No. 5 Valley Holds Off Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - With all the ballyhoo prior to Friday night's season finale for both Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee boys basketball teams, the fact that there was actually a game to be played may have become obscured.
Despite the distractions, the Vikings sent their three seniors off with one final home win by the count of 56-53 over the Warriors.
Prior to the game, which was televised on channel 46 (WHME) as its "Game of the Week", Valley honored all of its senior winter sports athletes and band members. Four Marines presented the American flag for the national anthem. A prerecorded version of Francis Scott Key's opus was stopped and started four separate times before completion and then Valley head coach Bill Patrick was presented a plaque for his 600th win with his entire family in attendance.
In the first quarter, there was a definite letdown by both teams that was more than made up for in the final period.
"We weren't focused completely," said Wawasee head coach Phil Mishler. "Maybe it was the hoopla surrounding this game. But we can learn a good lesson from this. The longer you travel in the tournament, the more hype there is."
Patrick agreed that the distractions played a part in the early going.
"Both teams really came out tight and nervous," said Patrick. "I don't think anything in the sectionals will compare to this."
Playing with the type of frenzy normally reserved for sectional play, the Warriors took advantage of Valley's foul trouble and chipped away at a Viking lead.
Wawasee went on a 9-0 run that culminated with a jumper by Austin Kaiser to tie the game at 41-41 late in the third quarter. Valley's David Lash scored two of his six points on a strong drive on the baseline as time expired to give the Vikings a 43-41 lead heading into the final quarter.
Both teams battled back and forth during the final eight minutes.
Ryan Kauchak gave the Warriors their first lead since the first quarter with a layup in the lane early in the fourth quarter.
A 6-foot-3 banger, Kauchak took advantage of a mismatch with Valley's Shane Denny, who was forced to guard Kauchak with Shane Drudge on the bench with four fouls.
Kauchak scored all 12 of Wawasee's fourth quarter points.
With 3:51 left in the game, Drudge returned to make an attempt at reigning in Kauchak.
Earlier in the game it was Drudge who was running wild.
Drudge had 10 points, six of which came in a 12-2 second quarter Viking run, and five rebounds before picking up his fourth foul.
Down 54-53, the Warriors sent junior Bryce Kelley to the line with 14.5 second left in the contest. Kelley missed both attempts but teammate Shane Denny was there to pull down the offensive rebound.
Denny found John Gibson who was fouled by Kauchak, giving the Wawasee senior his fifth foul. Gibson was true on both attempts to extend Valley's lead to the 56-53 final.
After a timeout by Valley, Wawasee's Kory Lantz was long on a three-point attempt that caromed off a Viking defender and out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Michael Conrad found Lantz who turned and fired from behind the arc but was wide as time expired.
While the Warriors nearly overcame a deficit that swelled to as many as nine points, it was Valley's second quarter comeback that led the Vikings to the win.
Valley asserted itself in the second quarter by controlling the glass and erased a five-point first quarter Wawasee advantage.
The Vikings outrebounded the Warriors to the tune of 12-1 in the second quarter. Denny, one of Patrick's three upperclassmen had five rebounds in the second period and finished the evening with 12 points.
Fellow senior Michael Domenico had a deft shooting touch with a season-high 12 points on 3 of 5 shooting.
Valley proved why they are the best team in the area with four players scoring in double digits.
Along with Domenico and Denny, fellow senior Gibson scored 12 points to lead the Vikings.
Lash was held to just six points, eight fewer than his season average, but Patrick was confident in his team's depth and each player's ability to score.
"Domenico had a stretch that really helped us and Drudge played well for us tonight," said Patrick. "It's pretty hard to stop all five of our starters."
Besides Kauchak, no other Warrior finished in double digits. Lance Zimmerman spotted Kauchak and was productive with four points and three rebounds in spot play.
"When you get down to a team like Valley it takes a lot to come back," said Mishler.
The coach does feel something can be taken from the loss however.
"It was a good game to get ready for sectionals. I thought we came out well in the second half and responded to the challenge. We can take that away from this (game)," said Mishler.
The Vikings held Wawasee to 34 percent shooting from the field on the night. The Vikings also had eight blocked shots to help overcome their 25 turnovers.
Valley was also impressive in its gameplan for Kaiser and Lantz. The outstanding backcourt tandem was held to 5 of 30 shooting from the field.
Valley on the other hand was 21 of 35 from the field as a team and 5 of 6 from beyond the three-point arc.
Wawasee ends the season with a 15-6 record and opens sectional play Tuesday at NorthWood High School against West Noble. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m.
The Vikings end the regular season with a 19-1 record and drew a first-round bye in the Whitko sectional. Valley tips off against Norwell in the second game Friday.
NO. 5 (3A) T. VALLEY 56, WAWASEE 53
Wawasee 15 12 14 12 - 53
T. Valley 10 24 9 13 - 56
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Denny 5-10 2-2 9 0 12
*Gibson 5-7 2-2 4 1 12
*Domenico 3-5 3-3 2 0 12
*Lash 3-6 0-2 6 0 6
*Drudge 4-7 1-4 7 0 10
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kelley 1-1 1-4 2 0 4
Reed 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 21-36 9-17 31 1 56
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 2-12 3-4 0 2 9
*Kaiser 3-18 1-2 5 4 9
*Gerber 2-6 1-2 1 1 6
*Conrad 1-1 0-0 1 2 2
*Kauchak 4-8 12-12 10 2 20
Mock 0-1 0-0 0 4 0 Zimmerman 2-3 0-0 3 2 4 Leach 1-2 1-2 3 1 3
Totals 15-51 18-22 23 18 53
Three-point goals - Wawasee 5-18 (Lantz 2-10, Kaiser 2-6, Gerber 1-2); T. Valley 5-6 (Domenico 3-4, Drudge 1-1, Kelley 1-1 Turnovers - Wawasee 11, T. Valley 25. Fouls - Wawasee 18, T. Valley 16. Fouled out - Drudge (T. Valley), Kauchak (Wawasee).
JV -ÊT. Valley 55, Wawasee 42
Wawasee scoring - Chas Amadeo 13, Nick Richardson 10, John Adams 9, Dan Dingledein 6, Charlie Ballantine 4
T. Valley scoring -ÊTad Neeley 13, Steve Tillman 12, Jerrod Parker 7, Shane Salyer 7, Adam Nelson 5, OB Thompson 5 Chad Hoffer 2, Ryan Scherzer 2, Brady Kinsel 2 [[In-content Ad]]
AKRON - With all the ballyhoo prior to Friday night's season finale for both Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee boys basketball teams, the fact that there was actually a game to be played may have become obscured.
Despite the distractions, the Vikings sent their three seniors off with one final home win by the count of 56-53 over the Warriors.
Prior to the game, which was televised on channel 46 (WHME) as its "Game of the Week", Valley honored all of its senior winter sports athletes and band members. Four Marines presented the American flag for the national anthem. A prerecorded version of Francis Scott Key's opus was stopped and started four separate times before completion and then Valley head coach Bill Patrick was presented a plaque for his 600th win with his entire family in attendance.
In the first quarter, there was a definite letdown by both teams that was more than made up for in the final period.
"We weren't focused completely," said Wawasee head coach Phil Mishler. "Maybe it was the hoopla surrounding this game. But we can learn a good lesson from this. The longer you travel in the tournament, the more hype there is."
Patrick agreed that the distractions played a part in the early going.
"Both teams really came out tight and nervous," said Patrick. "I don't think anything in the sectionals will compare to this."
Playing with the type of frenzy normally reserved for sectional play, the Warriors took advantage of Valley's foul trouble and chipped away at a Viking lead.
Wawasee went on a 9-0 run that culminated with a jumper by Austin Kaiser to tie the game at 41-41 late in the third quarter. Valley's David Lash scored two of his six points on a strong drive on the baseline as time expired to give the Vikings a 43-41 lead heading into the final quarter.
Both teams battled back and forth during the final eight minutes.
Ryan Kauchak gave the Warriors their first lead since the first quarter with a layup in the lane early in the fourth quarter.
A 6-foot-3 banger, Kauchak took advantage of a mismatch with Valley's Shane Denny, who was forced to guard Kauchak with Shane Drudge on the bench with four fouls.
Kauchak scored all 12 of Wawasee's fourth quarter points.
With 3:51 left in the game, Drudge returned to make an attempt at reigning in Kauchak.
Earlier in the game it was Drudge who was running wild.
Drudge had 10 points, six of which came in a 12-2 second quarter Viking run, and five rebounds before picking up his fourth foul.
Down 54-53, the Warriors sent junior Bryce Kelley to the line with 14.5 second left in the contest. Kelley missed both attempts but teammate Shane Denny was there to pull down the offensive rebound.
Denny found John Gibson who was fouled by Kauchak, giving the Wawasee senior his fifth foul. Gibson was true on both attempts to extend Valley's lead to the 56-53 final.
After a timeout by Valley, Wawasee's Kory Lantz was long on a three-point attempt that caromed off a Viking defender and out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Michael Conrad found Lantz who turned and fired from behind the arc but was wide as time expired.
While the Warriors nearly overcame a deficit that swelled to as many as nine points, it was Valley's second quarter comeback that led the Vikings to the win.
Valley asserted itself in the second quarter by controlling the glass and erased a five-point first quarter Wawasee advantage.
The Vikings outrebounded the Warriors to the tune of 12-1 in the second quarter. Denny, one of Patrick's three upperclassmen had five rebounds in the second period and finished the evening with 12 points.
Fellow senior Michael Domenico had a deft shooting touch with a season-high 12 points on 3 of 5 shooting.
Valley proved why they are the best team in the area with four players scoring in double digits.
Along with Domenico and Denny, fellow senior Gibson scored 12 points to lead the Vikings.
Lash was held to just six points, eight fewer than his season average, but Patrick was confident in his team's depth and each player's ability to score.
"Domenico had a stretch that really helped us and Drudge played well for us tonight," said Patrick. "It's pretty hard to stop all five of our starters."
Besides Kauchak, no other Warrior finished in double digits. Lance Zimmerman spotted Kauchak and was productive with four points and three rebounds in spot play.
"When you get down to a team like Valley it takes a lot to come back," said Mishler.
The coach does feel something can be taken from the loss however.
"It was a good game to get ready for sectionals. I thought we came out well in the second half and responded to the challenge. We can take that away from this (game)," said Mishler.
The Vikings held Wawasee to 34 percent shooting from the field on the night. The Vikings also had eight blocked shots to help overcome their 25 turnovers.
Valley was also impressive in its gameplan for Kaiser and Lantz. The outstanding backcourt tandem was held to 5 of 30 shooting from the field.
Valley on the other hand was 21 of 35 from the field as a team and 5 of 6 from beyond the three-point arc.
Wawasee ends the season with a 15-6 record and opens sectional play Tuesday at NorthWood High School against West Noble. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m.
The Vikings end the regular season with a 19-1 record and drew a first-round bye in the Whitko sectional. Valley tips off against Norwell in the second game Friday.
NO. 5 (3A) T. VALLEY 56, WAWASEE 53
Wawasee 15 12 14 12 - 53
T. Valley 10 24 9 13 - 56
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Denny 5-10 2-2 9 0 12
*Gibson 5-7 2-2 4 1 12
*Domenico 3-5 3-3 2 0 12
*Lash 3-6 0-2 6 0 6
*Drudge 4-7 1-4 7 0 10
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kelley 1-1 1-4 2 0 4
Reed 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 21-36 9-17 31 1 56
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 2-12 3-4 0 2 9
*Kaiser 3-18 1-2 5 4 9
*Gerber 2-6 1-2 1 1 6
*Conrad 1-1 0-0 1 2 2
*Kauchak 4-8 12-12 10 2 20
Mock 0-1 0-0 0 4 0 Zimmerman 2-3 0-0 3 2 4 Leach 1-2 1-2 3 1 3
Totals 15-51 18-22 23 18 53
Three-point goals - Wawasee 5-18 (Lantz 2-10, Kaiser 2-6, Gerber 1-2); T. Valley 5-6 (Domenico 3-4, Drudge 1-1, Kelley 1-1 Turnovers - Wawasee 11, T. Valley 25. Fouls - Wawasee 18, T. Valley 16. Fouled out - Drudge (T. Valley), Kauchak (Wawasee).
JV -ÊT. Valley 55, Wawasee 42
Wawasee scoring - Chas Amadeo 13, Nick Richardson 10, John Adams 9, Dan Dingledein 6, Charlie Ballantine 4
T. Valley scoring -ÊTad Neeley 13, Steve Tillman 12, Jerrod Parker 7, Shane Salyer 7, Adam Nelson 5, OB Thompson 5 Chad Hoffer 2, Ryan Scherzer 2, Brady Kinsel 2 [[In-content Ad]]