AKRON -ÊTwo down, two to go.

Coming into the last part of the regular season, the Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team wanted to win at least three if not all four of its final games. The Vikings got one step closer to that goal after defeating Mississinewa 65-44 Friday night. They have won the first two of their final four games.

But that 20-point lead did not materialize until the second half of play.

The Vikings trailed by eight points (22-14) with 6:48 left in the second quarter. But Valley outscored Mississinewa 11-4 in the last 5:45 of the second quarter to cut that deficit to one, 26-25, at the half.

"The kids were a bit tight in the beginning," said Valley coach Gary Teel. "We were sluggish in the first quarter. We always seemed to be one step behind."

At the halftime break, Teel made some defensive adjustments and moved players to different positions for the second half.

"We made defensive adjustments," said Teel. "We adjusted our zone and switched some people to different positions. We also started trapping the ball, and that made a big difference."

Those changes definitely worked for Valley.

Rebekah Parker scored the first nine points of the third quarter to give the Vikings a 34-26 lead. Valley's defense held Mississinewa to just four points through the quarter and built a 41-30 lead heading into the fourth frame.

The Vikings continued their assault through the fourth frame, outscoring the Indians 24-14 in the quarter. Kathy Prater led the Viking fourth-quarter onslaught by scoring eight points, while her teammates Tabitha Pratt and Rebekah Parker tossed in six each.

All totaled, Valley outscored Mississinewa 40-18 in the last two quarters of play. The Vikings also forced the Indians into 20 turnovers while committing just nine.

"Our defense really stepped up in the second half," said Teel, "and we held them to 18 points. We also kept the turnovers to single digits. The girls did a good job of taking care of the basketball."

Rebekah Parker led all scorers with 25 points. She was 11 of 12 from the free throw line, 6 of 13 from the field and added five steals and five rebounds.

"Rebekah Parker had an outstanding performance," said Teel.

Prater added 16 points, pulled down five rebounds and grabbed three steals. Pratt, who missed four days of school this week with an illness, did not start but scored eight points for the Vikings.

Valley, at one time 2-5 this season, has won nine of the last 11 to improve to 11-7. Mississinewa falls to 11-6 on the season. The Vikings get little rest before traveling to South Bend Clay today for a 1 p.m. game.

The box score appears on page 2B.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 65

MISSISSINEWA 44

Mississinewa 18 8 4 14 - 44

Valley 14 11 16 24 - 65

Mississinewa FG FT R S Pts.

Mellor (G) 5-10 1-2 3 1 11

McKenzie (F) 3-7 4-7 4 0 10

Jackson (F) 3-5 1-1 2 0 7

Meade (C) 2-6 3-4 13 0 7

Colyer (G) 2-4 0-0 2 0 4

Burdette 1-2 0-0 0 1 2

Habiby 1-1 0-0 0 1 2

McCullar 0-0 1-2 0 0 1

Harness 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Hopkins 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Williams 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Hawkins 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 17-37 10-16 24 3 44

Valley FG FT R S Pts.

Re. Parker (G) 6-13 11-12 5 5 25

Prater (F) 6-8 4-4 5 3 16

Doud (G) 2-4 0-0 1 0 6

Wilcox (C) 0-3 5-6 6 0 5

Rosenstiel (F) 0-2 0-0 3 1 0

Pratt 4-9 0-1 4 1 8

Kindig 1-2 0-0 1 0 3

Green 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Shafer 0-2 0-0 1 0 0

Denny 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Ra. Parker 0-3 0-0 2 1 0

Clauson 0-3 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 20-50 20-23 29 11 65

Three-point goals -ÊMississinewa 0-1 (Burdette 0-1), Valley 5-17 (Doud 2-3, Kindig 1-1, Shafer 0-1, Ra. Parker 0-1, Pratt 0-4, Re. Parker 2-7). Fouls -ÊMississinewa 20, Valley 14. Fouls -ÊMississinewa 20, Valley 9.

JV - TIPPECANOE VALLEY 68

MISSISSINEWA 39

Valley (14-4) scoring -ÊSara Zehr 2, Emily Weaver 6, Abby Shafer 11, Sherise Denny 5, Carli Anglin 6, Holly Green 11, Beth Leckrone 8, Jenna McFadden 8, Caty Patterson 2

Mississinewa scoring -ÊMallory Simmons 2, Sheena Burdette 6, Sara Starkey 2, Randi Wilson 2, Saria Weesner 2, Brittany Williams 14, Cassie Hawkins 6, Kiley McCullar 7 [[In-content Ad]]