Faith, Trust Push Lady Vikings
Tippecanoe Valley confident heading into Saturday's semistate
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Don’t be fooled. They know. At Valley’s semistate media day Thursday in the school gym, the Lady Vikings talked about the trust and confidence they have in each other, and the faith that things are going to work out.
“There’s not one person on this team I don’t trust. If anyone has the ball I trust them to take care of it. We’re family, we love each other, we know we have each other’s back,” sophomore Meredith Brouyette said.
Junior point guard Karis Tucker said, “you have to have faith in your teammates and just know that they’re going to make the right decision. If they don’t, for some reason, then you just make sure to let them know that it’s OK, we’ll get ‘em next time.”
Sophomore Anne Secrest added, “I think all the confidence lies within each other. We’re all confident we can make that next play to get us two or three more points on the board. We slow ourselves down, work the ball around and get a good shot.”
The Lady Vikings are all aware of what each member of the team brings to the table, with every player bringing something a little different that makes the whole thing work.
“We all know Karis is fast. We call her ‘our little pest’ because she’s so fast and she’s all over the place,” said Secrest. “She brings the ball up the floor and does a great job of setting us all up for good shots.”
When given her turn to talk about Secrest, Tucker said, “Anne’s kind of the life of the team. She’s very encouraging and she’ll get you the ball if you’re open. Every shot you take she’s going to tell you ‘nice shot’ and she’s going to get in there and try and get the rebound.
“I don’t know how she (gets so many rebounds). Sometimes I’m like ‘she’s not going to get that one,’ and she does. I applaud her for just getting up there and getting (the ball),” Tucker said.
Seniors Taylor Trippeidi and Caylie Teel have played together for years, and know each other quite well.
“(Trippiedi) is definitely one of our stronger shooters,” Teel said. “She’s come a long way from her knee injury, and put in so much work, and the work is really paying off. She’s stepped up big time these last few games.”
Trippeidi appreciates Teel’s defense and willingness to do the dirty work.
“She’s one of the toughest players on the team,” Trippiedi said. “She always guards one of the best players on the opposite team. So she’s a huge asset to our team, and we definitely couldn’t do it without her defense. She always leaves everything on the court when she plays.”
Among Valley’s five postseason wins are three overtime thrillers, including a double-overtime game against NorthWood. Brouyette thinks she may have discovered the secret to Valley’s success in the extra sessions.
“I joke around and say we play better at the beginning of games, and there’s a tipoff at the beginning of overtime,” she smiled. “I guess we need a tipoff to get us going.”
With a familiar foe in Rochester standing in the way of an historic first trip to Indianapolis for the state championship game, the players know what it’ll take to make the next step and continue an 11-game win streak.
“Obviously, we have Anne Secrest. Who wouldn’t want a player like her?” Brouyette said. “But she makes sure we’re Tippecanoe Valley, not Anne Secrest’s team. I love that about everyone; no one’s (stuck up) like that.
“We just have to play our heart out. We need to play to their shooters, play to their penetration, and as long as we play together and as hard as we can, I know we can win.
“Coach (Chris Kindig) started saying halfway through the season, when we started getting that winning streak, he says ‘we’re going to get everyone’s best effort.’ As long as we give them our best game, it’s going to be a good game, and win or lose, we’re going to know we played our hearts out.”[[In-content Ad]]
Don’t be fooled. They know. At Valley’s semistate media day Thursday in the school gym, the Lady Vikings talked about the trust and confidence they have in each other, and the faith that things are going to work out.
“There’s not one person on this team I don’t trust. If anyone has the ball I trust them to take care of it. We’re family, we love each other, we know we have each other’s back,” sophomore Meredith Brouyette said.
Junior point guard Karis Tucker said, “you have to have faith in your teammates and just know that they’re going to make the right decision. If they don’t, for some reason, then you just make sure to let them know that it’s OK, we’ll get ‘em next time.”
Sophomore Anne Secrest added, “I think all the confidence lies within each other. We’re all confident we can make that next play to get us two or three more points on the board. We slow ourselves down, work the ball around and get a good shot.”
The Lady Vikings are all aware of what each member of the team brings to the table, with every player bringing something a little different that makes the whole thing work.
“We all know Karis is fast. We call her ‘our little pest’ because she’s so fast and she’s all over the place,” said Secrest. “She brings the ball up the floor and does a great job of setting us all up for good shots.”
When given her turn to talk about Secrest, Tucker said, “Anne’s kind of the life of the team. She’s very encouraging and she’ll get you the ball if you’re open. Every shot you take she’s going to tell you ‘nice shot’ and she’s going to get in there and try and get the rebound.
“I don’t know how she (gets so many rebounds). Sometimes I’m like ‘she’s not going to get that one,’ and she does. I applaud her for just getting up there and getting (the ball),” Tucker said.
Seniors Taylor Trippeidi and Caylie Teel have played together for years, and know each other quite well.
“(Trippiedi) is definitely one of our stronger shooters,” Teel said. “She’s come a long way from her knee injury, and put in so much work, and the work is really paying off. She’s stepped up big time these last few games.”
Trippeidi appreciates Teel’s defense and willingness to do the dirty work.
“She’s one of the toughest players on the team,” Trippiedi said. “She always guards one of the best players on the opposite team. So she’s a huge asset to our team, and we definitely couldn’t do it without her defense. She always leaves everything on the court when she plays.”
Among Valley’s five postseason wins are three overtime thrillers, including a double-overtime game against NorthWood. Brouyette thinks she may have discovered the secret to Valley’s success in the extra sessions.
“I joke around and say we play better at the beginning of games, and there’s a tipoff at the beginning of overtime,” she smiled. “I guess we need a tipoff to get us going.”
With a familiar foe in Rochester standing in the way of an historic first trip to Indianapolis for the state championship game, the players know what it’ll take to make the next step and continue an 11-game win streak.
“Obviously, we have Anne Secrest. Who wouldn’t want a player like her?” Brouyette said. “But she makes sure we’re Tippecanoe Valley, not Anne Secrest’s team. I love that about everyone; no one’s (stuck up) like that.
“We just have to play our heart out. We need to play to their shooters, play to their penetration, and as long as we play together and as hard as we can, I know we can win.
“Coach (Chris Kindig) started saying halfway through the season, when we started getting that winning streak, he says ‘we’re going to get everyone’s best effort.’ As long as we give them our best game, it’s going to be a good game, and win or lose, we’re going to know we played our hearts out.”[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092