Valley Wins Big Over West Central
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - With the outcome pretty much decided by halftime, the only unknown in Friday night's game between Tippecanoe Valley and West Central was whether someone would end up in the ER.
The Vikings jumped out to a 42-23 halftime lead and never looked back as they defeated West Central 63-42 in non-conference boys basketball action.
Things became chippy in the second half on several occasions. The Trojans' Bryon Geyer caused a stir among the Viking faithful as the 5-foot-11 junior shoved Valley's Bryce Kelley into the scorer's table after Kelley stole a West Central pass.
Geyer was in the fray once again in the fourth quarter as he became entangled with Viking sophomore Steven Tillman during a scrum for a loose ball.
The two players got their legs tangled up with each other and it ended with Geyer on the floor, hitting Tillman in the chest with his foot.
"They were just playing hard," said eighth-year Valley head coach Bill Patrick taking no issue with the physical play. "Both teams were playing hard."
While the intention of both actions was unknown, Geyer did ask to be taken out and did not return to action for the rest of the night.
As Geyer endured some playful taunts by the Valley student section, the action on the court saw the Vikings get all 12 players on the floor.
"Any time you can get 12 guys in and playing at this time of year it's a big thing," said Patrick, who is now 616-213 in his 37-year career. "They've all practiced hard and put a lot of time and effort in. So to get everyone in there is important."
Most of the heavy lifting for Valley was taken care of in the first half by the standout senior duo of David Lash and Shane Drudge.
Lash, who struggled in last Friday's win over Manchester, was razor sharp in going 8 of 10 from the field on his way to a game-high 19 points. Lash also pulled down eight rebounds.
Lash scored nine points in the first quarter as the Vikings jumped out to a 21-11 lead.
Drudge, who went 0 of 4 from the field in the first quarter, scored eight points as he helped stretch the Valley lead to 19 at halftime.
"David played much better tonight," said Patrick of his veteran one-two punch. "He played harder on defense and that probably helped him on the offensive end. And Shane's a good shooter so sooner or later he's going to get going."
The only thing that could stop Drudge was a broken shoestring that forced him to the locker room for a time during the third quarter.
Drudge finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
Kelley was the only other Viking to finish in double digits with 10 points.
Rounding out the scoring for Valley was Chad Hoffer with six points, while Kevin Kindig and Aaron Reed each had three. Shane Salyer and Jerrod Parker had two while Tillman, Tad Neeley and Adam Nelson each had one point.
Sophomore Travis Nuest was the leading scorer for West Central with 11 points while pulling down 13 rebounds. Nuest scored seven points and pulled down eight rebounds in the fourth quarter with Valley's starters out and the game out of reach.
Valley trailed just once early in the first quarter and was tied with the Trojans twice.
The Vikings ended the first quarter with a 13-2 run over the final 2:23.
Valley led by as many as 24 before West Central closed out the first half with a 5-0 run.
Of the 12 Vikings players to see action Friday night, 11 scored. Only sophomore Ryan Scherzer failed to break into the scoring column and he attempted just one field goal.
The win marks the sixth straight for the Vikings and the 10th of their last 11.
Valley upped its record to 12-3 on the season. Patrick and Co. return to Three Rivers Conference action tonight when they travel to Converse to take on Oak Hill. The Vikings are 5-0 in conference and have won 21 straight TRC tilts.
With a win, Valley would clinch at least a share of the TRC crown with Rochester, who the Vikings beat earlier in the season.
The tipoff for the JV game against Oak Hill is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
VALLEY 63, W. CENTRAL 42
W. Central 11 12 10 9 - 42
T. Valley 21 21 13 8 - 63
W. Central FG FT R S Pts
*Fritz 0-5 0-0 3 0 0
*Harper 0-4 0-0 2 0 0
*R. Howat 2-6 0-0 2 1 4
*C. Howat 0-6 3-4 3 1 3
*Davis 4-7 0-0 5 2 8
Nuest 3-6 5-8 13 2 11
Evans 3-5 1-2 0 1 9
Geyer 1-3 3-4 0 2 5
Campbell 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Evans 0-1 2-2 2 0 2
Totals 13-44 14-20 30 9 42
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 8-10 2-3 8 1 19
*Parker 1-2 0-0 2 1 2
*Kindig 1-4 0-0 1 1 3
*Kelley 2-4 6-6 2 1 10
*Drudge 5-11 3-4 5 1 15
Hoffer 2-4 2-2 0 0 6
Tillman 0-0 1-4 2 0 1
Reed 1-6 1-2 6 3 3
Neeley 0-3 1-2 1 0 1
Nelson 0-2 1-2 2 1 1
Salyer 0-2 2-2 5 0 2
Scherzer 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-49 19-27 34 9 63
Three-point goals - W. Central 2-11 (Evans 2-3), T. Valley 4-12 (Drudge 2-4, Kindig 1-2, Lash 1-1). Turnovers - W. Central 17, T. Valley 11. Fouls - W. Central 19, T. Valley 18. Fouled out - None.
JV -ÊT. Valley 49, W. Central 32 [[In-content Ad]]
AKRON - With the outcome pretty much decided by halftime, the only unknown in Friday night's game between Tippecanoe Valley and West Central was whether someone would end up in the ER.
The Vikings jumped out to a 42-23 halftime lead and never looked back as they defeated West Central 63-42 in non-conference boys basketball action.
Things became chippy in the second half on several occasions. The Trojans' Bryon Geyer caused a stir among the Viking faithful as the 5-foot-11 junior shoved Valley's Bryce Kelley into the scorer's table after Kelley stole a West Central pass.
Geyer was in the fray once again in the fourth quarter as he became entangled with Viking sophomore Steven Tillman during a scrum for a loose ball.
The two players got their legs tangled up with each other and it ended with Geyer on the floor, hitting Tillman in the chest with his foot.
"They were just playing hard," said eighth-year Valley head coach Bill Patrick taking no issue with the physical play. "Both teams were playing hard."
While the intention of both actions was unknown, Geyer did ask to be taken out and did not return to action for the rest of the night.
As Geyer endured some playful taunts by the Valley student section, the action on the court saw the Vikings get all 12 players on the floor.
"Any time you can get 12 guys in and playing at this time of year it's a big thing," said Patrick, who is now 616-213 in his 37-year career. "They've all practiced hard and put a lot of time and effort in. So to get everyone in there is important."
Most of the heavy lifting for Valley was taken care of in the first half by the standout senior duo of David Lash and Shane Drudge.
Lash, who struggled in last Friday's win over Manchester, was razor sharp in going 8 of 10 from the field on his way to a game-high 19 points. Lash also pulled down eight rebounds.
Lash scored nine points in the first quarter as the Vikings jumped out to a 21-11 lead.
Drudge, who went 0 of 4 from the field in the first quarter, scored eight points as he helped stretch the Valley lead to 19 at halftime.
"David played much better tonight," said Patrick of his veteran one-two punch. "He played harder on defense and that probably helped him on the offensive end. And Shane's a good shooter so sooner or later he's going to get going."
The only thing that could stop Drudge was a broken shoestring that forced him to the locker room for a time during the third quarter.
Drudge finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
Kelley was the only other Viking to finish in double digits with 10 points.
Rounding out the scoring for Valley was Chad Hoffer with six points, while Kevin Kindig and Aaron Reed each had three. Shane Salyer and Jerrod Parker had two while Tillman, Tad Neeley and Adam Nelson each had one point.
Sophomore Travis Nuest was the leading scorer for West Central with 11 points while pulling down 13 rebounds. Nuest scored seven points and pulled down eight rebounds in the fourth quarter with Valley's starters out and the game out of reach.
Valley trailed just once early in the first quarter and was tied with the Trojans twice.
The Vikings ended the first quarter with a 13-2 run over the final 2:23.
Valley led by as many as 24 before West Central closed out the first half with a 5-0 run.
Of the 12 Vikings players to see action Friday night, 11 scored. Only sophomore Ryan Scherzer failed to break into the scoring column and he attempted just one field goal.
The win marks the sixth straight for the Vikings and the 10th of their last 11.
Valley upped its record to 12-3 on the season. Patrick and Co. return to Three Rivers Conference action tonight when they travel to Converse to take on Oak Hill. The Vikings are 5-0 in conference and have won 21 straight TRC tilts.
With a win, Valley would clinch at least a share of the TRC crown with Rochester, who the Vikings beat earlier in the season.
The tipoff for the JV game against Oak Hill is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
VALLEY 63, W. CENTRAL 42
W. Central 11 12 10 9 - 42
T. Valley 21 21 13 8 - 63
W. Central FG FT R S Pts
*Fritz 0-5 0-0 3 0 0
*Harper 0-4 0-0 2 0 0
*R. Howat 2-6 0-0 2 1 4
*C. Howat 0-6 3-4 3 1 3
*Davis 4-7 0-0 5 2 8
Nuest 3-6 5-8 13 2 11
Evans 3-5 1-2 0 1 9
Geyer 1-3 3-4 0 2 5
Campbell 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Evans 0-1 2-2 2 0 2
Totals 13-44 14-20 30 9 42
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 8-10 2-3 8 1 19
*Parker 1-2 0-0 2 1 2
*Kindig 1-4 0-0 1 1 3
*Kelley 2-4 6-6 2 1 10
*Drudge 5-11 3-4 5 1 15
Hoffer 2-4 2-2 0 0 6
Tillman 0-0 1-4 2 0 1
Reed 1-6 1-2 6 3 3
Neeley 0-3 1-2 1 0 1
Nelson 0-2 1-2 2 1 1
Salyer 0-2 2-2 5 0 2
Scherzer 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-49 19-27 34 9 63
Three-point goals - W. Central 2-11 (Evans 2-3), T. Valley 4-12 (Drudge 2-4, Kindig 1-2, Lash 1-1). Turnovers - W. Central 17, T. Valley 11. Fouls - W. Central 19, T. Valley 18. Fouled out - None.
JV -ÊT. Valley 49, W. Central 32 [[In-content Ad]]