Ball-Control Theory Backfires On Tippecanoe Valley Vikings
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON -ÊAlthough Tippecanoe Valley's girls basketball team lost to Wawasee 62-35, the Vikings accomplished something no other team has managed to do: hold Shanna Zolman, the leading scorer in the state, to just 23 points.
The Warriors started strong as Dusty Krull netted a three-pointer for the first basket of the game.
"Believe it or not, I believe that first three-pointer by Dusty was the turning point of the game," said Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. "Valley wanted to hold the ball, but after that three, they had to play catch-up."
The Warriors went on to hold the Vikings to just one basket in the first quarter and outscore them 13-2.
"All week we worked on holding the ball," said Valley coach Gary Teel. "We wanted to slow the game down. We definitely did not want to get into a track meet with them. But that was so ingrained that I think the girls were almost afraid to shoot the ball in the first quarter."
The Vikings seemed to wake up in the second quarter, outscoring Wawasee 17-15.
Meagan Wallen netted the first basket of the second stanza to extend Wawasee's lead to 15-2. However, Jamie Doud answered by netting two free throws.
Doud went on to nail two baskets to go along with her free throws for a total of six points in the second frame, but Erica Pontious' three-point basket at the buzzer helped Valley end the half on a high note.
At the half, the Warriors were ahead 28-19, and Zolman had been held to just nine points.
Jennifer Studebaker hit the first basket of the third quarter to cut Wawasee's lead to seven at 28-21. That was as close as the Vikings would manage to get as the Warriors outscored them 12-6 in the quarter.
After being held to just 13 points in the first three quarters, Zolman broke out for 10 in the final period of play as Wawasee outscored Valley 22-8.
Lynette Wilcox led the Vikings in the final quarter of play, scoring four of Valley's eight points.
In the end Wawasee came out on top 62-35.
Although the Warriors won the game, Valley surprised spectators by holding Zolman to a career-low scoring performance.
Zolman was 7-of-12 shooting with two three-pointers and 7 of 7 from the charity stripe for 23 points. Although Valley held her scoring down, the Vikings were unable to stop her defensive effort as she grabbed nine steals in the matchup.
"Valley came up with a pretty good combination," said Kem Zolman. "They held the ball and double-teamed Shanna. They did a good job of defending her."
"We worked on several defensive schemes in practice this week," said Teel. "A triangle-and-two seemed to be the best idea we came up with. We decided to roll the dice and try to keep her from the ball.
"We double-teamed her all the time. We took a gamble that the others would not be able to step up make the shots. We were gonna make the other people beat us."
Wawasee is now 10-5 overall and will be off until the Warriors face the Plymouth Pilgrims January 25. Valley, now 4-10, will play host to Three Rivers Conference foe Rochester Monday.
WAWASEE 62
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 35
Wawasee 13 15 12 12 - 62
Valley 2 17 6 8 - 35
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Zolman 7-12 7-7 1 9 23
*Leach 2-5 1-2 6 2 5
*D. Krull 5-11 1-2 1 5 11
*Fawley 0-3 2-2 1 1 2
*Wallen 4-8 5-6 2 2 13
Sawyer 3-3 0-0 0 0 6
S. Krull 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Lamb 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Pletcher 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 23-43 15-19 12 20 62
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Studebaker 3-8 0-0 8 2 6
*Parker 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
*Kindig 3-8 0-0 2 1 6
*Pontious 2-4 0-1 0 1 5
*Wilcox 2-7 2-2 6 1 6
Prater 1-3 0-0 4 1 2
Doud 3-6 2-2 1 0 8
McCalla 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Fox 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 15-38 4-5 21 6 35
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 3-9 (Zolman 2-4, D. Krull 1-5), Valley 1-2 (Doud 1-2). Turnovers - Wawasee 16, Valley 30. Total fouls -ÊWawasee 16, Valley 18.
JV -ÊWAWASEE 28, Valley 27
Wawasee leaders -ÊStephanie Sorensen 6 points, Kayla Auer 5 points, Jessica Henderson 6 points, Carie Alles 6 points, Shanna Krull 5 points.
Valley leaders -ÊSherise Denny 8 points, Holly Green 5 points, Letitia Clauson 10 points, Chelsea Stavedahl 4 points. [[In-content Ad]]
AKRON -ÊAlthough Tippecanoe Valley's girls basketball team lost to Wawasee 62-35, the Vikings accomplished something no other team has managed to do: hold Shanna Zolman, the leading scorer in the state, to just 23 points.
The Warriors started strong as Dusty Krull netted a three-pointer for the first basket of the game.
"Believe it or not, I believe that first three-pointer by Dusty was the turning point of the game," said Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. "Valley wanted to hold the ball, but after that three, they had to play catch-up."
The Warriors went on to hold the Vikings to just one basket in the first quarter and outscore them 13-2.
"All week we worked on holding the ball," said Valley coach Gary Teel. "We wanted to slow the game down. We definitely did not want to get into a track meet with them. But that was so ingrained that I think the girls were almost afraid to shoot the ball in the first quarter."
The Vikings seemed to wake up in the second quarter, outscoring Wawasee 17-15.
Meagan Wallen netted the first basket of the second stanza to extend Wawasee's lead to 15-2. However, Jamie Doud answered by netting two free throws.
Doud went on to nail two baskets to go along with her free throws for a total of six points in the second frame, but Erica Pontious' three-point basket at the buzzer helped Valley end the half on a high note.
At the half, the Warriors were ahead 28-19, and Zolman had been held to just nine points.
Jennifer Studebaker hit the first basket of the third quarter to cut Wawasee's lead to seven at 28-21. That was as close as the Vikings would manage to get as the Warriors outscored them 12-6 in the quarter.
After being held to just 13 points in the first three quarters, Zolman broke out for 10 in the final period of play as Wawasee outscored Valley 22-8.
Lynette Wilcox led the Vikings in the final quarter of play, scoring four of Valley's eight points.
In the end Wawasee came out on top 62-35.
Although the Warriors won the game, Valley surprised spectators by holding Zolman to a career-low scoring performance.
Zolman was 7-of-12 shooting with two three-pointers and 7 of 7 from the charity stripe for 23 points. Although Valley held her scoring down, the Vikings were unable to stop her defensive effort as she grabbed nine steals in the matchup.
"Valley came up with a pretty good combination," said Kem Zolman. "They held the ball and double-teamed Shanna. They did a good job of defending her."
"We worked on several defensive schemes in practice this week," said Teel. "A triangle-and-two seemed to be the best idea we came up with. We decided to roll the dice and try to keep her from the ball.
"We double-teamed her all the time. We took a gamble that the others would not be able to step up make the shots. We were gonna make the other people beat us."
Wawasee is now 10-5 overall and will be off until the Warriors face the Plymouth Pilgrims January 25. Valley, now 4-10, will play host to Three Rivers Conference foe Rochester Monday.
WAWASEE 62
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 35
Wawasee 13 15 12 12 - 62
Valley 2 17 6 8 - 35
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Zolman 7-12 7-7 1 9 23
*Leach 2-5 1-2 6 2 5
*D. Krull 5-11 1-2 1 5 11
*Fawley 0-3 2-2 1 1 2
*Wallen 4-8 5-6 2 2 13
Sawyer 3-3 0-0 0 0 6
S. Krull 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Lamb 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Pletcher 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 23-43 15-19 12 20 62
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Studebaker 3-8 0-0 8 2 6
*Parker 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
*Kindig 3-8 0-0 2 1 6
*Pontious 2-4 0-1 0 1 5
*Wilcox 2-7 2-2 6 1 6
Prater 1-3 0-0 4 1 2
Doud 3-6 2-2 1 0 8
McCalla 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Fox 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 15-38 4-5 21 6 35
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 3-9 (Zolman 2-4, D. Krull 1-5), Valley 1-2 (Doud 1-2). Turnovers - Wawasee 16, Valley 30. Total fouls -ÊWawasee 16, Valley 18.
JV -ÊWAWASEE 28, Valley 27
Wawasee leaders -ÊStephanie Sorensen 6 points, Kayla Auer 5 points, Jessica Henderson 6 points, Carie Alles 6 points, Shanna Krull 5 points.
Valley leaders -ÊSherise Denny 8 points, Holly Green 5 points, Letitia Clauson 10 points, Chelsea Stavedahl 4 points. [[In-content Ad]]