PLYMOUTH - It might not have been the prettiest game to watch, but Tippecanoe Valley will head into the new year on a positive note.

The Vikings staved off a late Glenn run in the consolation game of the Plymouth Holiday Tournament Wednesday night, outscoring the Falcons in every quarter and committing just six turnovers en route to a 54-48 victory. Plymouth won the championship over Rochester in the second game 83-50.

Tippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick was pleased with his team's play, considering the circumstances.

"Two weeks from now, it's a win," Patrick said. "It wasn't pretty tonight, but it goes down as a win, and at the end of the season, it's on the right side.

"It's impossible to play a consolation game," Patrick said, "because a lot of the time, the best team will lose in the consolation. You know, what do you have to shoot for? You're playing a losers' game. In a consolation game, if you can find a way to win and then get on to the next game, that's all you can hope for, really."

The Vikings finished the 1998 segment of the season 5-3, the first time they've been above .500 entering the January slate in recent memory. The three teams that have defeated Valley this year are a combined 22-1 and include class 3A No. 1 Peru and 3A No. 2 Plymouth.

One year ago, Valley was 2-6 at this point in the season, and it took 15 games to record five wins. The Vikings will equal last year's win count (six) with just one victory over the rest of the season.

It was a slow start to a rather uneventful 3-1/2 quarters.

Tippecanoe Valley took a lead - albeit small - early in the game against Glenn (2-6), going up 4-1 with 5:13 left in the first quarter when Eric Prater scored two of his 10 points. Valley forced six Falcon turnovers while committing just one of its own in taking a 10-8 lead into the second quarter.

Ball control was again the theme of quarter No. 2, and the Vikings built a 17-12 advantage after a Dax Snyder bucket with 1:02 left in the frame. Valley led 20-16 at the halftime break.

Snyder, who got a starting nod against Glenn, made the most of his opportunities. The 6-foot-2 junior scored 11 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had five steals.

"Dax came off the bench and really did a nice job for us," Patrick said. "He got a couple of big buckets."

Glenn took its only lead of the night in the third quarter, going up 23-22 with 5:49 to play via a 7-2 spurt to open the second half. Tippecanoe Valley got six points from junior Brandon Eaton and baskets from Jarvis Shepherd, Snyder and Prater to lead 34-29 entering the fourth quarter.

The Viking lead dwindled to one or two points five times in the final eight minutes, but the Vikings never allowed the Falcons to steal the lead. Included in the fourth quarter highlights were a three-point play by Snyder off an offensive rebound and a beautifully executed inbounds play from Eaton to Shepherd that bumped the Valley lead to 44-41.

Glenn cut the margin to 51-48 after TV went ahead by six with 37 seconds left on the clock, but free throws by Eaton and Snyder allowed Valley to win by the final of 54-48.

"The kids showed me something tonight," Patrick said. "They showed me that they can find a way to win. And that's basically what we did."

Eaton led all scorers with 18, and Shepherd finished with eight points, seven assists and six rebounds. The Vikings will host Southwood Jan. 8 in a Three Rivers Conference battle.

VALLEY 54

JOHN GLENN 48

Valley (5-3) 10 10 14 20 - 54

Glenn (2-6) 8 8 13 19 - 48

Valley FG FT A S R Pts

Eaton (F) 6-17 6-6 2 1 5 18

Snyder (C) 3-6 5-7 1 5 9 11

Prater (F) 5-9 0-2 2 2 6 10

Shepherd (G) 4-11 0-2 7 0 6 8

Cumberland 2-3 0-0 0 0 3 4

Silveus 1-2 1-2 0 0 3 3

Domenico (G) 0-2 0-0 2 0 0 0

Kuhn 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0

Totals 21-52 12-19 14 8 32 54

Glenn FG FT A S R Pts

Huise (C) 3-6 4-4 2 0 6 10

Adkins (G) 3-12 1-4 1 1 6 9

Stedman (F) 2-6 4-7 2 0 4 8

Alspaugh (G) 2-5 2-2 0 0 5 6

Smith (F) 2-3 0-1 0 1 5 4

Tetzlaff 1-1 2-4 1 0 3 4

Miser 2-3 0-1 0 0 1 4

Moore 0-1 2-2 0 1 0 2

Miastaff 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 1

Team 2

Totals 15-38 16-27 6 3 32 48

Three-point goals: Tippecanoe Valley 0-4 (Shepherd 0-1, Eaton 0-3), John Glenn 2-9 (Adkins 2-7, Alspaugh 0-1, Stedman 0-1). Fouls: Tippecanoe Valley 19, John Glenn 17. Turnovers: Tippecanoe Valley 6, John Glenn 16. [[In-content Ad]]