Vikings Shut Down Knights To Go To 3-0 In TRC
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WABASH - Heading into Friday night's Three Rivers Conference boys basketball battle between Tippecanoe Valley and Southwood, the host Knights knew they would have to deal with 6-foot-3 senior Brandon Eaton.
Eaton, who leads the area in scoring with a 23.5 average, was the Knights' main concern. Someone forgot to tell Southwood coach Steve McClure that there is another Eaton on this team, 6-3 freshman Trey Eaton, Brandon's brother.
It was Trey Eaton who came off the bench to have a monster game for the Vikings.
Trey Eaton erupted for 17 fourth-quarter points and had a game-high 22 points to give the Vikings a big 60-48 TRC win over Southwood. More importantly, the Vikings (6-3) move to 3-0 in the TRC. Southwood falls to 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the TRC.
"I really thought Trey played a great second half,' Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "He was a lot more active.'
It was a game of defense as both teams struggled early in the game. In the first quarter, each team committed six turnovers.
Valley started off the game with two quick baskets, one by Anthony Domenico and the other on a tip-in by Dax Snyder. The Knights then scored the next four points to tie the score at 4-4. After trading four-point runs, the Vikings ended the quarter on a 3-0 run to close with an 11-8 lead.
"I thought we played the best defensive game of the year,' Patrick said. "We have had two good weeks of practice. Our kids just came out and wanted to win.'
Southwood, which is known for its three-point shooters, fell victim to Valley's changing defensive styles. The Vikings played a little 1-3-1 zone, 1-2-2 zone and a tough man-to-man that took the Knights' guards out of the game.
"We really made it difficult for Southwood to get many good looks,' Patrick said. "We are beginning to play with more confidence each and every game.'
The second quarter is when the Vikings' pressure defense really got to the Knights. After cutting the lead to 11-10, the Vikings scored four quick points on steals from Brandon Eaton and Noah Silveus to push the lead to 15-10. Another 5-0 run in the quarter gave the Vikings a 25-17 lead going into halftime.
Valley hasn't had a healthy team all year. Silveus played with a broken finger, Craig Kuhn was playing his first game since knee surgery, Brandon Eaton has a bad ankle, and yet the Vikings still find ways to win.
"Once we get everyone healthy, I really think we are going to have a pretty solid basketball team,' Patrick said. "We have eight to 10 kids that can play.'
The third quarter presented more challenges for the Knights. After getting harassed by the Vikings' defense in the first half, the Knights had to battle back from big deficits. A basket by Shawn Zellers with 5:34 left cut the Viking lead to 29-23, the closest the Knights had come in a long while. The Vikings again had an answer, this time going on a 6-0 run to up the lead to 35-23. In that run, Brandon and Trey Eaton had easy layups.
"We did a nice job of running our offense,' Patrick said. "We had a lot of nice looks when we needed them.'
Zellers hit his first three-pointer of the season as time expired in the quarter, cutting the Valley lead to 36-30.
Now enter the super freshman, Trey Eaton. It was the Trey Eaton show in the fourth quarter. Eaton hit 9 of 10 free throws, part of his 17 fourth-quarter points, to put away the host Knights.
Southwood made it interesting, again. The Knights entered at 6-1, and everyone in the gym could feel a serious run coming on. The Knights cut the lead to 42-40 on a Brady Elzroth lay-up with 4:15 to play. Again, too much Valley defense and runs.
The Vikings closed the door on the Knights, thanks to a 13-0 run in a three-minute timespan to turn this close game into a drubbing.
Brandon Eaton finished the game with 15 points and four rebounds. Trey Eaton also added five rebounds. Silveus and Kuhn added eight points each. For the Knights, Zellers had 17 points and Brady Elzroth chipped in 14.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 6-3 (3-0 TRC) while Southwood drops to 6-2 (1-2 TRC).
The win was Bill Patrick's 498th win, he will look to pick up win number 499 today at Argos.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 60
SOUTHWOOD 48
T. Valley (6-3) 11 14 11 24 - 60
Southwood (6-2) 8 9 13 18 - 48
T. Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Silveus 2-8 4-6 2 2 1 8
Shafer 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 2
Snyder 1-1 1-2 3 1 3 3
B. Eaton 5-7 4-4 1 1 4 15
Domenico 1-2 0-0 1 1 0 2
Ross 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kuhn 4-6 0-0 0 0 3 8
T. Eaton 5-5 12-14 0 0 5 22
Totals 18-31 23-30 7 4 17 60
Southwood FG FT A S R Pts.
Ehret 1-2 0-0 4 2 1 2
Jones 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Perigo 1-3 0-0 3 0 1 3
Bassett 1-4 1-2 0 0 2 3
Marshall 2-5 0-0 5 1 0 5
Elzroth 6-8 2-5 2 1 5 14
Dawson 1-2 0-0 1 0 3 2
Zellers 8-12 0-0 1 1 3 17
Eckman 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 21-40 3-7 16 5 16 48
Three-point goals -ÊT. Valley 1-6 (Silveus 0-2, Shafer 0-1, B. Eaton 1-3,), Southwood 3-9 (Jones 0-1, Perigo 1-2, Bassett 0-2, Marshall 1-1, Zellers 1-1, Eckman 0-2). Turnovers - T. Valley 16, Southwood 19. Total fouls - T. Valley 11, Southwood 20. Fouled out - Southwood- Brian Bassett.
JV - SOUTHWOOD 47, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 32 [[In-content Ad]]
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WABASH - Heading into Friday night's Three Rivers Conference boys basketball battle between Tippecanoe Valley and Southwood, the host Knights knew they would have to deal with 6-foot-3 senior Brandon Eaton.
Eaton, who leads the area in scoring with a 23.5 average, was the Knights' main concern. Someone forgot to tell Southwood coach Steve McClure that there is another Eaton on this team, 6-3 freshman Trey Eaton, Brandon's brother.
It was Trey Eaton who came off the bench to have a monster game for the Vikings.
Trey Eaton erupted for 17 fourth-quarter points and had a game-high 22 points to give the Vikings a big 60-48 TRC win over Southwood. More importantly, the Vikings (6-3) move to 3-0 in the TRC. Southwood falls to 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the TRC.
"I really thought Trey played a great second half,' Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "He was a lot more active.'
It was a game of defense as both teams struggled early in the game. In the first quarter, each team committed six turnovers.
Valley started off the game with two quick baskets, one by Anthony Domenico and the other on a tip-in by Dax Snyder. The Knights then scored the next four points to tie the score at 4-4. After trading four-point runs, the Vikings ended the quarter on a 3-0 run to close with an 11-8 lead.
"I thought we played the best defensive game of the year,' Patrick said. "We have had two good weeks of practice. Our kids just came out and wanted to win.'
Southwood, which is known for its three-point shooters, fell victim to Valley's changing defensive styles. The Vikings played a little 1-3-1 zone, 1-2-2 zone and a tough man-to-man that took the Knights' guards out of the game.
"We really made it difficult for Southwood to get many good looks,' Patrick said. "We are beginning to play with more confidence each and every game.'
The second quarter is when the Vikings' pressure defense really got to the Knights. After cutting the lead to 11-10, the Vikings scored four quick points on steals from Brandon Eaton and Noah Silveus to push the lead to 15-10. Another 5-0 run in the quarter gave the Vikings a 25-17 lead going into halftime.
Valley hasn't had a healthy team all year. Silveus played with a broken finger, Craig Kuhn was playing his first game since knee surgery, Brandon Eaton has a bad ankle, and yet the Vikings still find ways to win.
"Once we get everyone healthy, I really think we are going to have a pretty solid basketball team,' Patrick said. "We have eight to 10 kids that can play.'
The third quarter presented more challenges for the Knights. After getting harassed by the Vikings' defense in the first half, the Knights had to battle back from big deficits. A basket by Shawn Zellers with 5:34 left cut the Viking lead to 29-23, the closest the Knights had come in a long while. The Vikings again had an answer, this time going on a 6-0 run to up the lead to 35-23. In that run, Brandon and Trey Eaton had easy layups.
"We did a nice job of running our offense,' Patrick said. "We had a lot of nice looks when we needed them.'
Zellers hit his first three-pointer of the season as time expired in the quarter, cutting the Valley lead to 36-30.
Now enter the super freshman, Trey Eaton. It was the Trey Eaton show in the fourth quarter. Eaton hit 9 of 10 free throws, part of his 17 fourth-quarter points, to put away the host Knights.
Southwood made it interesting, again. The Knights entered at 6-1, and everyone in the gym could feel a serious run coming on. The Knights cut the lead to 42-40 on a Brady Elzroth lay-up with 4:15 to play. Again, too much Valley defense and runs.
The Vikings closed the door on the Knights, thanks to a 13-0 run in a three-minute timespan to turn this close game into a drubbing.
Brandon Eaton finished the game with 15 points and four rebounds. Trey Eaton also added five rebounds. Silveus and Kuhn added eight points each. For the Knights, Zellers had 17 points and Brady Elzroth chipped in 14.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 6-3 (3-0 TRC) while Southwood drops to 6-2 (1-2 TRC).
The win was Bill Patrick's 498th win, he will look to pick up win number 499 today at Argos.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 60
SOUTHWOOD 48
T. Valley (6-3) 11 14 11 24 - 60
Southwood (6-2) 8 9 13 18 - 48
T. Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Silveus 2-8 4-6 2 2 1 8
Shafer 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 2
Snyder 1-1 1-2 3 1 3 3
B. Eaton 5-7 4-4 1 1 4 15
Domenico 1-2 0-0 1 1 0 2
Ross 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kuhn 4-6 0-0 0 0 3 8
T. Eaton 5-5 12-14 0 0 5 22
Totals 18-31 23-30 7 4 17 60
Southwood FG FT A S R Pts.
Ehret 1-2 0-0 4 2 1 2
Jones 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Perigo 1-3 0-0 3 0 1 3
Bassett 1-4 1-2 0 0 2 3
Marshall 2-5 0-0 5 1 0 5
Elzroth 6-8 2-5 2 1 5 14
Dawson 1-2 0-0 1 0 3 2
Zellers 8-12 0-0 1 1 3 17
Eckman 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 21-40 3-7 16 5 16 48
Three-point goals -ÊT. Valley 1-6 (Silveus 0-2, Shafer 0-1, B. Eaton 1-3,), Southwood 3-9 (Jones 0-1, Perigo 1-2, Bassett 0-2, Marshall 1-1, Zellers 1-1, Eckman 0-2). Turnovers - T. Valley 16, Southwood 19. Total fouls - T. Valley 11, Southwood 20. Fouled out - Southwood- Brian Bassett.
JV - SOUTHWOOD 47, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 32 [[In-content Ad]]