can against a tough Culver Cavaliers squad." The Cavaliers enter the first round of the Everwise Bi-County Basketball Tournament with a 6-4 record following a 78-56 victory over Community Baptist, 78-56. Senior Jack Rodgers led the Culver offense with 39 points. Junior David Hite added 22 points and Jonas McCuen chipped in with 10 points against the Cougars. "Culver plays very tenacious defense!" said Edison, who is 15-4 all-time against Culver. "They look to press and trap an awful lot and get their hands on the ball more than anyone else we play. They are averaging 18 steals per game this year." Rodgers leads the Cavaliers with 24 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per outing, 4.9 assists, and 4.2 steals. "Jack Rodgers has some of the best stats of anyone we will play this year as he is averaging 24 points a game and about 7 1/2 rebounds per game," said Edison, who prepares for his 35th Everwise Bi-County Tournament game. "He also averages about 4 1/2 steals and about six assists per game. He is a very good player!" According to Edison, his team has been preparing for a group of harding-working Cavs. "Their entire team is very scrappy," said Edison, who is 10-5 in Everwise Bi-County openers. "They crash the boards extremely hard and get up and down the court." Kyle Evans enters his fourth year at Culver at 10th overall and has his club averaging 60.6 points per game, which is the best offensive output for CCHS since the 2013-14 averaged 58.8 points per outing. "They score so many points primarily because they get their hands on the ball when they are on defense," Edison said of Culver Community. "Since they are averaging 18 steals a game they are going to have a lot of opportunities for transition points on offense. If we can take care of the ball they won’t have as many opportunities for easy baskets." LaVills is 4-5 overall after a 56-45 loss at Tippecanoe Valley on January 9. "We need to be strong with the ball and make past fakes as Culver really gets a lot of deflections," said Edison. "If we can’t handle the pressure or their trapping defense then it will be a short night or long night however a person looks at it. We also need to capitalize on the fact that Culver will gamble a lot on defense. We need to make them pay and finish on the offensive end." As for the tournament itself, Edison feels there are several teams that could claim the 2024 title. "I think there are a number of teams that have a legitimate chance at winning the tournament, but my focus is on how we are going to play," explained Edison. "It doesn’t do any good to look ahead to other teams besides our next opponent and that is Culver for us. "There are probably legitimately six teams that could win this tournament. Anything can happen when a team plays together and plays with confidence." Due to the snow and frigid temperatures, the 2024 tournament champion will have to navigate winning three games in four days. According to Edison, the team that accomplishes that goal needs to have good conditioning, a strong defense and shoot with confidence. Game On . . . G A M E D A Y EVERWISE BI-COUNTY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Game #1 Oregon-Davis (2-8) at 1A #11 Triton (7-2) At New Prairie HS 8 p.m. Coaches: Larry Sennert, 19-79 in 5th year at Oregon-Davis. Jason Groves, 313-140 in 19th year at Triton Last Outing: Oregon-Davis lost to South Bend Clay, 72-40. Triton lost to John Glenn, 45-44, OT Series Last 35 years: Triton leads Oregon-Davis, 35-14 Last Meeting: Triton defeated Oregon-Davis, 56-43, Nov. 22, 2023 Game #2 Argos (4-5) at John Glenn (5-6) At Everwise Gym 7:30 p.m. Coaches: Jason Breden, 36-19 in 3rd year at Argos. Travis Hannah 210-168 in 17th year at John Glenn, 303-257 in 25th year overall Last Outing: Argos defeated North Miami, 60-44. John Glenn defeated Triton, 45-44. OT Series Last 35 years: John Glenn leads Argos, 33-9 Last Meeting: John Glenn defeated Argos, 39-36, January 18, 2019 Game #3 Bremen (5-4) at New Prairie (2-11) 7:30 p.m. Coaches: Matt Miller, 28-50 in 4th year at Bremen. Ben Wiginton, 2-11 in 1st year at New Prairie Last Outing: Bremen lost to Bethany Christian, 57-47. New Prairie lost to South Bend Riley, 71-45 Series last 35 years: New Prairie leads Bremen, 27-26 Last Meeting: Bremen defeated New Prairie, 62-32, Dec. 8, 2023 Game #4 Culver Community (6-4) at LaVille (4-5) Dale E. Cox Gymnasium JV: 6:30 p.m. | Varsity: 8 p.m. Coaches: Kyle Evans, 32-49 in 4th year at Culver, 77-145 in 10th year overall. Michael Edison, 219-139 in 16th year at LaVille. Last Outing: Culver defeated Community Baptist, 78-56. LaVille lost to Tippecanoe Valley, 56-45 Series Last 35 years: LaVille leads Culver Community, 38-13 Last Meeting: Culver Community defeated LaVille, 65-54, Jan. 27, 2023