AKRON - Tippecanoe Valley's boys basketball team did not win the state finals, but it was a scene worthy of a state championship.

Fans swarmed the floor. Players mingled with the fans. And most, if not all, made their way to the 61-year-old gray-haired man in the dark suit standing under the north basket.

Some shook his hand and patted him on the back; some, old and young, asked for his autograph.

Standing here was Tippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick, the 20th coach in Indiana boys basketball history to reach 500 career wins. Standing here was Patrick, who owns 31 consecutive winning seasons, which the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame claims is a record.

The game was played, but the outcome already had been determined, at least by the plaque his assistant coaches handed him after Friday's game. The plaque read that Patrick reached 500 wins on Jan. 14, 2000. The players did not disappoint and there would be no need for a new plaque as the Vikings downed Northfield 55-39 in front of approximately 2,200 fans. Patrick owns a career record of 500-190 (.725).

"Winning 500 basketball games I guess is an accomplishment," Patrick said. "By the same token, it's an accomplishment a lot of people were involved in. It's not something Bill Patrick did by himself. I've had good assistant coaches. The players, fans, managers, cheerleaders and everybody else deserves credit.

"It's an honor, no question about that."

The game went as expected, but what caught Patrick off guard was seeing Michelle, his daughter. Michelle, who lives in Oklahoma, flew into Indiana today and surprised her dad by walking into the gym.

"I just talked to her last night, and she told me to call her after the game," Patrick said. "Then she walked in. I didn't have a clue. Seeing her, seeing my former players from Sidney and seeing three or four teachers, I didn't know everyone would show up."

The game started as big games seemingly do, with players pressing. Four minutes into the game, the Vikings trailed 6-0. But once the Vikings got their first basket, a layup by senior Dax Snyder, they were on their way. They tied the game at 13-13 at the end of the first quarter then won the game in the second quarter by outscoring Northfield 20-7.

"We knew the plaque was made," Valley senior center Craig Kuhn said, "so we knew we had to win it."

The Vikings took the 33-20 halftime lead. Northfield got no closer than 11 the rest of the way, and it was just a matter of time before the ceremonies began.

"The kids didn't want to lose, and they were putting pressure on themselves," Patrick said. "It was a tough situation to put them in. They were uptight.

"We had a stretch in the second quarter where we got some offense going. The big thing was we switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense. I thought we hurt them with a 1-3-1 half-court trap."

Senior forward Brandon Eaton led Valley with 19 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Trey Eaton, his brother, scored 17 off the bench.

Lost in Patrick's 500th win was the key conference win Valley picked up. The Vikings improved to 8-3 overall and 4-0 in the Three Rivers Conference, while Northfield dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the TRC.

Even Northfield coach Brian Tonsoni found it difficult to be bummed about this loss.

"I don't like to lose, but it's nice to be able to see Indiana history right before your eyes," Tonsoni said. "I'll never forget our first game against Valley. We led the whole way. We had only two days of practice after the snow last year. They beat us by three.

"I'm in the locker room, (Patrick) taps me on the shoulder and wants to talk to my team. What a privilege it is to have a man of that stature want to talk to the team and say good things. He's a classy individual."

Patrick has said never having a losing season means more to him, and the secret to his competitive drive is in the gym. She wears a yellow sweater with a green shirt underneath - Valley's school colors - and is standing by the scorer's table, steadied by her four-pronged cane. Her real name is Stella Patrick, but to fans at ballgames, she is Grandma Patrick.

In her son's first 29 years of coaching, she missed one game. She has missed more recently because of illnesses, but she did not and would not miss this one. You look at her face, you see her son's face.

"I've had five kids," she said. "I pushed them all."

"I've had five kids," she said. "I pushed them all."

More coverage on Patrick winning No. 500 will appear in Monday's Times-Union.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 55

NORTHFIELD 39

Northfield (3-6, 2-2 TRC) 13 7 10 9 - 39

T. Valley (8-3, 4-0 TRC) 13 20 11 11 - 55

T. Valley FG FT A S R Pts.

B. Eaton (F) 5-13 7-7 4 1 9 19

Snyder (F) 3-5 0-1 2 2 4 6

Kuhn (C) 3-5 0-0 0 0 1 6

Silveus (G) 1-8 0-0 2 3 9 3

A. Domenico (G) 1-5 0-0 4 4 2 2

T. Eaton 7-9 3-5 2 1 1 17

Shafer 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2

Ross 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Martin 0-0 0-1 0 0 1 0

Wagoner 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Yarian 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Harmon 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 21-48 10-14 14 11 27 55

Northfield FG FT A S R Pts.

Brainard (F) 5-11 1-3 0 1 9 11

Cordes (G) 4-10 0-0 2 1 3 10

K. Merrick (C) 3-6 1-2 0 0 3 7

Smith (F) 0-10 0-0 4 0 9 0

Swihart (G) 0-1 0-0 2 0 0 0

J. Merrick 3-5 2-2 1 0 2 8

Sherman 1-5 0-0 2 0 5 3

Denton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

McWhirt 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Gillespie 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 16-48 4-7 11 2 32 39

Three-point goals -ÊTippecanoe Valley 3-8 (B. Eaton 2-6, Silveus 1-1, Wagoner 0-1), Northfield 3-12 (Cordes 2-6, Sherman 1-4, Smith 0-1, Swihart 0-1). Turnovers - Tippecanoe Valley 6, Northfield 17. Fouled out - None. Total fouls - Tippecanoe Valley 11, Northfield 17.

JV: TIPPECANOE VALLEY 51, NORTHFIELD 30

Tippecanoe Valley (1-10) -ÊBlaine Hartzler 15, Matt Ryman 7, Casey Wise 6, Andrew Kramer 5, Brandon Harmon 4, Kyle Bruner 4, Brandon McCombs 2, Aaron Zolman 2, Jeff Whetstone 2, Shawn Severns 2, Chuck Sterk 2.

Northfield - Jason Eads 15, Todd McKillip 6, Jon Featherston 4, David Burns 2, Justin Gillespie 2, Jay McCann 1. [[In-content Ad]]