Vikings Remain Unbeaten In TRC
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON -ÊThe Tippecaoe Valley Vikings boys basketball team was looking to stay unbeaten in the Three Rivers Conference heading into a tough TRC match-up with a very talented Rochester ballclub.
Rochester, which came in with a 5-5 record and 1-2 mark in TRC play, was looking to knock off the conference's only unbeaten team.
After four hard quarters of basketball between these rivals, the Vikings came out on top with a huge 70-62 win over the Zebras. With the win, the Vikings move to 10-3 and 5-0 in the TRC.
"This was a very big game for us,' Tippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "We knew Rochester was a very good team and we had to play solid basketball to win.'
In front of a packed house, the Vikings gave their fans something to cheer about right away. The Vikings came out very aggressive and before you knew it, the Vikings jumped out to an 8-0 lead, and the Zebras didn't know what hit them.
"We were really focused tonight and we came out ready to play,' Patrick said. "After we got an early lead, we kind of laid back and relaxed a little. We knew they would make a run at us.'
The Zebras didn't get on the scoreboard until the 6:02 mark, when Nick Patterson drilled a three to cut the lead to 8-3. Rochester wasn't shy on shooting the long ball, as the Zebras were 7 of 27 for the game.
"They have some great shooters,' Patrick said. "We had to know where their shooters were at all times.'
Brandon Eaton had the hot hand the whole night for the Vikings. The senior scored nine of his game-high 29 points in the opening quarter. Eaton was 3 of 4 from long range to get the Vikings rolling.
"Brandon had a great game. I think we forgot he was even on the court in the second quarter. We didn't get him the ball,' Patrick said.
The Vikings extended their lead to 18-5 with 1:55 left when Noah Silveus scored on a jump shot. Even after the big early lead, you could feel some momentum shift Rochester's way when the Vikings had a couple crucial turnovers in the quarter. After trailing 20-10, the Zebras scored the last five points of the quarter to close the gap to five at 20-15.
"Turnovers really let them back into the game,' Patrick said. "We tried to throw it over the top a little too much and it hurt us.'
After closing the gap after one, Rochester turned up the heat, literally. The Zebras went to their trademark full-court pressure defense, and again it aggravated the Vikings. The Vikings committed six turnovers in the quarter, 11 for the half. Deric Beck opened the quarter for the Zebras with two free throws to cut the lead to 20-17.
"Their run and jump defense and the man-to-man pressure they put on us also helped them close the lead on us,' Patrick said.
After cutting the lead to 22-21, Valley scored the next seven points, thanks again to Eaton's long range ability. With Eaton's fourth three, the Vikings jumped back up to a 27-21 lead. Rochester battled all the way back to take its first and only lead at 32-31 with 1:05 to play. Cody New hit a layup and was fouled with eight seconds left to give the Vikings a 34-32 halftime lead.
It was the first game of the season for New, who was suspended for the first half of the season. After starting sluggish, New finished with nine points and five rebounds.
"I really thought Cody did a nice job once he settled down,' Patrick said.
After scoring in bunches in the first half, the third quarter was a different story. Valley again jumped on the Zebras, scoring the first six points of the quarter to take a 40-32 lead. Rochester didn't score its first point in the quarter until 2:25 was left when Beck added a jump shot to cut the lead to 40-34.
"We finally played the tempo we wanted in the third quarter,' Patrick said. "They wanted to get in a running game, one shot and out, but we really didn't want that pace at all.'
The Vikings took a 48-39 lead heading into the last quarter. This was the statement quarter for the Vikings. Either they would put the Zebras away, or they would let the visitors make one more run.
Valley again found a way to jump on the Zebras early as they scored the first five points of the quarter to up the lead to 53-39 lead. Eaton hit four free throws, and New added two free throws. For the game, the Vikings hit on 17 of 23 free chances.
For most of the quarter, the Vikings led by 10 to 12 points, but again, the Zebras didn't go away easily. With the score 64-53, B.J. Swank hit a three to cut the lead to 64-56. Craig Kuhn then hit a layup to take the lead back to 10, but Swank hit his second three of the game and cut the lead to 66-59 with :31 seconds left. It was a little too late for a Rochester comeback as the Vikings locked up their 10th win in 13 chances.
"We have really played good basketball this year,' Patrick said. "We are 10-3, but we could very easily be 11-1. We could have beaten Warsaw and Plymouth.'
The Vikings need at least one more TRC win for at least a share of the conference crown. They host a struggling Manchester team next Friday, before traveling to Oak Hill, another tough task.
"We need to work on some things in order to improve. We need to work on our turnovers and our rebounding,' Patrick said.
Besides Brandon Eaton's 29 points, the Vikings also got solid games from Dax Snyder and Noah Silveus. Snyder finished with 11 points and six rebounds while Silveus contributed 8 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Deric Beck led Rochester with 18 points while Blake Newton added 15 and Nick Bowers 10.
Valley travels to South Bend Washington tonight.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 70 ROCHESTER 62
Rochester (5-6) 15 17 7 23 - 62
T. Valley (10-3) 20 14 14 22 - 70
T. Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Silvues (G) 3-9 2-3 2 4 3 8
Domenico (G) 0-1 0-0 4 0 1 0
Snyder (F) 5-7 1-1 3 1 6 11
B. Eaton (F) 7-14 10-12 3 2 6 29
Kuhn (C) 3-9 0-0 0 0 5 6
Shafer 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2
New 3-9 3-5 1 0 5 9
Ross 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0
T. Eaton 2-5 1-2 1 0 6 5
Totals 24-55 17-23 15 7 34 70
Rochester FG FT A S R Pts.
Patterson (G) 3-8 0-0 1 0 3 8
Newton(G) 6-24 2-4 2 2 5 15
Beck (F) 5-16 6-6 6 2 7 18
Bowers (C) 4-8 2-2 2 0 7 10
Swank (F) 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 6
Barts 0-1 2-2 1 0 1 2
Reasoner 1-3 1-2 0 0 5 3
Totals 21-63 13-16 13 5 30 62
Three-point goals -ÊT. Valley (5-10) Silvues 0-2, B. Eaton 5-8, Rochester (7-27) Patterson 2-6, Newton 1-9, Beck 2-8, Barts 0-1, Swank 2-3. Turnovers -ÊT. Valley 20, Rochester 20. Total fouls - T. Valley 18, Rochester 20. Fouled out -ÊBowers (R), Snyder (TV), T. Eaton (TV).
JV: ROCHESTER 55, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54 OT [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
AKRON -ÊThe Tippecaoe Valley Vikings boys basketball team was looking to stay unbeaten in the Three Rivers Conference heading into a tough TRC match-up with a very talented Rochester ballclub.
Rochester, which came in with a 5-5 record and 1-2 mark in TRC play, was looking to knock off the conference's only unbeaten team.
After four hard quarters of basketball between these rivals, the Vikings came out on top with a huge 70-62 win over the Zebras. With the win, the Vikings move to 10-3 and 5-0 in the TRC.
"This was a very big game for us,' Tippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "We knew Rochester was a very good team and we had to play solid basketball to win.'
In front of a packed house, the Vikings gave their fans something to cheer about right away. The Vikings came out very aggressive and before you knew it, the Vikings jumped out to an 8-0 lead, and the Zebras didn't know what hit them.
"We were really focused tonight and we came out ready to play,' Patrick said. "After we got an early lead, we kind of laid back and relaxed a little. We knew they would make a run at us.'
The Zebras didn't get on the scoreboard until the 6:02 mark, when Nick Patterson drilled a three to cut the lead to 8-3. Rochester wasn't shy on shooting the long ball, as the Zebras were 7 of 27 for the game.
"They have some great shooters,' Patrick said. "We had to know where their shooters were at all times.'
Brandon Eaton had the hot hand the whole night for the Vikings. The senior scored nine of his game-high 29 points in the opening quarter. Eaton was 3 of 4 from long range to get the Vikings rolling.
"Brandon had a great game. I think we forgot he was even on the court in the second quarter. We didn't get him the ball,' Patrick said.
The Vikings extended their lead to 18-5 with 1:55 left when Noah Silveus scored on a jump shot. Even after the big early lead, you could feel some momentum shift Rochester's way when the Vikings had a couple crucial turnovers in the quarter. After trailing 20-10, the Zebras scored the last five points of the quarter to close the gap to five at 20-15.
"Turnovers really let them back into the game,' Patrick said. "We tried to throw it over the top a little too much and it hurt us.'
After closing the gap after one, Rochester turned up the heat, literally. The Zebras went to their trademark full-court pressure defense, and again it aggravated the Vikings. The Vikings committed six turnovers in the quarter, 11 for the half. Deric Beck opened the quarter for the Zebras with two free throws to cut the lead to 20-17.
"Their run and jump defense and the man-to-man pressure they put on us also helped them close the lead on us,' Patrick said.
After cutting the lead to 22-21, Valley scored the next seven points, thanks again to Eaton's long range ability. With Eaton's fourth three, the Vikings jumped back up to a 27-21 lead. Rochester battled all the way back to take its first and only lead at 32-31 with 1:05 to play. Cody New hit a layup and was fouled with eight seconds left to give the Vikings a 34-32 halftime lead.
It was the first game of the season for New, who was suspended for the first half of the season. After starting sluggish, New finished with nine points and five rebounds.
"I really thought Cody did a nice job once he settled down,' Patrick said.
After scoring in bunches in the first half, the third quarter was a different story. Valley again jumped on the Zebras, scoring the first six points of the quarter to take a 40-32 lead. Rochester didn't score its first point in the quarter until 2:25 was left when Beck added a jump shot to cut the lead to 40-34.
"We finally played the tempo we wanted in the third quarter,' Patrick said. "They wanted to get in a running game, one shot and out, but we really didn't want that pace at all.'
The Vikings took a 48-39 lead heading into the last quarter. This was the statement quarter for the Vikings. Either they would put the Zebras away, or they would let the visitors make one more run.
Valley again found a way to jump on the Zebras early as they scored the first five points of the quarter to up the lead to 53-39 lead. Eaton hit four free throws, and New added two free throws. For the game, the Vikings hit on 17 of 23 free chances.
For most of the quarter, the Vikings led by 10 to 12 points, but again, the Zebras didn't go away easily. With the score 64-53, B.J. Swank hit a three to cut the lead to 64-56. Craig Kuhn then hit a layup to take the lead back to 10, but Swank hit his second three of the game and cut the lead to 66-59 with :31 seconds left. It was a little too late for a Rochester comeback as the Vikings locked up their 10th win in 13 chances.
"We have really played good basketball this year,' Patrick said. "We are 10-3, but we could very easily be 11-1. We could have beaten Warsaw and Plymouth.'
The Vikings need at least one more TRC win for at least a share of the conference crown. They host a struggling Manchester team next Friday, before traveling to Oak Hill, another tough task.
"We need to work on some things in order to improve. We need to work on our turnovers and our rebounding,' Patrick said.
Besides Brandon Eaton's 29 points, the Vikings also got solid games from Dax Snyder and Noah Silveus. Snyder finished with 11 points and six rebounds while Silveus contributed 8 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Deric Beck led Rochester with 18 points while Blake Newton added 15 and Nick Bowers 10.
Valley travels to South Bend Washington tonight.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 70 ROCHESTER 62
Rochester (5-6) 15 17 7 23 - 62
T. Valley (10-3) 20 14 14 22 - 70
T. Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Silvues (G) 3-9 2-3 2 4 3 8
Domenico (G) 0-1 0-0 4 0 1 0
Snyder (F) 5-7 1-1 3 1 6 11
B. Eaton (F) 7-14 10-12 3 2 6 29
Kuhn (C) 3-9 0-0 0 0 5 6
Shafer 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2
New 3-9 3-5 1 0 5 9
Ross 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0
T. Eaton 2-5 1-2 1 0 6 5
Totals 24-55 17-23 15 7 34 70
Rochester FG FT A S R Pts.
Patterson (G) 3-8 0-0 1 0 3 8
Newton(G) 6-24 2-4 2 2 5 15
Beck (F) 5-16 6-6 6 2 7 18
Bowers (C) 4-8 2-2 2 0 7 10
Swank (F) 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 6
Barts 0-1 2-2 1 0 1 2
Reasoner 1-3 1-2 0 0 5 3
Totals 21-63 13-16 13 5 30 62
Three-point goals -ÊT. Valley (5-10) Silvues 0-2, B. Eaton 5-8, Rochester (7-27) Patterson 2-6, Newton 1-9, Beck 2-8, Barts 0-1, Swank 2-3. Turnovers -ÊT. Valley 20, Rochester 20. Total fouls - T. Valley 18, Rochester 20. Fouled out -ÊBowers (R), Snyder (TV), T. Eaton (TV).
JV: ROCHESTER 55, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54 OT [[In-content Ad]]