Craig, Valley Too Much For Wawasee
February 25, 2017 at 6:53 a.m.
Craig, Valley Too Much For Wawasee
By Mark [email protected]
Alec Craig didn’t appear to have any such trouble, as he led Tippecanoe Valley to a 53-42 win over Wawasee in his final home game in a Viking uniform.
Before Friday’s game Valley head coach Bill Patrick was recognized for being the active leader and second on the all-time list for wins in Indiana high school boys basketball history. Senior winter sports athletes, band members and cheerleaders were also recognized in a separate pregame ceremony.
After seeing Valley’s 12-point second-quarter lead whittled to three by the end of the third period, Craig scored 13 of Valley’s 15 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with a game-high 32 points. He had both of the Vikings’ field goals in the final act, and hit nine straight free throws to close out the game.
Craig admitted that with all there was going on, he was determined to make sure Valley won this game.
“That’s how I felt,” he said. “They started getting close in the third quarter, and I was like ‘there’s no way.’ So I was just trying to get the ball and take it to the hoop.
“They got in the bonus early, so I was trying to get to the free throw line and knock ‘em down.”
Patrick said he knows Craig is more than able to deliver that kind of game, and it could come in handy when the 3A Wawasee Sectional begins Tuesday with a rematch between the Vikings and Warriors.
“(Craig’s) had some games in the 30s, so he’s capable, and he shot the ball well tonight,” Patrick said. “He obviously was ready to play, and he’s capable of scoring 30 or 40 points on any given night. He played hard, his shot selection was good and he had one of the better games he’s played this year.”
Patrick, who owns a career coaching record of 765-318 in his 48th season, said he hoped the added ceremony in his honor, where the Vikings presented him with an autographed ball and his wife Nancy with a bouquet, wouldn’t distract from the task at hand.
“You don’t want to take away from the game, and the game is for the kids. It’s nice to get recognized, but it was secondary and I was hoping it wouldn’t take away from the game. I wanted them to keep it really, really short because the kids were ready to play,” he said.
“I think the senior night and all those things might have actually helped tonight, instead of hurting.”
For Wawasee, it was the same song, but a different verse – play well early, fall behind by double digits, come back to make it close, but fall short in the end. While there have been several occasions during the Warriors’ current nine-game losing streak where they had a chance at the end to pull the game out, Friday night’s contest wasn’t in that category.
“It really is (repeating the pattern). I didn’t think we played particlarily well tonight. Some of the games we’ve been really close in, we’ve taken care of the ball and we’ve defended better than what we did tonight,” Warrior coach Jon Everingham said. “The difference is we got waxed tonight.
“I don’t think the score is indicative of how bad we got beat. They were doing everything they wanted to do, and we’ll obviously have to do a better job if we even want to stand a chance on Tuesday.”
Trevon Coleman led the Warriors with 18 points, and Jairus Boyer added eight. After starting the season 4-1, Wawasee closed out its regular season with a 5-17 record.
Tanner Trippiedi, Keith Wright and Wes Melanson added five points each for Valley. The Vikings take a 10-13 record into Tuesday’s sectional rematch, which tips off at 6 p.m.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 53, WAWASEE 42
W 8 15 12 7 – 42
TV 16 12 10 15 – 53
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 0-2 0-0 0, Cameron Schlabach 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Smith 3-3 0-0 7, Jairus Boyer 4-4 0-0 8, Jacob Hand 1-2 2-2 4, Bennett Hoffert 1-4 0-0 3, Ryan Edington 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Evans 1-4 0-0 2, Trevon Coleman 6-7 6-11 18, Tim Conley 0-0 0-0 0, Zak?Linnemeier 0-0 0-0 0, Dalton Pearish 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-29 8-13 42.
Valley – Tanner Trippiedi 2-5 0-0 5, Dakota Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Keith Wright 1-7 3-3 5, DeSean Heckman 1-3 0-2 2, Alec Craig 10-18 10-11 32, Jarod Duzenbery 1-3 0-0 2, Wes Melanson 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 18-39 13-16 53.
Three-pointers – Wawasee 2 (Smith, Hoffert), Valley 4 (Craig 2, Trippiedi, Melanson); Rebounds – Wawasee 23 (Coleman 6), Valley 17 (Duzenbery 4); Turnovers – Wawasee 17, Valley 4; Fouls – Wawasee 18, Valley 13; Fouled out – Hoffert; Records: Wawasee 5-17, Valley 10-13.
JV – Wawasee 50, Tippecanoe Valley 27
Wawasee – Ryan Edington 16, Austin Miller 12, Zak Linnemeier 8, Josh Slabaugh 7, Dalton Pearish 7.
Valley – Jace Potter 6, Jalen Potter 5, Cameron Parker 5, Jaydin Conley 4, Parkur Dalrymple 3, Dakota Parker 2, Dwight Conley 2.
Alec Craig didn’t appear to have any such trouble, as he led Tippecanoe Valley to a 53-42 win over Wawasee in his final home game in a Viking uniform.
Before Friday’s game Valley head coach Bill Patrick was recognized for being the active leader and second on the all-time list for wins in Indiana high school boys basketball history. Senior winter sports athletes, band members and cheerleaders were also recognized in a separate pregame ceremony.
After seeing Valley’s 12-point second-quarter lead whittled to three by the end of the third period, Craig scored 13 of Valley’s 15 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with a game-high 32 points. He had both of the Vikings’ field goals in the final act, and hit nine straight free throws to close out the game.
Craig admitted that with all there was going on, he was determined to make sure Valley won this game.
“That’s how I felt,” he said. “They started getting close in the third quarter, and I was like ‘there’s no way.’ So I was just trying to get the ball and take it to the hoop.
“They got in the bonus early, so I was trying to get to the free throw line and knock ‘em down.”
Patrick said he knows Craig is more than able to deliver that kind of game, and it could come in handy when the 3A Wawasee Sectional begins Tuesday with a rematch between the Vikings and Warriors.
“(Craig’s) had some games in the 30s, so he’s capable, and he shot the ball well tonight,” Patrick said. “He obviously was ready to play, and he’s capable of scoring 30 or 40 points on any given night. He played hard, his shot selection was good and he had one of the better games he’s played this year.”
Patrick, who owns a career coaching record of 765-318 in his 48th season, said he hoped the added ceremony in his honor, where the Vikings presented him with an autographed ball and his wife Nancy with a bouquet, wouldn’t distract from the task at hand.
“You don’t want to take away from the game, and the game is for the kids. It’s nice to get recognized, but it was secondary and I was hoping it wouldn’t take away from the game. I wanted them to keep it really, really short because the kids were ready to play,” he said.
“I think the senior night and all those things might have actually helped tonight, instead of hurting.”
For Wawasee, it was the same song, but a different verse – play well early, fall behind by double digits, come back to make it close, but fall short in the end. While there have been several occasions during the Warriors’ current nine-game losing streak where they had a chance at the end to pull the game out, Friday night’s contest wasn’t in that category.
“It really is (repeating the pattern). I didn’t think we played particlarily well tonight. Some of the games we’ve been really close in, we’ve taken care of the ball and we’ve defended better than what we did tonight,” Warrior coach Jon Everingham said. “The difference is we got waxed tonight.
“I don’t think the score is indicative of how bad we got beat. They were doing everything they wanted to do, and we’ll obviously have to do a better job if we even want to stand a chance on Tuesday.”
Trevon Coleman led the Warriors with 18 points, and Jairus Boyer added eight. After starting the season 4-1, Wawasee closed out its regular season with a 5-17 record.
Tanner Trippiedi, Keith Wright and Wes Melanson added five points each for Valley. The Vikings take a 10-13 record into Tuesday’s sectional rematch, which tips off at 6 p.m.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 53, WAWASEE 42
W 8 15 12 7 – 42
TV 16 12 10 15 – 53
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 0-2 0-0 0, Cameron Schlabach 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Smith 3-3 0-0 7, Jairus Boyer 4-4 0-0 8, Jacob Hand 1-2 2-2 4, Bennett Hoffert 1-4 0-0 3, Ryan Edington 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Evans 1-4 0-0 2, Trevon Coleman 6-7 6-11 18, Tim Conley 0-0 0-0 0, Zak?Linnemeier 0-0 0-0 0, Dalton Pearish 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-29 8-13 42.
Valley – Tanner Trippiedi 2-5 0-0 5, Dakota Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Keith Wright 1-7 3-3 5, DeSean Heckman 1-3 0-2 2, Alec Craig 10-18 10-11 32, Jarod Duzenbery 1-3 0-0 2, Wes Melanson 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 18-39 13-16 53.
Three-pointers – Wawasee 2 (Smith, Hoffert), Valley 4 (Craig 2, Trippiedi, Melanson); Rebounds – Wawasee 23 (Coleman 6), Valley 17 (Duzenbery 4); Turnovers – Wawasee 17, Valley 4; Fouls – Wawasee 18, Valley 13; Fouled out – Hoffert; Records: Wawasee 5-17, Valley 10-13.
JV – Wawasee 50, Tippecanoe Valley 27
Wawasee – Ryan Edington 16, Austin Miller 12, Zak Linnemeier 8, Josh Slabaugh 7, Dalton Pearish 7.
Valley – Jace Potter 6, Jalen Potter 5, Cameron Parker 5, Jaydin Conley 4, Parkur Dalrymple 3, Dakota Parker 2, Dwight Conley 2.
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