Valley Avoids Letdown To Win Title
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH - For Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball coach Bill Patrick, Saturday's Plymouth 3A Sectional championship game with Culver Military Academy was a dream come true that could have turned into a nightmare.
It's the scenario of a major league baseball team having champagne on ice before the game has been played. After the Vikings knocked off 16-6 Plymouth Friday in the semifinals, this is what Patrick said was his worst fear, that fans would take 10-11 CMA too lightly.
Valley won 51-40, but like those baseball teams, the Vikings had their championship shirts on less than five minutes after the game had been played.
"The same thing happened that I thought would happen," said Patrick. "The kids weren't ready to play. You can tell kids something, but they don't always listen. I don't know if Friday's game took a lot out of them emotionally, but they weren't ready to play."
Valley senior Brandon Eaton said after the 11-point win that he had the same concern as Patrick, that defeating Plymouth meant an automatic sectional championship.
"That was my big concern," said Eaton. "I told the guys we'd celebrate last night's (Friday) win tonight (Saturday). Our defense picked it up, that's what's picked us up in the sectional."
Valley's defense forced the Eagles into seven turnovers in the first quarter Saturday; Valley had but three. CMA finished the game with 19 turnovers, while the Vikings turned the ball over 11 times.
The win improves Valley's overall season record to 18-5, while the Eagles finish their season at 10-12.
The sectional championship is the first since 1997, the last year of the traditional one-class tournament, for the Vikings, who have now won five sectional championships in school history.
Patrick, in his second year at Valley, has now won 12 sectionals in his coaching career.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter on a three-pointer and field goal from Eaton, but CMA's 6-foot-6 junior center Jackson Atoyebi scored the game's next four points. Valley led 10-7 after one quarter of play despite shooting 4 of 13 from the field.
Eaton scored seven points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 25. He also pulled down six rebounds and made four steals. The Vikings also got nine points from junior Cody New, six from freshman Trey Eaton, five from senior Noah Silveus and four from senior Craig Kuhn. Senior Justin Ross rounded out the Valley scoring attack with a lone field goal for two points.
Atoyebi led the Eagles in the scoring column with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. He also was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe and pulled down 15 boards.
"The big kid is tough," said Patrick. "Give CMA credit."
The Eagles also got double-figure scoring from freshman Cole Herr who scored 12.
Valley went into the locker room at halftime with a 20-15 lead after outscoring CMA 10-8 in the second stanza. All of the Vikings' second-quarter points came from the Eatons. Brandon scored four and Trey six.
It was Trey Eaton's three consecutive field goals that brought Valley from being down 15-12 to leading 18-15.
"He came in and gave us a fire we desperately needed," said Brandon Eaton of his younger brother. "He had a couple put backs and a couple of rebounds that really helped us out a lot."
After Trey Eaton ignited Valley's fire, the Eagles trailed by at least four up until the 5:47 mark of the final frame, when a three-pointer from Herr cut Valley's lead to one, 36-35.
"All I wanted to do was get to the fourth quarter with a chance for a victory," said CMA coach C.J. Kersey. "Tippecanoe Valley just executed better down the stretch."
The Vikings responded to Herr's trey with a 12-0 run that pushed the score to 48-35. Valley got four points each from Brandon Eaton and New in that stretch.
"We had one or two turnovers and a couple of shots that didn't go in," said Kersey. "Tippecanoe Valley had good shot selection and got the ball inside."
Valley outscored the Eagles 17-15 in the fourth quarter en route to the 11-point win.
The Vikings will play at 18-5 West Lafayette Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the regional round of the state tournament.
Tippecanoe Valley has never won a regional championship.
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was to have a winning season, win the TRC and win the sectional," said Patrick. "The kids also wanted to have more wins than any Valley team has ever had. Our goal now is to win the tournament. We'll have to play better than we did tonight (Saturday), but I think we can play with anybody in the state."
The most wins a Valley team has ever had is 20 under Floyd Henson in the 1976-77 season, when the Vikings were 20-2.
VALLEY 51, CMA 40
T. Valley (18-5) 10 10 14 17 - 51
CMA (10-12) 7 8 10 15 - 40
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
Silveus (G) 2-5 0-0 4 4 5
B. Eaton (G) 8-17 6-7 6 4 25
Domenico (F) 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
New (F) 4-12 1-4 7 1 9
Kuhn (C) 1-2 2-2 1 2 4
Ross 1-1 0-1 5 1 2
T. Eaton 3-5 0-3 5 0 6
Harmon 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Snyder 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Shafer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Martin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wagoner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Yarian 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 19-43 9-17 28 14 51
CMA FG FT R S Pts.
Hanyzewski (G) 1-3 1-2 2 2 3
Cummings (G) 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
Herr (F) 4-15 2-2 2 0 12
Fraction (F) 2-8 0-1 1 2 4
Atoyebi (C) 7-13 6-6 15 2 21
Tabib 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Moramel 0-0 0-0 3 1 0
Totals 14-40 9-12 25 8 40
Three-point goals - Valley 4 (B. Eaton 3, Silveus 1), CMA 2 (Herr 2). Turnovers - Valley 11, CMA 19. Fouls - Valley 18, CMA 20. Fouled out - Fraction. [[In-content Ad]]
PLYMOUTH - For Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball coach Bill Patrick, Saturday's Plymouth 3A Sectional championship game with Culver Military Academy was a dream come true that could have turned into a nightmare.
It's the scenario of a major league baseball team having champagne on ice before the game has been played. After the Vikings knocked off 16-6 Plymouth Friday in the semifinals, this is what Patrick said was his worst fear, that fans would take 10-11 CMA too lightly.
Valley won 51-40, but like those baseball teams, the Vikings had their championship shirts on less than five minutes after the game had been played.
"The same thing happened that I thought would happen," said Patrick. "The kids weren't ready to play. You can tell kids something, but they don't always listen. I don't know if Friday's game took a lot out of them emotionally, but they weren't ready to play."
Valley senior Brandon Eaton said after the 11-point win that he had the same concern as Patrick, that defeating Plymouth meant an automatic sectional championship.
"That was my big concern," said Eaton. "I told the guys we'd celebrate last night's (Friday) win tonight (Saturday). Our defense picked it up, that's what's picked us up in the sectional."
Valley's defense forced the Eagles into seven turnovers in the first quarter Saturday; Valley had but three. CMA finished the game with 19 turnovers, while the Vikings turned the ball over 11 times.
The win improves Valley's overall season record to 18-5, while the Eagles finish their season at 10-12.
The sectional championship is the first since 1997, the last year of the traditional one-class tournament, for the Vikings, who have now won five sectional championships in school history.
Patrick, in his second year at Valley, has now won 12 sectionals in his coaching career.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter on a three-pointer and field goal from Eaton, but CMA's 6-foot-6 junior center Jackson Atoyebi scored the game's next four points. Valley led 10-7 after one quarter of play despite shooting 4 of 13 from the field.
Eaton scored seven points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 25. He also pulled down six rebounds and made four steals. The Vikings also got nine points from junior Cody New, six from freshman Trey Eaton, five from senior Noah Silveus and four from senior Craig Kuhn. Senior Justin Ross rounded out the Valley scoring attack with a lone field goal for two points.
Atoyebi led the Eagles in the scoring column with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. He also was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe and pulled down 15 boards.
"The big kid is tough," said Patrick. "Give CMA credit."
The Eagles also got double-figure scoring from freshman Cole Herr who scored 12.
Valley went into the locker room at halftime with a 20-15 lead after outscoring CMA 10-8 in the second stanza. All of the Vikings' second-quarter points came from the Eatons. Brandon scored four and Trey six.
It was Trey Eaton's three consecutive field goals that brought Valley from being down 15-12 to leading 18-15.
"He came in and gave us a fire we desperately needed," said Brandon Eaton of his younger brother. "He had a couple put backs and a couple of rebounds that really helped us out a lot."
After Trey Eaton ignited Valley's fire, the Eagles trailed by at least four up until the 5:47 mark of the final frame, when a three-pointer from Herr cut Valley's lead to one, 36-35.
"All I wanted to do was get to the fourth quarter with a chance for a victory," said CMA coach C.J. Kersey. "Tippecanoe Valley just executed better down the stretch."
The Vikings responded to Herr's trey with a 12-0 run that pushed the score to 48-35. Valley got four points each from Brandon Eaton and New in that stretch.
"We had one or two turnovers and a couple of shots that didn't go in," said Kersey. "Tippecanoe Valley had good shot selection and got the ball inside."
Valley outscored the Eagles 17-15 in the fourth quarter en route to the 11-point win.
The Vikings will play at 18-5 West Lafayette Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the regional round of the state tournament.
Tippecanoe Valley has never won a regional championship.
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was to have a winning season, win the TRC and win the sectional," said Patrick. "The kids also wanted to have more wins than any Valley team has ever had. Our goal now is to win the tournament. We'll have to play better than we did tonight (Saturday), but I think we can play with anybody in the state."
The most wins a Valley team has ever had is 20 under Floyd Henson in the 1976-77 season, when the Vikings were 20-2.
VALLEY 51, CMA 40
T. Valley (18-5) 10 10 14 17 - 51
CMA (10-12) 7 8 10 15 - 40
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
Silveus (G) 2-5 0-0 4 4 5
B. Eaton (G) 8-17 6-7 6 4 25
Domenico (F) 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
New (F) 4-12 1-4 7 1 9
Kuhn (C) 1-2 2-2 1 2 4
Ross 1-1 0-1 5 1 2
T. Eaton 3-5 0-3 5 0 6
Harmon 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Snyder 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Shafer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Martin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wagoner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Yarian 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 19-43 9-17 28 14 51
CMA FG FT R S Pts.
Hanyzewski (G) 1-3 1-2 2 2 3
Cummings (G) 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
Herr (F) 4-15 2-2 2 0 12
Fraction (F) 2-8 0-1 1 2 4
Atoyebi (C) 7-13 6-6 15 2 21
Tabib 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Moramel 0-0 0-0 3 1 0
Totals 14-40 9-12 25 8 40
Three-point goals - Valley 4 (B. Eaton 3, Silveus 1), CMA 2 (Herr 2). Turnovers - Valley 11, CMA 19. Fouls - Valley 18, CMA 20. Fouled out - Fraction. [[In-content Ad]]