MENTONE - Caston's and Tippecanoe Valley's basketball teams played Saturday, so why were both head coaches talking about their Friday games afterward?

Because both felt those games played a role in Caston's 69-58 win over Valley. Caston, ranked fourth in the Class A poll, improved to 8-1. Valley slid to 3-8.

Caston went into Argos - the Dragons are ranked 11th in Class A - and won 82-71 on Friday, the second time in a month the Comets beat the Dragons. Caston and Argos are big-time small-school rivals.

Valley players were still recovering from their 89-64 Friday win over Northfield in a frenetic-paced game reminiscent of the high-scoring 1990 Vikings. The most points these Vikings had scored previously in a game this season was 65.

So Saturday's game didn't have that spark. Caston players lacked that fire in their eyes. Valley players lacked that fire in their eyes.

"I thought you saw two flat teams tonight," Valley coach Gregg Sciarra said. "There were some great players out there, but there were two flat teams. They had a big game with Argos, and we had a pretty big game with Northfield.

"I think both teams didn't move as well as the coaches wanted them to."

First-year Caston coach Doug Hicks only had to look at Luke Zartman to know what kind of game this would be.

"I thought (the Argos game) carried over negatively for us," he said. "It was such an emotional win last night. This team was drained. Luke Zartman was obviously drained. I could see it in his eyes. I could see it in his legs. He didn't have the same hop. He had 38 (last) night. It's hard to come back the next night and play with that same emotion."

So Hicks put Zartman on the bench for much of the first quarter, and when halftime arrived, the player who torched Argos for 38 points 24 hours earlier settled for three against Valley.

It didn't matter. Caston led 35-23, thanks to several easy baskets. The Comets hit 12 of 21 shots (57 percent) the first half. Caston senior point guard Brent Halterman had what could qualify as complete-game stats at the break - nine points, six assists and three steals. He had a hand in 21 of the 35 points.

But Sciarra said it wasn't so much what Halterman did, it was more of what his team didn't do.

"The point guard did a nice job, but I won't give him the total credit," Sciarra said. "Our inside defense didn't do the job. That's been a weak point, and it's still weak."

Six-foot-four forward Jacob Lane, who had 10 at halftime, was on the receiving end of several Halterman's passes.

"We looked at Lane as the key," Sciarra said. "I know he got a load of points. A lot of it was a lack on our part to stop the inside passes.

"The first half, we weren't into it mentally. We were shot. The second half, we talked about emotion. We played harder. I know a lot of them were gassed out."

Indeed, the halftime break seemed to re-charge Valley. The Vikings forced several turnovers that they converted into points, and when the third quarter closed, Caston's lead had slipped to 46-41. Caston turned the ball over five times in the quarter; Valley turned it over once.

Caston would be in luck. That Zartman guy woke up in the fourth quarter. He scored 13, almost as many as Valley's team (17).

Valley trailed 60-51 with 2:50 left. Neither team scored for the next minute, then Zartman scored the clinching baskets with 1:48 to go. He hit a reverse layup, drew the foul and hit the free throw. The lead grew to 63-51, and with less than two minutes to go, Caston had thwarted any Valley upset hopes.

Zartman, who hit 9 of 9 free throws - including 7 of 7 in the fourth quarter -Êfinished with 18, two above his season average. Lane led Caston with 19.

"We sat Luke out for a while, and I got at him at halftime," Hicks said. "He didn't do a lot in the third quarter. When the fourth quarter came around, he had that look. He knew it was game time."

Six-foot-four sophomore forward Brandon Eaton, who is emerging as Valley's go-to player, hit five three-pointers and led Valley with 18 points. Eric Love added 15. The Vikings also received a boost from the addition of Eric Prater. Prater, who had been out with an injured knee, scored 10 off the bench in his first game back.

The Vikings, who are in the middle of a five-game homestand, host Rochester at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

CASTON 69, VALLEY 58

Caston (8-1) 16 19 11 23 -Ê69

Valley (3-8) 9 14 18 17 -Ê58

VALLEY FG FT A S R Pts.

Eaton (F) 6-12 1-3 2 1 6 18

Love (G) 6-10 0-0 3 2 1 15

Parker (F) 4-13 0-0 1 1 7 9

Silveus (G) 2-8 0-3 1 2 1 4

Looman (C) 1-5 0-0 0 0 4 2

Prater 3-6 4-5 1 1 1 10

Shepherd 0-2 0-0 2 1 1 0

Kuhn 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Kelley 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0

Totals 22-57 5-11 10 9 22 58

CASTON FG FT A S R Pts.

Lane (F) 6-8 7-9 2 3 4 19

Zartman (G) 4-10 9-9 1 1 2 18

Halterman (G) 3-4 3-4 9 3 4 12

Harness (C) 4-6 2-2 1 1 6 10

Thomas (F) 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0

Hook 3-6 1-2 1 0 9 7

Olinger 1-2 1-2 2 0 1 3

Byrum 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 21-37 23-28 16 9 27 69

Three-point goals - Tippecanoe Valley 9-25 (Eaton 5-9, Love 3-7, Parker 1-2, Silveus 0-3, Shepherd 0-2, Prater 0-2), Caston 4-7 (Halterman 3-4, Zartman 1-2, Thomas 0-1). Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls - Valley 22, Caston 13. Turnovers -ÊValley 11, Caston 14.

JV: CASTON 43, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 37

Valley (2-7) scoring -ÊJosh Wagoner 13, Dax Snyder 9, Zac Kelley 7, Drew Shaffer 4, Derek Eby 3, Eric Carlin 1

Caston (8-1) scoring -ÊJosh Craig 20, Chris Phelps 7, Tim Bowyer 6, Wyatt Showley 6, Bo Hines 2, Greg Zimpleman 2 [[In-content Ad]]