Valley Beats Buzzer, Rival Rochester
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - Friday night's boys basketball game between rivals Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley will be the source of arguments in barbershops and restaurants for years to come.
With the game tied at 60-60 and just 1.5 seconds remaining, Valley's Bryce Kelley, also the Vikings starting quarterback in the fall, threw a full-court inbounds pass to Shane Drudge. Drudge caught then quickly fired a bounce pass to David Lash who banked in a three-pointer from the corner as the buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 63-60 win, which extends Valley's Three Rivers Conference winning streak to 19.
The two teams battled in the championship of the Winning Edge Tournament Dec. 30 at Rochester with the Zebras pulling out a 62-56 win.
Valley led by four at 59-55 with less than a minute and a half left in the game before Rochester standout Luke Smith nailed a three to draw his team within a point.
The Zebras got the ball back on the second of two straight turnovers by the Vikings with 41.5 seconds left to play.
After a timeout, Rochester held the ball until the 20-second mark when Smith drove but missed a runner in the lane. Cory Overmyer pulled down the offensive rebound but missed a wide-open layup. Lash eventually pulled down the rebound as Overmyer fouled him.
Lash hit the front end of the one-and-one but was off on the second as Rochester came up with the board.
The Zebras pushed the ball down the floor and once again the ball found its way in Smith's hands.
The 6-foot-4 senior guard missed a leaning three-pointer. Once again Overmyer gathered the offensive rebound but this time was fouled as he went up for the game-tying layup.
Overmyer calmly knocked down both chances at the charity stripe to knot things up at 60-60.
While Valley assistant coach Chad Patrick, son of head coach Bill Patrick, drew up what became the game-winning play, it was a play that had been practiced by the Vikings.
"We've been practicing that all week," said Viking head coach Patrick. "Tuesday we put three seconds on the clock, Wednesday we put two seconds on the clock and Thursday we put a second on the clock. We practiced what we could do with those times left."
For a small contingent of Rochester fans, 1.5 seconds wasn't enough for Drudge to catch and pass to Lash for a shot. Things became heated as several Zebras fans angrily confronted the Viking scorers table alleging the clock wasn't started on time.
The clock doesn't start until the ball is touched by a player inbounds. And according to the elder Patrick that's what may have been lost on the overzealous Zebra fans.
"One point five seconds is a lot of time on the clock. As long as you have one second on the clock you can do a lot. I don't think there's any question (Lash) got the shot off in time. I don't think the Rochester people have anything to complain about," said Patrick.
What the Zebra faithful could complain about was an ineffective full-court press that gave Valley easy points throughout the game.
The Vikings committed just seven turnovers on the night with two coming in the final two minutes on unforced errors by Valley.
With a distinct quickness advantage, the Vikings blew past Rochester's press and created several layup chances.
Drudge threw down a one-handed dunk midway through the second quarter as the Vikings clung to a two-point lead.
While Drudge's dunk may have whipped the Viking crowd into a frenzy, it was sophomore Chad Hoffer who kept Valley on top in the second quarter.
Hoffer scored six of his 15 points in the second quarter and finished 7-of-10 from the field on the night.
"He did a nice job and hit a couple of big shots for us," said Bill Patrick. "Chad's been the first kid here at practice and he's usually the last kid to leave. He gave us a big lift tonight.
Hoffer also provided a lift in the fourth quarter as he scored two early baskets to offset a barrage of baskets by Smith.
But on two separate occasions Hoffer had to sit for extended periods of time after sustaining bloody noses from absorbing contact from a physical Rochester squad.
The Zebras used its size and physical nature to control the rebounding department. Rochester finished with a 29-14 edge on the boards.
That stat can be misleading, however, as the Vikings shot 26 of 44 (59 percent) from the field, thus not leaving many shots to be rebounded.
The Vikings finished 50 percent from beyond the three-point arc as they shot 6 of 12. Both Lash and Kelley hit two three pointers and Kevin Kindig nailed a three as time expired in the first half to keep Valley's lead at three. It was Kindig's only shot of the game.
Lash and Hoffer led the Vikings in scoring with 15 while Drudge and Kelley ended their nights with 12. Jerrod Parker was 3 of 3 from the field and finished with six points while Kindig's three rounded out the scoring.
Smith finished with a game-high 28 for the Zebras and earned the praise of Bill Patrick.
"Luke Smith had a great game. He played hard. He's a great shooter and a great kid. He was almost too much for us tonight," said Patrick.
No other Rochester player finished with more than seven points.
The Vikings up their record to 9-3 on the season and 3-0 in the TRC and with the inside track on their seventh-straight conference championship.
Valley is in action Saturday at Southwood. Tipoff is set for 7:45 p.m.
VALLEY 63, ROCHESTER 60
Rochester 11 20 14 15 - 60
T. Valley 14 20 14 15 - 63
Rochester FG FT R S Pts.
*Barnett 1-10 0-0 3 0 3
*Smith 12-22 3-6 7 0 28
*Gibbons 2-2 2-2 3 0 6
*Thomas 2-3 0-1 3 0 4
*Stoops 1-2 0-0 7 0 2
Overmyer 1-5 5-6 6 1 7
Hoff 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Showley 2-3 2-2 0 0 7
Totals 22-49 12-17 29 1 60
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 5-8 3-4 6 0 15
*Parker 3-3 0-0 0 1 6
*Kindig 1-1 0-0 1 0 3
*Kelley 5-10 0-0 2 0 12
*Drudge 5-10 1-3 3 1 12
Hoffer 7-10 1-2 1 0 15
Tillman 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Reed 0-1 0-3 1 0 0
Totals 26-44 5-12 14 2 63
Three-point goals - Rochester 4-13 (Barnett 1-5, Smith 1-5, Hoff 1-2, Showley 1-1), T. Valley 6-12 (Lash 2-3, Kelley 2-4, Kindig 1-1, Drudge 1-3). Turnovers - Rochester 8, T. Valley 7. Fouls - Rochester 16, T. Valley 18. Fouled out - None.
JV -ÊT. Valley 50, Rochester 43
T. Valley scoring -ÊRyan Scherzer 21, Adam Nelson 12, Shane Salyer 6, Steve Tillman 3, Kyle Ritchey 3, Bryce Hardesty 2, Jordan Boggs 2 [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
AKRON - Friday night's boys basketball game between rivals Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley will be the source of arguments in barbershops and restaurants for years to come.
With the game tied at 60-60 and just 1.5 seconds remaining, Valley's Bryce Kelley, also the Vikings starting quarterback in the fall, threw a full-court inbounds pass to Shane Drudge. Drudge caught then quickly fired a bounce pass to David Lash who banked in a three-pointer from the corner as the buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 63-60 win, which extends Valley's Three Rivers Conference winning streak to 19.
The two teams battled in the championship of the Winning Edge Tournament Dec. 30 at Rochester with the Zebras pulling out a 62-56 win.
Valley led by four at 59-55 with less than a minute and a half left in the game before Rochester standout Luke Smith nailed a three to draw his team within a point.
The Zebras got the ball back on the second of two straight turnovers by the Vikings with 41.5 seconds left to play.
After a timeout, Rochester held the ball until the 20-second mark when Smith drove but missed a runner in the lane. Cory Overmyer pulled down the offensive rebound but missed a wide-open layup. Lash eventually pulled down the rebound as Overmyer fouled him.
Lash hit the front end of the one-and-one but was off on the second as Rochester came up with the board.
The Zebras pushed the ball down the floor and once again the ball found its way in Smith's hands.
The 6-foot-4 senior guard missed a leaning three-pointer. Once again Overmyer gathered the offensive rebound but this time was fouled as he went up for the game-tying layup.
Overmyer calmly knocked down both chances at the charity stripe to knot things up at 60-60.
While Valley assistant coach Chad Patrick, son of head coach Bill Patrick, drew up what became the game-winning play, it was a play that had been practiced by the Vikings.
"We've been practicing that all week," said Viking head coach Patrick. "Tuesday we put three seconds on the clock, Wednesday we put two seconds on the clock and Thursday we put a second on the clock. We practiced what we could do with those times left."
For a small contingent of Rochester fans, 1.5 seconds wasn't enough for Drudge to catch and pass to Lash for a shot. Things became heated as several Zebras fans angrily confronted the Viking scorers table alleging the clock wasn't started on time.
The clock doesn't start until the ball is touched by a player inbounds. And according to the elder Patrick that's what may have been lost on the overzealous Zebra fans.
"One point five seconds is a lot of time on the clock. As long as you have one second on the clock you can do a lot. I don't think there's any question (Lash) got the shot off in time. I don't think the Rochester people have anything to complain about," said Patrick.
What the Zebra faithful could complain about was an ineffective full-court press that gave Valley easy points throughout the game.
The Vikings committed just seven turnovers on the night with two coming in the final two minutes on unforced errors by Valley.
With a distinct quickness advantage, the Vikings blew past Rochester's press and created several layup chances.
Drudge threw down a one-handed dunk midway through the second quarter as the Vikings clung to a two-point lead.
While Drudge's dunk may have whipped the Viking crowd into a frenzy, it was sophomore Chad Hoffer who kept Valley on top in the second quarter.
Hoffer scored six of his 15 points in the second quarter and finished 7-of-10 from the field on the night.
"He did a nice job and hit a couple of big shots for us," said Bill Patrick. "Chad's been the first kid here at practice and he's usually the last kid to leave. He gave us a big lift tonight.
Hoffer also provided a lift in the fourth quarter as he scored two early baskets to offset a barrage of baskets by Smith.
But on two separate occasions Hoffer had to sit for extended periods of time after sustaining bloody noses from absorbing contact from a physical Rochester squad.
The Zebras used its size and physical nature to control the rebounding department. Rochester finished with a 29-14 edge on the boards.
That stat can be misleading, however, as the Vikings shot 26 of 44 (59 percent) from the field, thus not leaving many shots to be rebounded.
The Vikings finished 50 percent from beyond the three-point arc as they shot 6 of 12. Both Lash and Kelley hit two three pointers and Kevin Kindig nailed a three as time expired in the first half to keep Valley's lead at three. It was Kindig's only shot of the game.
Lash and Hoffer led the Vikings in scoring with 15 while Drudge and Kelley ended their nights with 12. Jerrod Parker was 3 of 3 from the field and finished with six points while Kindig's three rounded out the scoring.
Smith finished with a game-high 28 for the Zebras and earned the praise of Bill Patrick.
"Luke Smith had a great game. He played hard. He's a great shooter and a great kid. He was almost too much for us tonight," said Patrick.
No other Rochester player finished with more than seven points.
The Vikings up their record to 9-3 on the season and 3-0 in the TRC and with the inside track on their seventh-straight conference championship.
Valley is in action Saturday at Southwood. Tipoff is set for 7:45 p.m.
VALLEY 63, ROCHESTER 60
Rochester 11 20 14 15 - 60
T. Valley 14 20 14 15 - 63
Rochester FG FT R S Pts.
*Barnett 1-10 0-0 3 0 3
*Smith 12-22 3-6 7 0 28
*Gibbons 2-2 2-2 3 0 6
*Thomas 2-3 0-1 3 0 4
*Stoops 1-2 0-0 7 0 2
Overmyer 1-5 5-6 6 1 7
Hoff 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Showley 2-3 2-2 0 0 7
Totals 22-49 12-17 29 1 60
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 5-8 3-4 6 0 15
*Parker 3-3 0-0 0 1 6
*Kindig 1-1 0-0 1 0 3
*Kelley 5-10 0-0 2 0 12
*Drudge 5-10 1-3 3 1 12
Hoffer 7-10 1-2 1 0 15
Tillman 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Reed 0-1 0-3 1 0 0
Totals 26-44 5-12 14 2 63
Three-point goals - Rochester 4-13 (Barnett 1-5, Smith 1-5, Hoff 1-2, Showley 1-1), T. Valley 6-12 (Lash 2-3, Kelley 2-4, Kindig 1-1, Drudge 1-3). Turnovers - Rochester 8, T. Valley 7. Fouls - Rochester 16, T. Valley 18. Fouled out - None.
JV -ÊT. Valley 50, Rochester 43
T. Valley scoring -ÊRyan Scherzer 21, Adam Nelson 12, Shane Salyer 6, Steve Tillman 3, Kyle Ritchey 3, Bryce Hardesty 2, Jordan Boggs 2 [[In-content Ad]]