Vikings Get Much Needed Win Over Visiting Winamac
January 31, 2021 at 11:41 p.m.
Vikings Get Much Needed Win Over Visiting Winamac
By Dale [email protected]
He wanted his players to play strong defense, hustle and play together.
The Vikings did that in an early-afternoon game Saturday, with the end result being a 57-43 win over the visiting Winamac Warriors.
In a varsity-only affair that tipped off at 1 p.m., moved up because of the forecasted weather and because a JV and varsity girls game was scheduled to follow, Valley snapped a four-game losing streak with good, old-fashioned effort.
The Vikings dove for loose balls. They were active on defense. The players on the floor fed off the energy of a lively bench.
All were things Patrick felt were missing in a 70-45 loss at Manchester Friday night.
“This was a lot different effort than last night. We talked to them today about controlling what we control … effort, hustle, taking charges, being loud on the bench and just having fun,” said Patrick, whose team improved to 3-11.
“Things weren’t going the way we wanted them to, and the only way to change that was to have a better attitude and play harder, and I thought they all did that very well today.
“I was just very honest with them today. I had heard kids grumbling, and obviously we were all frustrated, and I told them you don’t change that by trying to score 40 points by yourself. You change that by playing good, hard defense, banding together when things are going bad, and you just work through it.”
The first half was very much a game of runs, with each team going on a 12-0 spurt in the first quarter, and then smaller runs in the second stanza.
The score was tied 16-16 after one quarter of play, Valley led 33-31 at halftime, and the Vikings were 42-36 leaders heading into the final frame.
The hosts gave up just 12 points over the final 16 minutes of the game to get what Patrick called “a much-needed win.”
“We told them defense, defense, defense wins games,” said Patrick. “Our intensity was good, and we held them to 12 points in the second half. That was great, great defense.
“We needed this bad. Like I said, guys were just getting down, and we had to have this win. This is a big win, a big boost of confidence going into two TRC games this week. Hopefully this gives us a little spring in our step and we keep the intensity, and we keep the hustle.”
Sophomore Nolan Cumberland led Valley in scoring with 18 points, while junior Dawson Perkins added 14 points and sophomore Paul Leasure finished with 10 points.
Leisure, hampered much of this season by a foot injury, scored eight of his points in the first quarter in a 12-0 run by the hosts.
Sophomore Brendyn Stump scored six points in the win, senior Chase Miller five, and junior Rex Kirchenstien four.
The Warriors, who fell to 5-9 on the season, got 12 points from junior Russell Compton, eight from junior Beau Brandt, and six each from juniors Ryan Gregor and Alex Stark.
Valley hosts a pair of TRC games this week, entertaining Wabash Thursday and Maconaquah Saturday.
He wanted his players to play strong defense, hustle and play together.
The Vikings did that in an early-afternoon game Saturday, with the end result being a 57-43 win over the visiting Winamac Warriors.
In a varsity-only affair that tipped off at 1 p.m., moved up because of the forecasted weather and because a JV and varsity girls game was scheduled to follow, Valley snapped a four-game losing streak with good, old-fashioned effort.
The Vikings dove for loose balls. They were active on defense. The players on the floor fed off the energy of a lively bench.
All were things Patrick felt were missing in a 70-45 loss at Manchester Friday night.
“This was a lot different effort than last night. We talked to them today about controlling what we control … effort, hustle, taking charges, being loud on the bench and just having fun,” said Patrick, whose team improved to 3-11.
“Things weren’t going the way we wanted them to, and the only way to change that was to have a better attitude and play harder, and I thought they all did that very well today.
“I was just very honest with them today. I had heard kids grumbling, and obviously we were all frustrated, and I told them you don’t change that by trying to score 40 points by yourself. You change that by playing good, hard defense, banding together when things are going bad, and you just work through it.”
The first half was very much a game of runs, with each team going on a 12-0 spurt in the first quarter, and then smaller runs in the second stanza.
The score was tied 16-16 after one quarter of play, Valley led 33-31 at halftime, and the Vikings were 42-36 leaders heading into the final frame.
The hosts gave up just 12 points over the final 16 minutes of the game to get what Patrick called “a much-needed win.”
“We told them defense, defense, defense wins games,” said Patrick. “Our intensity was good, and we held them to 12 points in the second half. That was great, great defense.
“We needed this bad. Like I said, guys were just getting down, and we had to have this win. This is a big win, a big boost of confidence going into two TRC games this week. Hopefully this gives us a little spring in our step and we keep the intensity, and we keep the hustle.”
Sophomore Nolan Cumberland led Valley in scoring with 18 points, while junior Dawson Perkins added 14 points and sophomore Paul Leasure finished with 10 points.
Leisure, hampered much of this season by a foot injury, scored eight of his points in the first quarter in a 12-0 run by the hosts.
Sophomore Brendyn Stump scored six points in the win, senior Chase Miller five, and junior Rex Kirchenstien four.
The Warriors, who fell to 5-9 on the season, got 12 points from junior Russell Compton, eight from junior Beau Brandt, and six each from juniors Ryan Gregor and Alex Stark.
Valley hosts a pair of TRC games this week, entertaining Wabash Thursday and Maconaquah Saturday.
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