Plymouth Wins Northern Lakes Conference Title
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH - Friday's boys basketball game between Plymouth and Warsaw hadn't started, but the big-game atmosphere was in place.
Plymouth fans dressed in red and Warsaw fans clad in orange packed the stands. Warsaw coach Al Rhodes and Plymouth coach Jack Edison conducted pregame interviews in front of bright television lights.
All that was left was to play the game that decided the Northern Lakes Conference champions. Plymouth, ranked No. 5 in Class 3A, entered 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the NLC. Warsaw entered 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the NLC.
The two 12-win teams battled to the finish, and Plymouth's defense, like it so often does, came up big in the Pilgrims' 48-43 win.
"First of all, we have to take our hats off to Plymouth," Rhodes said. "What a competitive conference it was. It was almost a four-way tie, but Plymouth was able to distinguish themselves.
"Their patience on offense, their patience on defense, that's what decided this game."
Plymouth won despite scoring just three points, all on free throws, in the second quarter.
Plymouth won despite foul trouble to 6-foot-4 forward Brent Houin. Houin, second on the team in scoring (12 points per game) and first in rebounding (9.0 per game), spent much of the game on the bench and finished with four points and three rebounds. With him sidelined, Plymouth had one player on the court taller than 6-1 against a Warsaw team that has six players 6-3 or taller.
Asked how Plymouth never let size become an issue, Rhodes said, "It's just a fact that they play great team defense."
And Plymouth won despite hitting just 10 of 18 free throws through the first three quarters.
That's how good Plymouth's defense is. It allowed the Pilgrims to win despite those things. Warsaw had 10 turnovers to nine field goals in the second half.
"The second half, we weren't patient enough on offense," Rhodes said. "Too many times we threw it into a crowd."
Kevin Stuckmeyer led Plymouth with 17 points, and guard Ben Snyder added 10. Junior forward Chris Clay led Warsaw with 10 points, and senior center Josh Buck added nine.
Warsaw led 21-17 at halftime, thanks to a 10-3 second-quarter advantage. The lead could have been 21-15, but Stuckmeyer did a Reggie Miller impersonation and threw himself into Warsaw's Brad Seiss on a three-point attempt as time ran out. He hit 2 of 3 free throws.
"That was a big play at halftime," Rhodes said. "We shoot too early, we foul their three-point shooter, and that closes the gap at half."
After Warsaw burned the Pilgrims with back-door plays in the first half -ÊPlymouth likes to move its defensive pressure on out beyond the free throw line - Plymouth's switching man-to-man defense buckled down in the second half and took away the easy shots.
"We just weren't patient enough," Rhodes said. "We need to move the ball side to side against them. Maybe they fought the reversals harder in the second half."
Offensively, 4 of 8 second-half three-pointers brought Plymouth back in the game.
"The second quarter they outsized us inside," Edison said. "The second half, we were able to contain their inside game a little bit and not give up quite as many high high percentage shots in the lane area."
Warsaw's lead grew to 27-19 with 5:56 left in the third quarter, but three three-pointers, including two by Snyder, pulled Plymouth back into the game at 31-30 with 2:34 left. At the end of the third, Warsaw held a 33-32 lead. Plymouth hit just one three-pointer in the first half.
"They went to more back picks than down screens in the second half," Rhodes said about Plymouth getting open more often on the perimeter. "We didn't chase their back picks hard enough."
With Warsaw leading 35-34 in the fourth, Dan Chamberlin dropped a three-pointer to put Plymouth up 37-35 with 7:07 left. Warsaw never led again, and Plymouth turned the game into a free throw contest.
The Tigers went from the 7:23 mark of the final quarter until the 2:16 mark without hitting a field goal. While Warsaw wasn't scoring, Plymouth's Stuckmeyer was knocking down free throws. Led by Stuckmeyer's 8 of 10 effort, Plymouth made 9 of 12 in the final quarter and outscored Warsaw 16-10.
"Too many times we didn't value the basketball," Rhodes said. "Once you are behind Plymouth at home, you don't catch them. They will hit their free throws in the fourth quarter."
Warsaw scored no more than 12 points in any quarter. Asked if Warsaw has seen a better defense during the regular season, Rhodes said, "And it's not even close."
No. 5 (3A) PLYMOUTH 48, WARSAW 43
Warsaw (12-6) 11 10 12 10 - 43
Plymouth (13-2) 14 3 15 16 - 48
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Buck (C) 4-7 1-2 2 0 3 9
C. Clay (F) 3-6 4-4 1 2 4 10
G. Clay (G) 1-5 1-2 0 0 2 3
Johnson (F) 0-0 2-3 4 0 2 2
Seiss (G) 1-1 2-2 0 3 4 4
Finnegan 2-8 0-0 2 1 7 4
Martin 2-5 0-0 2 1 0 4
Shaw 3-5 1-1 0 0 4 7
Foster 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Totals 16-37 12-14 12 8 26 43
Plymouth FG FT A S R Pts.
Stuckmeyer (G) 2-5 12-17 3 1 2 16
Houin (F) 1-2 2-2 2 1 3 4
Slein (C) 2-2 1-3 0 0 2 5
Snyder (G) 3-9 1-2 1 1 2 10
McNeil (F) 2-4 2-2 0 1 0 6
Scott 0-2 1-4 0 1 2 1
Clinton 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0
Wallace 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 3
Delp 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Davis 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Chamberlin 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3
Totals 13-29 19-30 7 6 12 48
Three-point goals - Plymouth 4-10 (Snyder 3-7, Chamberlin 1-2, McNeil 0-1), Warsaw 0-4 (Martin 0-3, Finnegan 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 14, Plymouth 9. Fouled out - Buck, Houin. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 20, Plymouth 16.
JV: WARSAW 43, PLYMOUTH 27
Warsaw (16-0) scoring -ÊRyan DeGeeter 14, Erik Fussle 8, William Knepper 6, Geoff Walmer 6, Riley Fuller 5, Ross Wilhite 2, Steven Kuhn 2
Plymouth (5-9) scoring -ÊJoel Girten 10, Casey Bragg 5, Adam Foust 4, Scott Bucher 4, Chris Hostetler 2, Dan Chamberlin 2
Rupley Leads Squires In Come-From-Behind Win Over Wildcats
By Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Writer
SOUTH WHITLEY -Ê"Simply en fuego."
If ESPN's Dan Patrick were at the Whitko-Manchester boys basketball game Friday night, that's how he would describe Squire Klint Rupley's second-half performance.
In the second half of play, Rupley hit 9 of 10 baskets from the field and 9 of 9 free throws for 28 points and led the Manchester squad (10-6, 5-2 TRC) to a 68-61 come-from-behind victory over Whitko (8-8, 3-4 TRC).
Manchester's win, coupled with Tippecanoe Valley's 62-59 loss to North Miami and Oak Hill's 85-53 win over Rochester, gave the Squires, Vikings and Golden Eagles each a slice of the Three Rivers Conference crown.
After Adam Wendel netted the first basket of the game, Rupley answered with one of his own to tie the score at two. But then Whitko went on a 15-0 run to take a 17-2 lead with 1:25 left in the first stanza. By the end of the first, the Wildcats were up 19-6.
Whitko continued to attack the Squires in the second frame. Josh Hoffman and Ben Garber each added six points for the Wildcats as they outscored Manchester 16-12 to take a 35-18 advantage at the half.
"In the first half we did so many things wrong that we couldn't talk about all of them," said Manchester coach Gary Goshert. "In the locker room at the half, I just got out of the way and let the players talk to each other.
"Then I said, 'The game's not over unless you want it to be over'. Obviously they did not want it to be over."
However, Rupley and his teammates refused to give up. At the 5:35 mark of the third frame, Manchester was down 41-24 when Nate Kerr hit a basket and the ensuing free throw to start an 11-2 Squire run that cut Whitko's lead to eight, 43-35, with three minutes left.
The Squires and Wildcats traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter, and Whitko held a 49-42 lead heading into the fourth frame.
"Our goal was to get to within 10 points by the end of the third quarter," said Goshert. "Going into the fourth, we had cut the difference to seven."
A Rupley three-pointer started the fourth quarter and cut Whitko's lead to four, 49-45. Manchester then continued to chip away at the Whitko lead until the 3:06 point when the Squires tied it a 54-all.
Rupley hit both ends of a one-and-one to give Manchester its first lead of the game with just 2:58 remaining in the last quarter.
The Squires never relinquished their lead from there, outscoring Whitko 12-7 in the last minutes of play to get the 68-61 win.
"I have been a varsity coach for 18 years," said Goshert, "and I don't know of anytime that I have had a bigger comeback."
Rupley, a senior in just his second year of playing basketball, finished the game with 32 points, five rebounds and three steals.
"At halftime, everybody on the team talked it over and we said we needed to get our stuff together," said Rupley. "I'm just lucky to be the one they got the ball to."
Anthony Frieden and Kerr added 10 points each for the Squires.
Brad Walpole led the Whitko scoring attack with 17 points. Brent Goble tossed in 13 points, while Josh Hoffman added 10.
MANCHESTER 68, WHITKO 61
Manchester 6 12 24 26 - 68
Whitko 19 16 14 12 - 61
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
Bechtold (F) 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
A. Sorg (G) 1-3 4-4 1 1 7
Frieden (G) 1-5 8-9 1 0 10
Kerr (F) 4-6 1-1 4 0 10
Rupley (C) 11-12 9-9 5 3 32
M. Sorg 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Dale 0-0 2-4 2 0 2
Stoops 3-3 0-0 2 1 7
Simcoe 0-3 0-0 2 0 0
Westendorf 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-34 24-27 17 5 68
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
Wendel (G) 4-12 0-1 4 4 9
Walpole (G) 5-8 5-6 0 2 17
Frantz (F) 1-3 0-0 0 1 2
Hoffman (C) 4-9 2-4 7 2 10
Goble (F) 6-7 1-2 1 2 13
Clausen 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Lopshire 0-0 2-2 1 1 2
Garber 2-5 4-4 2 1 8
Totals 19-36 14-19 14 10 61
Three-point goals -ÊManchester 4-10 (Bechtold 0-2, A. Sorg 1-2, Frieden 0-2, Stoops 1-1, Kerr 1-1, Simcoe 0-1, Rupley 1-1), Whitko 3-8 (Wendel 1-4, Walpole 2-4). Fouls -ÊManchester 18, Whitko 20. Fouled out -ÊKerr, Frantz. Turnovers -ÊManchester 14, Whitko 13
JV -ÊWHITKO 45, MANCHESTER 36
Whitko scoring -ÊMarc Walter 4, Jeremy Coble 2, Drew Spangle 6, Chris Peters 4, Alan Robbins 9, Ben Garber 3, John Woods 4, Derrick 11, Drew Lopshire 2.
Manchester scoring -ÊBarry Hicks 5, Joel Garber 2, Matt Stratka 2, Jediah Carandante 13, Pat Richardson 9, Jon Cable 4, Blake Harper 1
Valley Settles For TRC Tie
Times-Union Staff Report
DENVER - Tippecanoe Valley's boys basketball team repeated as Three Rivers Conference champion. But it didn't happen the way the Vikings wanted it to.
North Miami hosted and beat Valley 62-59 Friday, dropping Valley into a three-way tie for first in the TRC. Valley, Manchester and Oak Hill each finish the TRC season 5-2. Valley entered the night as the lone team at 5-1, so had the Vikings beaten North Miami, they would have won the title outright for the second year in a row. The Vikings won the TRC last year by going 7-0.
The Vikings fell to 11-5 overall, while North Miami improves to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in the TRC.
Valley trailed 16-15 after one quarter, 35-33 at the half and 43-41 after three quarters.
Valley hit 19 of 22 free throws to North Miami's 6 of 11, but the Warriors made up for it by hitting 25 field goals, including six three-pointers.
Matt Deeds and Brandon Fouts scored 13 each to lead a balanced North Miami scoring attack. Cody New scored 20 and Trey Eaton 17 for Valley. Only three other players scored for Valley.
The Vikings are at Peru tonight for a rescheduled game. The junior varsity game begins at 6:15 p.m.
NORTH MIAMI 62, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 59
Valley (11-5) 15 18 8 16 - 59
North Miami (7-8) 16 19 8 19 - 62
Valley -ÊDrew Shafer 3 4-4 11, Ross Stutzman 0 0-0 0, Anthony Domenico 1 1-2 3, Trey Eaton 6 5-6 17, Andy Martin 3 2-2 8, Brandon Harmon 0 0-0 0, Cody New 6 7-8 20, Blaine Hartzler 0 0-0 0. Totals -Ê19 19-22 59.
North Miami -ÊDeeds 6 0-1 13, Mavrick 2 0-0 4, Bowers 5 1-2 11, B. Fouts 5 0-1 13, Hostetler 1 0-1 3, Linn 1 2-2 3, L. Fouts 4 3-4 11, Haynes 0 0-0 0, Garvin 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 6-11 62.
Three-point goals - North Miami 6 (B. Fouts 3, Hostetler, Linn, Deeds), Valley 2 (New, Shafer). Fouled out -ÊMartin. Total fouls -ÊValley 19, North Miami 15.
JV: N/A
TRITON 51, BREMEN 40
Friday in Bourbon
Triton's boys basketball team outscored Bremen 14-7 in the third quarter and 34-20 in the second half en route to the Friday win.
Jake Burnett scored 12 for Triton, and Tyson Blackford added nine. Sam Yoder and Nick Bragg scored eight each for Bremen.
Triton improves to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the NSC, while Bremen falls to 6-9 overall and 3-3 in the NSC.
Bremen (6-9) 8 12 7 13 - 40
Triton (11-4) 7 13 14 17 - 51
Triton -ÊTyson Blackford 3-7 2-4 9, Eric Disher 0-2 3-4 3, Steven Boyer 1-5 3-4 6, Jake Burnett 4-8 2-4 12, Matt Landis 1-4 0-1 2, Joey Potter 1-2 4-5 6, Derek Sauer 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Jim Read 1-4 3-6 5, Ben Moore 4-5 0-3 8. Totals -Ê15-38 17-32 51.
Bremen -ÊBragg 3 2-2 8, O'Keefe 0 0-0 0, Faulstich 2 1-1 6, Alvarado 2 2-2 7, Yoder 2 3-4 8, Brock 1 1-2 3, Bryant 1 0-0 2, Neeley 2 0-0 4, Haines 0 1-2 1, Cunningham 0 1-3 1. Totals -Ê13 11-16 40.
Three-point goals - Triton 4-10 (Burnett 2-3, Boyer 1-3, Blackford 1-2, Landis 0-1, Disher 0-1), Bremen 3 (Alvarado, Faulstich, Yoder). Turnovers -ÊTriton 15, Bremen 20. Fouled out -ÊAlvarado. Total fouls - Triton 21, Bremen 25. Rebounds -ÊTriton 25 (Blackford 4, B. Moore 4), Bremen 19. Assists - Triton 10 (Blackford 4), Bremen 4. Steals - Triton 4 (Landis 2), Bremen 3.
JV: N/A
GOSHEN 55, WAWASEE 41
Friday in Goshen
Wawasee scored just 12 points in the first half as the Warriors lost to Goshen for the second time this season.
Goshen won at Wawasee 68-55 in December in the NLC Tournament.
Goshen led 22-12 at halftime. Goshen hit 16 of 20 free throws (80 percent) in the game, while Wawasee hit just 5 of 14 (36 percent).
Brandon Hughes scored 16 for Goshen, and Jeremiah Gamauf added 15. Andrew Packer scored 15 and Justin VanLue 13 for Wawasee.
Goshen improves to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the NLC, while Wawasee falls to 4-12 overall and 1-6 in the NLC.
Wawasee (4-12) 6 6 15 14 - 41
Goshen (9-7) 11 11 15 18 - 55
Wawasee -ÊBrent Doty 0 0-1 0, Steve Conrad 1 0-0 3, Travis Klenke 0 0-0 0, Justin VanLue 5 0-0 13, Brian Adkins 1 0-0 2, Scott Beasley 0 0-0 0, Beau Brumbaugh 0 0-0 0, Greg Abbs 0 0-0 0, Kyle Lantz 0 0-0 0, Clint Custer 3 1-4 7, Andy Popenfoose 0 1-2 1, Andrew Packer 6 3-7 15. Totals - 16 5-14 41.
Goshen -ÊNick McCloughen 0 0-0 0, Matt Beckett 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Latham 2 3-4 7, Jeremiah Gamauf 4 6-8 15, Jamie Graber 0 0-0 0, Justin Schnell 0 0-0 0, Matt Szynal 0 2-2 2, Brandon Hughes 6 4-4 16, Matt Lewallen 1 0-0 2, Andrew Hershberger 6 1-2 13, Zach Sholtz 0 0-0 0, Jeff Cotaerman 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-20 55.
Three-point goals -ÊGoshen 1 (Gamauf), Wawasee 4 (VanLue 3, Conrad). Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls - Wawasee 18, Goshen 17.
JV: WAWASEE 55, GOSHEN 39
NORTHWOOD 58, ELKHART MEMORIAL 55 (OT)
Friday in Elkhart
NorthWood outrebounded Elkhart Memorial 34-18 in the 58-55 Friday overtime road win.
NorthWood's Willy Will had 18 points and six rebounds, and Rory Clouse added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Robbie Lightfoot tallied 12 points as well.
Quennel Young scored 21 for Memorial.
NorthWood improves to 11-4 overall and 5-2 in the NLC. Memorial falls to 5-11 overall and 3-4 in the NLC.
NorthWood (11-4) -ÊWill 8-15 2-6 18, Reynolds 2-2 0-0 4, Lightfoot 4-8 2-2 12, Bradley 2-8 4-6 10, Clouse 4-12 2-2 12, Clem 0 0-0 0, Santis 1-2 0-0 2. Totals -Ê21-47 10-16 58.
Memorial (5-11) - Smith 4-12 2-2 14, Sears 3-4 1-3 8, Young 9-16 2-3 21, Miller 3-6 0-0 6, Murphy 0-3 0-0 0, B. Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Booze 0-1 0-0 0, Osborn 3-9 0-0 6. Totals 22-53 5-8.
Three-point goals - NorthWood 6-15 (Clouse 2-6, Lightfoot 2-5, Bradley 2-4), Memorial 6-13 (Smith 4-8, Young 1-3, Sears 1-1, Osborn 0-1). Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls -ÊNorthWood 14, Memorial 19. Rebounds - NorthWood 34 (Clouse 12, Bradley 8), Memorial 18 (Miller 5, Sears 5). Turnovers -ÊMemorial 10, NorthWood 21.
JV: MEMORIAL 53, NORTHWOOD 37 [[In-content Ad]]
PLYMOUTH - Friday's boys basketball game between Plymouth and Warsaw hadn't started, but the big-game atmosphere was in place.
Plymouth fans dressed in red and Warsaw fans clad in orange packed the stands. Warsaw coach Al Rhodes and Plymouth coach Jack Edison conducted pregame interviews in front of bright television lights.
All that was left was to play the game that decided the Northern Lakes Conference champions. Plymouth, ranked No. 5 in Class 3A, entered 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the NLC. Warsaw entered 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the NLC.
The two 12-win teams battled to the finish, and Plymouth's defense, like it so often does, came up big in the Pilgrims' 48-43 win.
"First of all, we have to take our hats off to Plymouth," Rhodes said. "What a competitive conference it was. It was almost a four-way tie, but Plymouth was able to distinguish themselves.
"Their patience on offense, their patience on defense, that's what decided this game."
Plymouth won despite scoring just three points, all on free throws, in the second quarter.
Plymouth won despite foul trouble to 6-foot-4 forward Brent Houin. Houin, second on the team in scoring (12 points per game) and first in rebounding (9.0 per game), spent much of the game on the bench and finished with four points and three rebounds. With him sidelined, Plymouth had one player on the court taller than 6-1 against a Warsaw team that has six players 6-3 or taller.
Asked how Plymouth never let size become an issue, Rhodes said, "It's just a fact that they play great team defense."
And Plymouth won despite hitting just 10 of 18 free throws through the first three quarters.
That's how good Plymouth's defense is. It allowed the Pilgrims to win despite those things. Warsaw had 10 turnovers to nine field goals in the second half.
"The second half, we weren't patient enough on offense," Rhodes said. "Too many times we threw it into a crowd."
Kevin Stuckmeyer led Plymouth with 17 points, and guard Ben Snyder added 10. Junior forward Chris Clay led Warsaw with 10 points, and senior center Josh Buck added nine.
Warsaw led 21-17 at halftime, thanks to a 10-3 second-quarter advantage. The lead could have been 21-15, but Stuckmeyer did a Reggie Miller impersonation and threw himself into Warsaw's Brad Seiss on a three-point attempt as time ran out. He hit 2 of 3 free throws.
"That was a big play at halftime," Rhodes said. "We shoot too early, we foul their three-point shooter, and that closes the gap at half."
After Warsaw burned the Pilgrims with back-door plays in the first half -ÊPlymouth likes to move its defensive pressure on out beyond the free throw line - Plymouth's switching man-to-man defense buckled down in the second half and took away the easy shots.
"We just weren't patient enough," Rhodes said. "We need to move the ball side to side against them. Maybe they fought the reversals harder in the second half."
Offensively, 4 of 8 second-half three-pointers brought Plymouth back in the game.
"The second quarter they outsized us inside," Edison said. "The second half, we were able to contain their inside game a little bit and not give up quite as many high high percentage shots in the lane area."
Warsaw's lead grew to 27-19 with 5:56 left in the third quarter, but three three-pointers, including two by Snyder, pulled Plymouth back into the game at 31-30 with 2:34 left. At the end of the third, Warsaw held a 33-32 lead. Plymouth hit just one three-pointer in the first half.
"They went to more back picks than down screens in the second half," Rhodes said about Plymouth getting open more often on the perimeter. "We didn't chase their back picks hard enough."
With Warsaw leading 35-34 in the fourth, Dan Chamberlin dropped a three-pointer to put Plymouth up 37-35 with 7:07 left. Warsaw never led again, and Plymouth turned the game into a free throw contest.
The Tigers went from the 7:23 mark of the final quarter until the 2:16 mark without hitting a field goal. While Warsaw wasn't scoring, Plymouth's Stuckmeyer was knocking down free throws. Led by Stuckmeyer's 8 of 10 effort, Plymouth made 9 of 12 in the final quarter and outscored Warsaw 16-10.
"Too many times we didn't value the basketball," Rhodes said. "Once you are behind Plymouth at home, you don't catch them. They will hit their free throws in the fourth quarter."
Warsaw scored no more than 12 points in any quarter. Asked if Warsaw has seen a better defense during the regular season, Rhodes said, "And it's not even close."
No. 5 (3A) PLYMOUTH 48, WARSAW 43
Warsaw (12-6) 11 10 12 10 - 43
Plymouth (13-2) 14 3 15 16 - 48
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Buck (C) 4-7 1-2 2 0 3 9
C. Clay (F) 3-6 4-4 1 2 4 10
G. Clay (G) 1-5 1-2 0 0 2 3
Johnson (F) 0-0 2-3 4 0 2 2
Seiss (G) 1-1 2-2 0 3 4 4
Finnegan 2-8 0-0 2 1 7 4
Martin 2-5 0-0 2 1 0 4
Shaw 3-5 1-1 0 0 4 7
Foster 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Totals 16-37 12-14 12 8 26 43
Plymouth FG FT A S R Pts.
Stuckmeyer (G) 2-5 12-17 3 1 2 16
Houin (F) 1-2 2-2 2 1 3 4
Slein (C) 2-2 1-3 0 0 2 5
Snyder (G) 3-9 1-2 1 1 2 10
McNeil (F) 2-4 2-2 0 1 0 6
Scott 0-2 1-4 0 1 2 1
Clinton 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0
Wallace 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 3
Delp 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Davis 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Chamberlin 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3
Totals 13-29 19-30 7 6 12 48
Three-point goals - Plymouth 4-10 (Snyder 3-7, Chamberlin 1-2, McNeil 0-1), Warsaw 0-4 (Martin 0-3, Finnegan 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 14, Plymouth 9. Fouled out - Buck, Houin. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 20, Plymouth 16.
JV: WARSAW 43, PLYMOUTH 27
Warsaw (16-0) scoring -ÊRyan DeGeeter 14, Erik Fussle 8, William Knepper 6, Geoff Walmer 6, Riley Fuller 5, Ross Wilhite 2, Steven Kuhn 2
Plymouth (5-9) scoring -ÊJoel Girten 10, Casey Bragg 5, Adam Foust 4, Scott Bucher 4, Chris Hostetler 2, Dan Chamberlin 2
Rupley Leads Squires In Come-From-Behind Win Over Wildcats
By Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Writer
SOUTH WHITLEY -Ê"Simply en fuego."
If ESPN's Dan Patrick were at the Whitko-Manchester boys basketball game Friday night, that's how he would describe Squire Klint Rupley's second-half performance.
In the second half of play, Rupley hit 9 of 10 baskets from the field and 9 of 9 free throws for 28 points and led the Manchester squad (10-6, 5-2 TRC) to a 68-61 come-from-behind victory over Whitko (8-8, 3-4 TRC).
Manchester's win, coupled with Tippecanoe Valley's 62-59 loss to North Miami and Oak Hill's 85-53 win over Rochester, gave the Squires, Vikings and Golden Eagles each a slice of the Three Rivers Conference crown.
After Adam Wendel netted the first basket of the game, Rupley answered with one of his own to tie the score at two. But then Whitko went on a 15-0 run to take a 17-2 lead with 1:25 left in the first stanza. By the end of the first, the Wildcats were up 19-6.
Whitko continued to attack the Squires in the second frame. Josh Hoffman and Ben Garber each added six points for the Wildcats as they outscored Manchester 16-12 to take a 35-18 advantage at the half.
"In the first half we did so many things wrong that we couldn't talk about all of them," said Manchester coach Gary Goshert. "In the locker room at the half, I just got out of the way and let the players talk to each other.
"Then I said, 'The game's not over unless you want it to be over'. Obviously they did not want it to be over."
However, Rupley and his teammates refused to give up. At the 5:35 mark of the third frame, Manchester was down 41-24 when Nate Kerr hit a basket and the ensuing free throw to start an 11-2 Squire run that cut Whitko's lead to eight, 43-35, with three minutes left.
The Squires and Wildcats traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter, and Whitko held a 49-42 lead heading into the fourth frame.
"Our goal was to get to within 10 points by the end of the third quarter," said Goshert. "Going into the fourth, we had cut the difference to seven."
A Rupley three-pointer started the fourth quarter and cut Whitko's lead to four, 49-45. Manchester then continued to chip away at the Whitko lead until the 3:06 point when the Squires tied it a 54-all.
Rupley hit both ends of a one-and-one to give Manchester its first lead of the game with just 2:58 remaining in the last quarter.
The Squires never relinquished their lead from there, outscoring Whitko 12-7 in the last minutes of play to get the 68-61 win.
"I have been a varsity coach for 18 years," said Goshert, "and I don't know of anytime that I have had a bigger comeback."
Rupley, a senior in just his second year of playing basketball, finished the game with 32 points, five rebounds and three steals.
"At halftime, everybody on the team talked it over and we said we needed to get our stuff together," said Rupley. "I'm just lucky to be the one they got the ball to."
Anthony Frieden and Kerr added 10 points each for the Squires.
Brad Walpole led the Whitko scoring attack with 17 points. Brent Goble tossed in 13 points, while Josh Hoffman added 10.
MANCHESTER 68, WHITKO 61
Manchester 6 12 24 26 - 68
Whitko 19 16 14 12 - 61
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
Bechtold (F) 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
A. Sorg (G) 1-3 4-4 1 1 7
Frieden (G) 1-5 8-9 1 0 10
Kerr (F) 4-6 1-1 4 0 10
Rupley (C) 11-12 9-9 5 3 32
M. Sorg 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Dale 0-0 2-4 2 0 2
Stoops 3-3 0-0 2 1 7
Simcoe 0-3 0-0 2 0 0
Westendorf 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-34 24-27 17 5 68
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
Wendel (G) 4-12 0-1 4 4 9
Walpole (G) 5-8 5-6 0 2 17
Frantz (F) 1-3 0-0 0 1 2
Hoffman (C) 4-9 2-4 7 2 10
Goble (F) 6-7 1-2 1 2 13
Clausen 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Lopshire 0-0 2-2 1 1 2
Garber 2-5 4-4 2 1 8
Totals 19-36 14-19 14 10 61
Three-point goals -ÊManchester 4-10 (Bechtold 0-2, A. Sorg 1-2, Frieden 0-2, Stoops 1-1, Kerr 1-1, Simcoe 0-1, Rupley 1-1), Whitko 3-8 (Wendel 1-4, Walpole 2-4). Fouls -ÊManchester 18, Whitko 20. Fouled out -ÊKerr, Frantz. Turnovers -ÊManchester 14, Whitko 13
JV -ÊWHITKO 45, MANCHESTER 36
Whitko scoring -ÊMarc Walter 4, Jeremy Coble 2, Drew Spangle 6, Chris Peters 4, Alan Robbins 9, Ben Garber 3, John Woods 4, Derrick 11, Drew Lopshire 2.
Manchester scoring -ÊBarry Hicks 5, Joel Garber 2, Matt Stratka 2, Jediah Carandante 13, Pat Richardson 9, Jon Cable 4, Blake Harper 1
Valley Settles For TRC Tie
Times-Union Staff Report
DENVER - Tippecanoe Valley's boys basketball team repeated as Three Rivers Conference champion. But it didn't happen the way the Vikings wanted it to.
North Miami hosted and beat Valley 62-59 Friday, dropping Valley into a three-way tie for first in the TRC. Valley, Manchester and Oak Hill each finish the TRC season 5-2. Valley entered the night as the lone team at 5-1, so had the Vikings beaten North Miami, they would have won the title outright for the second year in a row. The Vikings won the TRC last year by going 7-0.
The Vikings fell to 11-5 overall, while North Miami improves to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in the TRC.
Valley trailed 16-15 after one quarter, 35-33 at the half and 43-41 after three quarters.
Valley hit 19 of 22 free throws to North Miami's 6 of 11, but the Warriors made up for it by hitting 25 field goals, including six three-pointers.
Matt Deeds and Brandon Fouts scored 13 each to lead a balanced North Miami scoring attack. Cody New scored 20 and Trey Eaton 17 for Valley. Only three other players scored for Valley.
The Vikings are at Peru tonight for a rescheduled game. The junior varsity game begins at 6:15 p.m.
NORTH MIAMI 62, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 59
Valley (11-5) 15 18 8 16 - 59
North Miami (7-8) 16 19 8 19 - 62
Valley -ÊDrew Shafer 3 4-4 11, Ross Stutzman 0 0-0 0, Anthony Domenico 1 1-2 3, Trey Eaton 6 5-6 17, Andy Martin 3 2-2 8, Brandon Harmon 0 0-0 0, Cody New 6 7-8 20, Blaine Hartzler 0 0-0 0. Totals -Ê19 19-22 59.
North Miami -ÊDeeds 6 0-1 13, Mavrick 2 0-0 4, Bowers 5 1-2 11, B. Fouts 5 0-1 13, Hostetler 1 0-1 3, Linn 1 2-2 3, L. Fouts 4 3-4 11, Haynes 0 0-0 0, Garvin 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 6-11 62.
Three-point goals - North Miami 6 (B. Fouts 3, Hostetler, Linn, Deeds), Valley 2 (New, Shafer). Fouled out -ÊMartin. Total fouls -ÊValley 19, North Miami 15.
JV: N/A
TRITON 51, BREMEN 40
Friday in Bourbon
Triton's boys basketball team outscored Bremen 14-7 in the third quarter and 34-20 in the second half en route to the Friday win.
Jake Burnett scored 12 for Triton, and Tyson Blackford added nine. Sam Yoder and Nick Bragg scored eight each for Bremen.
Triton improves to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the NSC, while Bremen falls to 6-9 overall and 3-3 in the NSC.
Bremen (6-9) 8 12 7 13 - 40
Triton (11-4) 7 13 14 17 - 51
Triton -ÊTyson Blackford 3-7 2-4 9, Eric Disher 0-2 3-4 3, Steven Boyer 1-5 3-4 6, Jake Burnett 4-8 2-4 12, Matt Landis 1-4 0-1 2, Joey Potter 1-2 4-5 6, Derek Sauer 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Jim Read 1-4 3-6 5, Ben Moore 4-5 0-3 8. Totals -Ê15-38 17-32 51.
Bremen -ÊBragg 3 2-2 8, O'Keefe 0 0-0 0, Faulstich 2 1-1 6, Alvarado 2 2-2 7, Yoder 2 3-4 8, Brock 1 1-2 3, Bryant 1 0-0 2, Neeley 2 0-0 4, Haines 0 1-2 1, Cunningham 0 1-3 1. Totals -Ê13 11-16 40.
Three-point goals - Triton 4-10 (Burnett 2-3, Boyer 1-3, Blackford 1-2, Landis 0-1, Disher 0-1), Bremen 3 (Alvarado, Faulstich, Yoder). Turnovers -ÊTriton 15, Bremen 20. Fouled out -ÊAlvarado. Total fouls - Triton 21, Bremen 25. Rebounds -ÊTriton 25 (Blackford 4, B. Moore 4), Bremen 19. Assists - Triton 10 (Blackford 4), Bremen 4. Steals - Triton 4 (Landis 2), Bremen 3.
JV: N/A
GOSHEN 55, WAWASEE 41
Friday in Goshen
Wawasee scored just 12 points in the first half as the Warriors lost to Goshen for the second time this season.
Goshen won at Wawasee 68-55 in December in the NLC Tournament.
Goshen led 22-12 at halftime. Goshen hit 16 of 20 free throws (80 percent) in the game, while Wawasee hit just 5 of 14 (36 percent).
Brandon Hughes scored 16 for Goshen, and Jeremiah Gamauf added 15. Andrew Packer scored 15 and Justin VanLue 13 for Wawasee.
Goshen improves to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the NLC, while Wawasee falls to 4-12 overall and 1-6 in the NLC.
Wawasee (4-12) 6 6 15 14 - 41
Goshen (9-7) 11 11 15 18 - 55
Wawasee -ÊBrent Doty 0 0-1 0, Steve Conrad 1 0-0 3, Travis Klenke 0 0-0 0, Justin VanLue 5 0-0 13, Brian Adkins 1 0-0 2, Scott Beasley 0 0-0 0, Beau Brumbaugh 0 0-0 0, Greg Abbs 0 0-0 0, Kyle Lantz 0 0-0 0, Clint Custer 3 1-4 7, Andy Popenfoose 0 1-2 1, Andrew Packer 6 3-7 15. Totals - 16 5-14 41.
Goshen -ÊNick McCloughen 0 0-0 0, Matt Beckett 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Latham 2 3-4 7, Jeremiah Gamauf 4 6-8 15, Jamie Graber 0 0-0 0, Justin Schnell 0 0-0 0, Matt Szynal 0 2-2 2, Brandon Hughes 6 4-4 16, Matt Lewallen 1 0-0 2, Andrew Hershberger 6 1-2 13, Zach Sholtz 0 0-0 0, Jeff Cotaerman 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-20 55.
Three-point goals -ÊGoshen 1 (Gamauf), Wawasee 4 (VanLue 3, Conrad). Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls - Wawasee 18, Goshen 17.
JV: WAWASEE 55, GOSHEN 39
NORTHWOOD 58, ELKHART MEMORIAL 55 (OT)
Friday in Elkhart
NorthWood outrebounded Elkhart Memorial 34-18 in the 58-55 Friday overtime road win.
NorthWood's Willy Will had 18 points and six rebounds, and Rory Clouse added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Robbie Lightfoot tallied 12 points as well.
Quennel Young scored 21 for Memorial.
NorthWood improves to 11-4 overall and 5-2 in the NLC. Memorial falls to 5-11 overall and 3-4 in the NLC.
NorthWood (11-4) -ÊWill 8-15 2-6 18, Reynolds 2-2 0-0 4, Lightfoot 4-8 2-2 12, Bradley 2-8 4-6 10, Clouse 4-12 2-2 12, Clem 0 0-0 0, Santis 1-2 0-0 2. Totals -Ê21-47 10-16 58.
Memorial (5-11) - Smith 4-12 2-2 14, Sears 3-4 1-3 8, Young 9-16 2-3 21, Miller 3-6 0-0 6, Murphy 0-3 0-0 0, B. Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Booze 0-1 0-0 0, Osborn 3-9 0-0 6. Totals 22-53 5-8.
Three-point goals - NorthWood 6-15 (Clouse 2-6, Lightfoot 2-5, Bradley 2-4), Memorial 6-13 (Smith 4-8, Young 1-3, Sears 1-1, Osborn 0-1). Fouled out -Ênone. Total fouls -ÊNorthWood 14, Memorial 19. Rebounds - NorthWood 34 (Clouse 12, Bradley 8), Memorial 18 (Miller 5, Sears 5). Turnovers -ÊMemorial 10, NorthWood 21.
JV: MEMORIAL 53, NORTHWOOD 37 [[In-content Ad]]