Valley Girls Ready For Next Step In Tournament
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - The words are printed on a sign, stapled to a bulletin board in the gym at Tippecanoe Valley High School.
"The Most Important Game Is The Next One," it reads.
Printed on a floppy piece of paper, yet somehow written in stone.
For Valley's varsity girls basketball team, this sign screams the truth, and the reality is as simple as life can be in this farming community in southwest Kosciusko County - win and play again, lose and the season is over.
The No. 10 Vikings (21-2) play Calumet (16-7) at 11 a.m. in the first semifinal game of the Twin Lakes 3A Regional Saturday, with the winner to meet either No. 6 Highland (22-2) or No. 8 Northwestern (22-1) in the championship.
A year ago, Valley won its first sectional title in school history, this year the Vikings are hungry for more.
"I feel real good, the kids did a phenominal job this year," Valley coach Gary Teel said. "The kids wanted to repeat as sectional champs and establish themselves. They're hungry, they wanted to go back to the regional, and we feel we have a legitimate opportunity in the regional."
Valley backed up last year's historic sectional championship by posting the most wins in school history and now sits at 21-2 on the season, its only losses coming to powers Warsaw (21-2) and Rochester (21-2).
This year it's Calumet, a 39-37 winner over Griffith in Saturday's sectional championship, that lacks regional experience.
Saturday's sectional crown was the first for the Warriors since 1976, the first year girls basketball had a state tournament.
"I hope having been there last year is an advantage for us," Teel said. "You don't know how they'll (Calumet) treat it. Some teams might be happy with a sectional title."
This is not the case with the Vikings, who spent this year devoted to polishing its defense.
Through 23 games, Valley's stifling defense has given up 910 points, an average of 39 points per game. The Vikings score an average of 59 points per game, and won their three sectional games by 38, 43 and 15 points.
"We knew we had an opportunity to be very good this year," Teel said. "We knew we needed to improve on defense. Last year we gave up 44 points per game, our goal was to get it down to 40. We spent a lot more time on defense this year. The offensive skills are there, and we still work on that, but we've packed more practice time into working on defense."
Valley's defense has made 329 steals this season, an average of 14.3 swipes per game. The Vikings have nabbed 373 defensive rebounds this season, an average 16.2 per outing.
Offensively, the Vikings shoot nearly 45 percent from the field and average just 12 turnovers per game.
Junior Rebekah Parker leads the Viking scorers with 17.5 points per game, followed by sophomore Kara Kramer at 9.7, senior Kathy Prater at 8.4, junior Abby Shafer at 7.3 and senior Sherise Denny at 6.1.
"Offensively we're very team oriented," Teel said. "Six different girls have been our leading scorer this year. Rebekah draws a lot of attention defensively, but she makes everyone around her better. The kids do a great job moving the ball."
Calumet, 48-103 in seven years under Dori Downing, is led in the scoring column by 5-foot-6 junior guard Kiki Bytnar's 14.1 points per game. Chonne Timberlake, 6-2 senior center, averages 11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. [[In-content Ad]]
AKRON - The words are printed on a sign, stapled to a bulletin board in the gym at Tippecanoe Valley High School.
"The Most Important Game Is The Next One," it reads.
Printed on a floppy piece of paper, yet somehow written in stone.
For Valley's varsity girls basketball team, this sign screams the truth, and the reality is as simple as life can be in this farming community in southwest Kosciusko County - win and play again, lose and the season is over.
The No. 10 Vikings (21-2) play Calumet (16-7) at 11 a.m. in the first semifinal game of the Twin Lakes 3A Regional Saturday, with the winner to meet either No. 6 Highland (22-2) or No. 8 Northwestern (22-1) in the championship.
A year ago, Valley won its first sectional title in school history, this year the Vikings are hungry for more.
"I feel real good, the kids did a phenominal job this year," Valley coach Gary Teel said. "The kids wanted to repeat as sectional champs and establish themselves. They're hungry, they wanted to go back to the regional, and we feel we have a legitimate opportunity in the regional."
Valley backed up last year's historic sectional championship by posting the most wins in school history and now sits at 21-2 on the season, its only losses coming to powers Warsaw (21-2) and Rochester (21-2).
This year it's Calumet, a 39-37 winner over Griffith in Saturday's sectional championship, that lacks regional experience.
Saturday's sectional crown was the first for the Warriors since 1976, the first year girls basketball had a state tournament.
"I hope having been there last year is an advantage for us," Teel said. "You don't know how they'll (Calumet) treat it. Some teams might be happy with a sectional title."
This is not the case with the Vikings, who spent this year devoted to polishing its defense.
Through 23 games, Valley's stifling defense has given up 910 points, an average of 39 points per game. The Vikings score an average of 59 points per game, and won their three sectional games by 38, 43 and 15 points.
"We knew we had an opportunity to be very good this year," Teel said. "We knew we needed to improve on defense. Last year we gave up 44 points per game, our goal was to get it down to 40. We spent a lot more time on defense this year. The offensive skills are there, and we still work on that, but we've packed more practice time into working on defense."
Valley's defense has made 329 steals this season, an average of 14.3 swipes per game. The Vikings have nabbed 373 defensive rebounds this season, an average 16.2 per outing.
Offensively, the Vikings shoot nearly 45 percent from the field and average just 12 turnovers per game.
Junior Rebekah Parker leads the Viking scorers with 17.5 points per game, followed by sophomore Kara Kramer at 9.7, senior Kathy Prater at 8.4, junior Abby Shafer at 7.3 and senior Sherise Denny at 6.1.
"Offensively we're very team oriented," Teel said. "Six different girls have been our leading scorer this year. Rebekah draws a lot of attention defensively, but she makes everyone around her better. The kids do a great job moving the ball."
Calumet, 48-103 in seven years under Dori Downing, is led in the scoring column by 5-foot-6 junior guard Kiki Bytnar's 14.1 points per game. Chonne Timberlake, 6-2 senior center, averages 11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. [[In-content Ad]]