Sophomore Leads Valley On Senior Night
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - It wasn't a typical Tippecanoe Valley performance.
The Vikings shot less than 50 percent from the field.
Valley looked out of sync on defense.
But in the end, it was a typical Viking result.
Valley topped an upsart Triton squad 61-47 Friday night in non-conference boys basketball action as the Vikings celebrated senior night and their last regular season home game.
While Valley's five seniors started the game, it was a sophomore who kick-started the team.
Six-foot-one Chad Hoffer went 9 of 12 from the field as he finished with 22 points.
Hoffer scored 17 points over the course of the second and third quarters as the Vikings extended a four-point lead after one quarter to 15 heading into the final eight minutes.
"He shot the ball well tonight," said Valley head coach Bill Patrick. "He has good quickness, he's athletic and plays hard."
One thing Hoffer also did well Friday night was realize his limits. Hoffer often passed up open three-pointers to instead find a teammate for a higher percentage shot.
"Right now he knows where his limits are," said Patrick. "Hopefully for next year he can expand those limits, but for now he knows sometimes to pass open shots because he doesn't feel comfortable with them."
While Hoffer led the way for Valley in scoring, he wasn't alone in terms of putting a stamp on the contest.
Senior David Lash's stamp came in the form of a thunderous dunk over the Trojans' Troy McIntyre after jumping into a Triton passing lane.
Lash, an athletic 6-4 swingman, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds despite being saddled for most of the night with foul trouble.
Foul trouble was an all-too common issue for Triton.
The Trojans finished with 23 team fouls and saw both McIntyre and senior Chad Kauffman foul out.
McIntyre picked up his fifth foul on a technical foul after teammate Lane Davis was whistled for a blocking foul. McIntyre said something not to the liking of the lead official and was forced to spend the rest of his evening on the Trojan bench.
While he was on the floor, the 6-foot-5 sophomore dominated at times.
McIntyre was aggressive on both the offensive and defensive ends as he racked up 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while pulling down three rebounds.
"Troy plays hard," said Triton head coach Jason Groves. "He won't be passive just because he's in foul trouble. He did a nice job for us on both ends of the floor and was solid on the boards."
McIntyre was also the reason Lash spent most of the night in foul trouble. Lash drew the defensive assignment on McIntyre until early in the third quarter when coach Patrick put fellow senior Shane Drudge on the talented sophomore.
A combination of Drudge's defense and foul trouble saw McIntyre score just four points in the second half and two points after the defensive switch.
Fellow sophomore Jake Everett finished with 11 points as he was the only other Triton player to finish in double-digit scoring.
T.J. Carpenter came off the Trojan bench to score eight points in the fourth quarter that was highlighted by two long-range three-pointers.
Things got sloppy in the second half as the officiating crew seemed to lose control of the contest.
Both teams got chippy with each other as elbows were thrown and shoves were doled out after perceived non-calls.
Not only was McIntyre issued a technical, but so was Valley's Bryce Kelley. Kelley was given his tech after he received a hard foul from Carpenter that sent Kelley to the floor. As Kelley got up he tossed the ball at Carpenter's back, thus drawing the technical.
While such an atmosphere may have been created by erratic officiating, both coaches refused to criticize.
"When it's played physically like it was and it's rough out there, we need to learn to keep our composure and not get caught up in what's going on," said Groves.
"Regardless of what goes on in the game you have to concentrate and for the most part we weren't affected," said Patrick. "Both teams were just out there playing hard."
Friday night marked the end of the home regular season careers of five Valley players.
Lash, Drudge, Tadd Neeley, Kelley and Aaron Reed will all get a chance to play on their home floor again as the Vikings host this year's 3A sectional.
Drudge ended his evening with 13 points and four rebounds. Kelley scored nine while Neeley and Reed failed to score.
Patrick characterized his seniors as "a good group of kids who get along both on and off the court."
With the win, Valley's 10th in a row, the Vikings move to 16-3 on the season. Valley closes out its regular season with a trip to Syracuse Friday for a matchup with a formidable Wawasee squad.
Triton drops to 11-8 on the year. The Trojans close out the regular season at home against Northern State Conference foe Knox.
The Trojans have now lost three straight after winning six in a row.
VALLEY 61, TRITON 47
Triton 11 13 10 13 - 47
T. Valley 15 16 18 12 - 61
Triton FG FT R S Pts.
*Harrison 2-4 0-1 3 0 4
*Grimm 2-4 0-0 2 2 4
*Kauffman 2-3 0-0 1 1 4
*Everett 5-6 1-2 4 0 11
*McIntyre 6-10 2-6 3 0 14
Davis 0-2 0-0 0 3 0
Hochstetler 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Carpenter 2-2 2-2 0 0 8
Faucett 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
Cooper 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Furnivall 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-36 5-11 16 6 47
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Neeley 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
*Lash 3-7 4-6 8 1 10
*Kelley 2-6 5-8 2 2 9
*Reed 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
*Drudge 4-11 4-5 4 3 13
Kindig 2-2 0-0 3 2 5
Hoffer 9-12 4-6 2 1 22
Parker 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Tillman 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Nelson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 21-44 17-25 22 9 61
Three-point goals - Triton 2-6 (Carpenter 2-2), T. Valley 2-8 (Drudge 1-3, Kindig 1-1). Turnovers - Triton 18, T. Valley 15. Fouls - Triton 23, T. Valley 15. Fouled out - McIntyre, Kauffman.
JV - Valley 54, Triton 38
Triton scoring - Keal 9, Borsa 8, Bates 5, Moriarty 4
Valley scoring - Nelson 11, Salyer 10, Ritchey 9, Scherzer 7 [[In-content Ad]]
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AKRON - It wasn't a typical Tippecanoe Valley performance.
The Vikings shot less than 50 percent from the field.
Valley looked out of sync on defense.
But in the end, it was a typical Viking result.
Valley topped an upsart Triton squad 61-47 Friday night in non-conference boys basketball action as the Vikings celebrated senior night and their last regular season home game.
While Valley's five seniors started the game, it was a sophomore who kick-started the team.
Six-foot-one Chad Hoffer went 9 of 12 from the field as he finished with 22 points.
Hoffer scored 17 points over the course of the second and third quarters as the Vikings extended a four-point lead after one quarter to 15 heading into the final eight minutes.
"He shot the ball well tonight," said Valley head coach Bill Patrick. "He has good quickness, he's athletic and plays hard."
One thing Hoffer also did well Friday night was realize his limits. Hoffer often passed up open three-pointers to instead find a teammate for a higher percentage shot.
"Right now he knows where his limits are," said Patrick. "Hopefully for next year he can expand those limits, but for now he knows sometimes to pass open shots because he doesn't feel comfortable with them."
While Hoffer led the way for Valley in scoring, he wasn't alone in terms of putting a stamp on the contest.
Senior David Lash's stamp came in the form of a thunderous dunk over the Trojans' Troy McIntyre after jumping into a Triton passing lane.
Lash, an athletic 6-4 swingman, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds despite being saddled for most of the night with foul trouble.
Foul trouble was an all-too common issue for Triton.
The Trojans finished with 23 team fouls and saw both McIntyre and senior Chad Kauffman foul out.
McIntyre picked up his fifth foul on a technical foul after teammate Lane Davis was whistled for a blocking foul. McIntyre said something not to the liking of the lead official and was forced to spend the rest of his evening on the Trojan bench.
While he was on the floor, the 6-foot-5 sophomore dominated at times.
McIntyre was aggressive on both the offensive and defensive ends as he racked up 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while pulling down three rebounds.
"Troy plays hard," said Triton head coach Jason Groves. "He won't be passive just because he's in foul trouble. He did a nice job for us on both ends of the floor and was solid on the boards."
McIntyre was also the reason Lash spent most of the night in foul trouble. Lash drew the defensive assignment on McIntyre until early in the third quarter when coach Patrick put fellow senior Shane Drudge on the talented sophomore.
A combination of Drudge's defense and foul trouble saw McIntyre score just four points in the second half and two points after the defensive switch.
Fellow sophomore Jake Everett finished with 11 points as he was the only other Triton player to finish in double-digit scoring.
T.J. Carpenter came off the Trojan bench to score eight points in the fourth quarter that was highlighted by two long-range three-pointers.
Things got sloppy in the second half as the officiating crew seemed to lose control of the contest.
Both teams got chippy with each other as elbows were thrown and shoves were doled out after perceived non-calls.
Not only was McIntyre issued a technical, but so was Valley's Bryce Kelley. Kelley was given his tech after he received a hard foul from Carpenter that sent Kelley to the floor. As Kelley got up he tossed the ball at Carpenter's back, thus drawing the technical.
While such an atmosphere may have been created by erratic officiating, both coaches refused to criticize.
"When it's played physically like it was and it's rough out there, we need to learn to keep our composure and not get caught up in what's going on," said Groves.
"Regardless of what goes on in the game you have to concentrate and for the most part we weren't affected," said Patrick. "Both teams were just out there playing hard."
Friday night marked the end of the home regular season careers of five Valley players.
Lash, Drudge, Tadd Neeley, Kelley and Aaron Reed will all get a chance to play on their home floor again as the Vikings host this year's 3A sectional.
Drudge ended his evening with 13 points and four rebounds. Kelley scored nine while Neeley and Reed failed to score.
Patrick characterized his seniors as "a good group of kids who get along both on and off the court."
With the win, Valley's 10th in a row, the Vikings move to 16-3 on the season. Valley closes out its regular season with a trip to Syracuse Friday for a matchup with a formidable Wawasee squad.
Triton drops to 11-8 on the year. The Trojans close out the regular season at home against Northern State Conference foe Knox.
The Trojans have now lost three straight after winning six in a row.
VALLEY 61, TRITON 47
Triton 11 13 10 13 - 47
T. Valley 15 16 18 12 - 61
Triton FG FT R S Pts.
*Harrison 2-4 0-1 3 0 4
*Grimm 2-4 0-0 2 2 4
*Kauffman 2-3 0-0 1 1 4
*Everett 5-6 1-2 4 0 11
*McIntyre 6-10 2-6 3 0 14
Davis 0-2 0-0 0 3 0
Hochstetler 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Carpenter 2-2 2-2 0 0 8
Faucett 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
Cooper 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Furnivall 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-36 5-11 16 6 47
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Neeley 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
*Lash 3-7 4-6 8 1 10
*Kelley 2-6 5-8 2 2 9
*Reed 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
*Drudge 4-11 4-5 4 3 13
Kindig 2-2 0-0 3 2 5
Hoffer 9-12 4-6 2 1 22
Parker 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Tillman 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Nelson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 21-44 17-25 22 9 61
Three-point goals - Triton 2-6 (Carpenter 2-2), T. Valley 2-8 (Drudge 1-3, Kindig 1-1). Turnovers - Triton 18, T. Valley 15. Fouls - Triton 23, T. Valley 15. Fouled out - McIntyre, Kauffman.
JV - Valley 54, Triton 38
Triton scoring - Keal 9, Borsa 8, Bates 5, Moriarty 4
Valley scoring - Nelson 11, Salyer 10, Ritchey 9, Scherzer 7 [[In-content Ad]]