PLYMOUTH - For the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings on Monday night, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

In the opening game of the Plymouth Holiday Tournament, Valley led Rochester by 14 points midway through the third quarter. However, when the final buzzer sounded, the Zebras had bounced back for a 66-65 victory.

The key was free-throw shooting, and the Vikings couldn't do it when they had the opportunity to put away a young Rochester team. Valley made just 12 of 25 from the charity stripe, while Rochester knocked in 15 of 20. But even worse, it seemed that Valley's misses came at the wrong times.

For instance, late in the second quarter, Scott Cooksey went to the line with a chance to give his team an 11-point lead going into halftime. However, he missed both free throws and the Vikings held just a 32-23 lead at the intermission.

In the fourth quarter, Valley still led much of the quarter, but Maurice Looman, Jarvis Shepherd, Eric Love and JayDee Parker all went to the line and came away with just one out of two each as Rochester hung around.

"That's a big part of the basketball game," Valley head coach Gregg Sciarra said. "Whether it's handling the basketball or shooting free throws, you've got to do all parts. We happened to miss out on that part. We do that, and we win the game."

Valley made a big run starting late in the first quarter that extended well into the third quarter. Trailing 12-9, Rochester went on an eight-point run to take a 17-12 lead when everything fell apart. Tippecanoe Valley rolled over Rochester 25-6 in the next 13 minutes to take a 37-23 advantage.

Parker woke up at the end of the first quarter with two consecutive baskets to make the score 17-16 at the end of the frame.

Valley jumped into a full-court press to start the second quarter and it turned out well as the Vikings forced a number of turnovers to take a 22-17 lead. In that second quarter, Sciarra pushed all the right buttons. When he inserted Looman into the lineup, he responded with four points and four rebounds. When Shepherd came into the game, he sparked the team defensively with two steals and added a basket and an assist as Valley went into the break leading 32-23 after what Sciarra said was some of the best basketball his team had played this year.

"I thought we played better basketball in the first half than we have in a while," Sciarra said. "We rushed a lot of shots in the beginning, but we wanted to stick around and have a chance in the end to win it."

In the third quarter, it looked as if the Vikings would run away from Rochester. Love opened the quarter with a three-point play, and Brandon Eaton hit two free throws to make the score 37-23 with 5:29 to play. That's when it went downhill for Valley.

Rochester began to chip away at the lead, and after back-to-back baskets by Bob Prater, the Zebras were within five points at 39-34. Valley still led 42-36 going into the fourth.

The Vikings continued to hold Rochester at arms' length for the first half of the fourth quarter, but after Seth Wilson knocked in a jumper, the Zebras fought all the way back to tie the game at 50-50. That basket sparked a 9-0 run that put Rochester ahead 57-50.

Valley tried to make a late run and got within one point with 25 seconds to play, but Rochester got a lay-up and a free throw to go up by four with just eight seconds to play. Love's 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer was good but it only closed the Vikings to within one point.

Parker put together another solid game for the Vikings with 19 points and nine rebounds. Over the last three games, he is averaging 15 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Love, Eaton and Looman each tallied 11 points for Valley.

"(Parker) is getting some points around the bucket," Sciarra said. "If he's disciplined enough in his offensive game to be around there and he's doing a nice job on the boards, he can continue to help us be in ball games."

Rochester was led by Kyle Schnitz's 21 points.

Valley (1-5) will play Glenn in the consolation game today at 6:30 p.m. Glenn lost to Plymouth (8-0) in the second game on Monday night 65-31. Rochester (4-2) will play Plymouth in the finals following the Valley game. [[In-content Ad]]