Valley Vikings Edge Norwell For Sectional Title
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - The 3A No. 22 Tippecanoe Valley Sectional Championship Saturday night with the host Vikings and Norwell, turned out to be one that will be forever remembered in the fans' and players' minds.
Neither team could run away from the other in an old-fashioned Indiana high school Championship game.
With coolness at the line from Valley's sophomore Chad Hoffer, he hit two free throws with 19.4 seconds left in the game to give Valley a 32-31 lead and Bryce Kelley secured the win with 1.4 seconds left when he picked up a loose ball.
"I knew this would be a close ball game tonight. I figured we would be lucky to get 20 possessions with the way Norwell plays their game," coach Bill Patrick said.
Norwell took the opening tip-off and scored on a layup to go up 2-0. The lead would be Norwell's last for most of the game.
On the next possession Valley's David Lash drove the lane to score and was fouled. He hit the free throw to take an early 3-2 lead. Shane Drudge hit a running jumper over Norwell's Matt Trehune to take a 5-2 lead and complete a 5-0 run.
The Knights began a slow-down offense on their next possession. Valley was in a box-and-one zone defense and Norwell stood holding the ball for almost two minutes daring Valley to come out of its defense. Patrick finally gave the order to come out and play defense.
"Coach Doug Hicks has done a tremendous job with his team. They are a much-disciplined team. They go into a possession and pass the ball eight-to-ten times before they shoot the ball. I knew our guys would have to be patient." Patrick said.
Valley held Norwell to 2 of 2 shooting from the field in the first quarter. With 2.7 seconds left Norwell's Chandler Harnish hit two free throws to end the first with an 11-11 tie.
The second quarter provided the fans with some good defensive basketball. Neither team could get an easy shot. Valley turned the ball over five times in the second.
Lash scored all four of Valley's second quarter points on 2-of-3 shooting. Norwell also scored four points to tie the game at halftime 15-15.
"We shot ourselves in the foot with five turnovers in the quarter. I felt a couple of those were unforced errors. We just needed to get some confidence for the second half," Patrick said.
Neither team scored to start the second half until 6:32 left when Lash made a jump shot to put the Vikings up 17-15. Valley then went up 19-15 when Hoffer came into the game and scored.
The Vikings finished the third quarter with a 5-0 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 24-15. Hoffer outscored the Knights 6-3 to help Valley take a six-point lead at 24-18 to end the third.
"Hoffer came off the bench and helped carry us in the third. He is one of the best five players we have on this team. Some people ask me why I don't start him. He just seems to play better off the bench. We started him in the second half against Peru and he didn't play very well," said Patrick.
Kevin Kindig hit two free throws with 7:23 left to increase the Valley lead to seven at 26-19, Norwell, however did not give in so easily.
Trehune of Norwell cut the Valley lead to 26-23 with 5:30 left. Drudge came back and hit his second basket of the night to up the Viking lead to five at 28-23.
With a 30-25 Valley lead Norwell came down the floor for an important possession. Terhune hit a three-point basket to cut the lead to 30-28.
Valley was in the bonus when Kelley was fouled. Kelley went to the line to shoot two free throws and missed them both. Norwell rebounded and called a time out with 1:19 to play in the game.
After the time out Norwell played with confidence and patience. After a few passes, Terhune again hit a three-pointer to give Norwell only its second lead of the night.
"I've watched four game films of Norwell. Terhune had never even attempted a three-point shot in those games," Patrick said.
With 43 seconds left Valley drove down the floor to set up for the last shot and the victory. Norwell's defense seemed to tighten. With 19.4 seconds left Hoffer drove the lane and was fouled to set up his game-winning free throws. The official gave the ball to Hoffer for his first shot and another official allowed Norwell a time out.
"I was mad at the official for letting Norwell call a timeout when the ball was in his hands Hoffer told me as he came to the sideline not to worry that he would hit them both," Patrick said.
With their fate in their hands the Knights drove the ball down with confidence. After consecutive fouls by Kindig and Lash, Norwell called their final timeout with 12.2 seconds left.
Valley called a time out after seeing what the line up of the play would be. Kelley committed a foul with 3.1 second left. Clay Dafforn came into the game for Norwell as a three-point threat. He was injured and had not entered the game until then. He tried to shoot the ball and lost his handle on the ball and Kelley picked up.
"I am proud of the way our kids played tonight. We played some good defense and remained patient," Patrick said.
Hoffer led Valley, shooting 3 of 3 from the field and 6 of 6 from the line for 12 points. Lash added 11, Drudge scored four, Kindig had three and Jerrod Parker rounded out the scoring with two.
Drudge also finished the game with two blocked shots.
Valley will travel to the Blackford Regional for a 10 a.m. battle with Jay County High School. Wawasee will play Fort Wayne Concordia in the second game.
"Both teams played great basketball tonight. It is a shame that someone had to lose. It would have been nice for both schools if we played in different sectionals," Patrick said.
T. VALLEY 32, NORWELL 31
Norwell 11 4 3 13 - 31
T. Valley 11 4 3 13 - 32
Norwell FG FT R S Pts
*Harnish 2-6 4-4 2 0 9
*Otis 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
*Diehl 3-4 1-2 2 1 7
*Archibold 0-1 1-2 0 0 1
*Terhune 5-9 1-3 1 0 13
Totals 10-20 7-11 6 1 30
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 5-8 1-1 5 0 11
*Parker 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
*Kindig 0-0 3-4 0 0 3
*Kelley 0-2 0-3 3 2 0
*Drudge 2-3 0-0 1 1 4
Hoffer 3-3 6-6 0 0 12
Totals 11-17 10-14 10 3 32
Three-point goals - Norwell 3-4 (Terhune 2-2, Harnish 1-1), T. Valley 0-0. Turnovers - Norwell 5, T. Valley 8. Fouls - Norwell 16, T. Valley 11. Fouled out - Diehl. [[In-content Ad]]
AKRON - The 3A No. 22 Tippecanoe Valley Sectional Championship Saturday night with the host Vikings and Norwell, turned out to be one that will be forever remembered in the fans' and players' minds.
Neither team could run away from the other in an old-fashioned Indiana high school Championship game.
With coolness at the line from Valley's sophomore Chad Hoffer, he hit two free throws with 19.4 seconds left in the game to give Valley a 32-31 lead and Bryce Kelley secured the win with 1.4 seconds left when he picked up a loose ball.
"I knew this would be a close ball game tonight. I figured we would be lucky to get 20 possessions with the way Norwell plays their game," coach Bill Patrick said.
Norwell took the opening tip-off and scored on a layup to go up 2-0. The lead would be Norwell's last for most of the game.
On the next possession Valley's David Lash drove the lane to score and was fouled. He hit the free throw to take an early 3-2 lead. Shane Drudge hit a running jumper over Norwell's Matt Trehune to take a 5-2 lead and complete a 5-0 run.
The Knights began a slow-down offense on their next possession. Valley was in a box-and-one zone defense and Norwell stood holding the ball for almost two minutes daring Valley to come out of its defense. Patrick finally gave the order to come out and play defense.
"Coach Doug Hicks has done a tremendous job with his team. They are a much-disciplined team. They go into a possession and pass the ball eight-to-ten times before they shoot the ball. I knew our guys would have to be patient." Patrick said.
Valley held Norwell to 2 of 2 shooting from the field in the first quarter. With 2.7 seconds left Norwell's Chandler Harnish hit two free throws to end the first with an 11-11 tie.
The second quarter provided the fans with some good defensive basketball. Neither team could get an easy shot. Valley turned the ball over five times in the second.
Lash scored all four of Valley's second quarter points on 2-of-3 shooting. Norwell also scored four points to tie the game at halftime 15-15.
"We shot ourselves in the foot with five turnovers in the quarter. I felt a couple of those were unforced errors. We just needed to get some confidence for the second half," Patrick said.
Neither team scored to start the second half until 6:32 left when Lash made a jump shot to put the Vikings up 17-15. Valley then went up 19-15 when Hoffer came into the game and scored.
The Vikings finished the third quarter with a 5-0 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 24-15. Hoffer outscored the Knights 6-3 to help Valley take a six-point lead at 24-18 to end the third.
"Hoffer came off the bench and helped carry us in the third. He is one of the best five players we have on this team. Some people ask me why I don't start him. He just seems to play better off the bench. We started him in the second half against Peru and he didn't play very well," said Patrick.
Kevin Kindig hit two free throws with 7:23 left to increase the Valley lead to seven at 26-19, Norwell, however did not give in so easily.
Trehune of Norwell cut the Valley lead to 26-23 with 5:30 left. Drudge came back and hit his second basket of the night to up the Viking lead to five at 28-23.
With a 30-25 Valley lead Norwell came down the floor for an important possession. Terhune hit a three-point basket to cut the lead to 30-28.
Valley was in the bonus when Kelley was fouled. Kelley went to the line to shoot two free throws and missed them both. Norwell rebounded and called a time out with 1:19 to play in the game.
After the time out Norwell played with confidence and patience. After a few passes, Terhune again hit a three-pointer to give Norwell only its second lead of the night.
"I've watched four game films of Norwell. Terhune had never even attempted a three-point shot in those games," Patrick said.
With 43 seconds left Valley drove down the floor to set up for the last shot and the victory. Norwell's defense seemed to tighten. With 19.4 seconds left Hoffer drove the lane and was fouled to set up his game-winning free throws. The official gave the ball to Hoffer for his first shot and another official allowed Norwell a time out.
"I was mad at the official for letting Norwell call a timeout when the ball was in his hands Hoffer told me as he came to the sideline not to worry that he would hit them both," Patrick said.
With their fate in their hands the Knights drove the ball down with confidence. After consecutive fouls by Kindig and Lash, Norwell called their final timeout with 12.2 seconds left.
Valley called a time out after seeing what the line up of the play would be. Kelley committed a foul with 3.1 second left. Clay Dafforn came into the game for Norwell as a three-point threat. He was injured and had not entered the game until then. He tried to shoot the ball and lost his handle on the ball and Kelley picked up.
"I am proud of the way our kids played tonight. We played some good defense and remained patient," Patrick said.
Hoffer led Valley, shooting 3 of 3 from the field and 6 of 6 from the line for 12 points. Lash added 11, Drudge scored four, Kindig had three and Jerrod Parker rounded out the scoring with two.
Drudge also finished the game with two blocked shots.
Valley will travel to the Blackford Regional for a 10 a.m. battle with Jay County High School. Wawasee will play Fort Wayne Concordia in the second game.
"Both teams played great basketball tonight. It is a shame that someone had to lose. It would have been nice for both schools if we played in different sectionals," Patrick said.
T. VALLEY 32, NORWELL 31
Norwell 11 4 3 13 - 31
T. Valley 11 4 3 13 - 32
Norwell FG FT R S Pts
*Harnish 2-6 4-4 2 0 9
*Otis 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
*Diehl 3-4 1-2 2 1 7
*Archibold 0-1 1-2 0 0 1
*Terhune 5-9 1-3 1 0 13
Totals 10-20 7-11 6 1 30
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 5-8 1-1 5 0 11
*Parker 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
*Kindig 0-0 3-4 0 0 3
*Kelley 0-2 0-3 3 2 0
*Drudge 2-3 0-0 1 1 4
Hoffer 3-3 6-6 0 0 12
Totals 11-17 10-14 10 3 32
Three-point goals - Norwell 3-4 (Terhune 2-2, Harnish 1-1), T. Valley 0-0. Turnovers - Norwell 5, T. Valley 8. Fouls - Norwell 16, T. Valley 11. Fouled out - Diehl. [[In-content Ad]]