MENTONE - Just how good is Columbia City's basketball team?

Tippecanoe Valley head coach Gregg Sciarra got a pretty good idea Friday night. He watched his team turn the ball over only three times (that's right, three times) in the game.

And still the Vikings lost.

Columbia City, now 2-1, spoiled Valley's home opener with a 54-52 win. The Eagles managed to win despite being without 6-foot-3 junior forward Dave Richmond, a starter who was averaging 10 points per game.

How did the Vikings manage to lose? They were outrebounded 31-18. They missed 5 of 11 free throws. They missed more than a handful of layups.

And Columbia City had Chris Joy.

Joy, a 6-4, 235-pound senior forward, scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as the Vikings couldn't slow him down inside. He hit 9 of 12 shots from the field.

But Joy wasn't a one-man team. As soon as the Vikings paid too much attention to him underneath the basket, the Eagles kicked the ball out and began nailing perimeter shots. Five-foot-10 junior guard Matt Moore hit two three-pointers and scored 17 points. Chad Graves hit two three-pointers.

"I thought we attacked well on the inside in the first quarter," Columbia City coach Chris Benedict said. "I thought Joy did a nice job of getting open. When they packed it in, Moore hit some jumpers outside.

"I thought we could exploit them inside, and we did. But they are a good team, and they did an excellent job of adjusting. They took away our inside looks."

The Eagles, who spread their offense out well and pass the ball well, had 28 points inside and 26 points from the perimeter. They shot 61 percent against Whitko earlier this year. They made 21 of 35 shots from the floor against Valley, good for 60 percent. Of their 21 field goals, 14 came under the basket.

"Columbia City was strong inside when they needed to be," Sciarra said, "and they were strong outside when they needed to be. They played a real sound game. Joy hurt us inside in the first half. Moore is a good ball player who can hit the three."

With 1:12 left, Columbia City's Gabe Argerbright missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw. The ball took a high bounce off the rim, and Joy grabbed the offensive rebound.

Five seconds later, Moore missed the front end of his one-and-one opportunity. Columbia City forward Mason Bordner snagged the offensive rebound this time, and Valley forward Jeff Brown fouled out on the play.

"We didn't rebound well in key spots," Sciarra said. "We have to do better blocking out on free throw situations."

Bordner hit two free throws to put the Eagles up 50-45.

With Columbia City leading 51-47, Valley shooting guard Eric Love swished a trey to make it 51-50. A Moore free throw pushed the Columbia City lead to 52-50, but Valley center Scott Cooksey hit a running floater in the paint to tie the game at 52-52 with 22 seconds left.

Moore made two more free throws to put the Eagles up 54-52 with 5.8 seconds left. Valley's Darren Parker dribbled past halfcourt and called a timeout with three seconds left. The Vikings inbounded the ball, and JayDee Parker's baseline shot rimmed off, sealing the win for the Eagles.

The play didn't come off like Sciarra had planned it in the huddle.

"Hopefully, we would have had Nick Stutzman receiving the ball or Love coming over in the corner," Sciarra said of the last three seconds. "The other was a double screen for Love at the top of the key."

Brown led Valley with 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor. He scored Valley's first 10 points of the fourth quarter, giving the Vikings their biggest lead at 41-37.

Valley entered this game shooting 53 percent from the floor, but the Vikings made 22 of 53 against Columbia City, only 42 percent.

Afterward, Sciarra was left to wonder what could have been if it weren't for all the missed shots. His team may have had only three turnovers, but the missed free throws and missed layups? Those might as well have been turnovers.

"We didn't do the little things," he said. "We didn't hit our free throws. We didn't hit our layups. We missed easy shots early. I don't think we ever got into a good flow."

Valley, 1-2, is at North Miami at 6:30 tonight. [[In-content Ad]]