Vikings Get Back On The Winning Track
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
MENTONE - Put No. 2 without Jeff Brown and Nick Stutzman in the book as a success. Despite being without two of their top starters and Andy Young, a reliable back-up shooting guard, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings defeated the Wabash Apaches Friday night 73-48.
Wabash has only two wins on the season. After Valley lost to Manchester a week ago, 75-41, the Vikings had to be scratching their heads and wondering what they would do over the next three games without Brown and Stutzman.
What they did was play as a team and win as a team. Five players scored in double-digits, and one of them, Darren Parker, had nine assists. Another one, Brian Lenfestey, grabbed seven rebounds to complement his 13 points. Lenfestey and Eric Love each had three steals and Scott Cooksey and JayDee Parker shot a combined 11 of 18 inside to dominate the paint.
"All of the kids that played contributed in some way," Valley head coach Gregg Sciarra said. "We got leadership from our seniors, Darren Parker and Brian Lenfestey."
Wabash opened up with a full-court press and continued it throughout the game. Although it created a number of turnovers at times, Valley easily broke the press in the first quarter and for the majority of the game.
"They were pretty ineffective on defense," Sciarra said. "But we hit our shots."
The Vikings shut out the Apaches for the first five minutes of the opening period and led 15-0 before Ryan Tait made his only basket of the game to get Wabash on the board. Valley led 21-4 after one quarter as Cooksey scored eight points to lead the Vikings.
In the second quarter, Wabash woke up as the press began to take effect. After Valley extended the lead to 23-4, Wabash went on a 12-2 run, sparked by six points from J.R. Hensley. The Apaches trailed by nine and still trailed by the same deficit at the half, 29-20.
"We mishandled the ball in the second quarter and lost leadership," Sciarra said. "Once Darren Parker got over that, he made better decisions."
To open the second half, the Vikings scored eight of the first 10 points to lead by 15. Wabash cut the lead back to ten points, but Eric Love knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions that shoved the dagger into the heart of the Apaches.
Valley led by 18 after three quarters and sailed through the fourth for the 25-point victory.
JayDee Parker led the Vikings with 15 points. Darren Parker played an all-around game with 12 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.
Kyle Daugherty led all scorers with 16 points in the loss. He added five rebounds and five steals. Ben Rans also scored 15 points for Wabash.
"We needed a win in a big way," coach Sciarra said. "We knew that this game was not so much about scoring points, but about leadership without negative emotion on the court."
As a team, Valley shot 54 percent from the floor while committing five less turnovers than Wabash. Those two factors, along with Wabash's 35 percent shooting, were two much to overcome for the Apaches.
Valley (9-7) hosts Bremen on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]
MENTONE - Put No. 2 without Jeff Brown and Nick Stutzman in the book as a success. Despite being without two of their top starters and Andy Young, a reliable back-up shooting guard, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings defeated the Wabash Apaches Friday night 73-48.
Wabash has only two wins on the season. After Valley lost to Manchester a week ago, 75-41, the Vikings had to be scratching their heads and wondering what they would do over the next three games without Brown and Stutzman.
What they did was play as a team and win as a team. Five players scored in double-digits, and one of them, Darren Parker, had nine assists. Another one, Brian Lenfestey, grabbed seven rebounds to complement his 13 points. Lenfestey and Eric Love each had three steals and Scott Cooksey and JayDee Parker shot a combined 11 of 18 inside to dominate the paint.
"All of the kids that played contributed in some way," Valley head coach Gregg Sciarra said. "We got leadership from our seniors, Darren Parker and Brian Lenfestey."
Wabash opened up with a full-court press and continued it throughout the game. Although it created a number of turnovers at times, Valley easily broke the press in the first quarter and for the majority of the game.
"They were pretty ineffective on defense," Sciarra said. "But we hit our shots."
The Vikings shut out the Apaches for the first five minutes of the opening period and led 15-0 before Ryan Tait made his only basket of the game to get Wabash on the board. Valley led 21-4 after one quarter as Cooksey scored eight points to lead the Vikings.
In the second quarter, Wabash woke up as the press began to take effect. After Valley extended the lead to 23-4, Wabash went on a 12-2 run, sparked by six points from J.R. Hensley. The Apaches trailed by nine and still trailed by the same deficit at the half, 29-20.
"We mishandled the ball in the second quarter and lost leadership," Sciarra said. "Once Darren Parker got over that, he made better decisions."
To open the second half, the Vikings scored eight of the first 10 points to lead by 15. Wabash cut the lead back to ten points, but Eric Love knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions that shoved the dagger into the heart of the Apaches.
Valley led by 18 after three quarters and sailed through the fourth for the 25-point victory.
JayDee Parker led the Vikings with 15 points. Darren Parker played an all-around game with 12 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.
Kyle Daugherty led all scorers with 16 points in the loss. He added five rebounds and five steals. Ben Rans also scored 15 points for Wabash.
"We needed a win in a big way," coach Sciarra said. "We knew that this game was not so much about scoring points, but about leadership without negative emotion on the court."
As a team, Valley shot 54 percent from the floor while committing five less turnovers than Wabash. Those two factors, along with Wabash's 35 percent shooting, were two much to overcome for the Apaches.
Valley (9-7) hosts Bremen on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]