Warriors Reverse Fortune Against Vikings
March 1, 2017 at 4:54 p.m.
Warriors Reverse Fortune Against Vikings
By Dale [email protected]
Four days after falling 53-42 at Tippecanoe Valley, the Warriors hosted the Vikings Tuesday in the opening game of Class 3A Sectional 21 and celebrated a 41-37 win in overtime.
The difference in the gameplans from Friday’s game and Tuesday’s contest was Wawasee’s defense.
In Friday’s 11-point loss, the Warriors played man-to-man defense, and Valley’s Alec Craig scored 32 points.
Tuesday, Wawasee coach Jon Everingham put his team in a zone defense, and it worked.
“We had a little different gameplan, and we felt really good about that, it was just whether or not we could handle the pressure of the sectional,” said Everingham. “We had however many losses, 16 of 17, but you just wouldn’t know that from our group. We’re a confident group.
“We’ve been very competitive and we haven’t been able to get over the hump, but we made free throws down the stretch and we made big shots. Teams gotta think about covering Trevon (Coleman) on the inside, and then I think we’ve got some knockdown shooters from the outside.
“We did enough. Bill Patrick, obviously, is a legendary coach and Alec Craig is a top-notch player in our area, so we’re really fortunate to get a victory tonight.”
With Valley holding a 37-35 lead in the four-minute extra session, Wawasee senior Tyler Smith hit a three-pointer that turned out to be the game-winning shot as the Vikings didn’t score again.
Sophomore Aaron Evans extended the host’s lead to 39-37 with 57 seconds remaining with a free throw, and then junior Trevon Coleman iced the game with a pair of charity tosses with 24 seconds left.
Coleman finished the game with 14 points and five rebounds, while Smith tallied seven points and four boards in the win.
Sophomore Bennett Hoffert and senior Cameron Schlabach finished with six and five points, respectively, for the Warriors.
Senior DeSean Heckman led Valley with 14 points, while Craig scored 12, freshman Tanner Trippiedi six and senior Keith Wright five.
Craig played nearly 32 minutes of the 36-minute game.
He sat out nearly half of the second quarter after picking up his third foul.
“He picked up his third foul and that changed the game totally,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said of Craig being on the bench. “Not much you can do about that, really. I didn’t agree with the one,?I thought it was a cheap foul. It’s tough to play without him. We rely on him for a lot of scoring and defense.
“We had our chances, but we didn’t get a stop when we had the two-point lead (in OT) and we gave up a three-pointer.
“First half, they hurt us with offensive rebounds. They got two offensive rebounds that they put back. A close game like that you can’t give up offensive rebounds.”
Wawasee led 9-6 after one quarter of play and the teams were tied 12-12 at halftime.
The Warriors led 24-21 at the end of the third quarter and the teams went into the overtime frame knotted 35-35.
Valley finished the season with a 10-14 record, while Wawasee snapped a nine-game losing streak with its first win since Jan. 24, improving to 6-17.
The Warriors will play West Noble in a 6 p.m. semifinal game Friday.
Second-ranked NorthWood improved to 21-2 with a 78-35 win over Lakeland in Tuesday’s second game and will face Fairfield in a semifinal game at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The championship game is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re going to enjoy this,” said Everingham. “High School athletics is about enjoying your fun times, because we’ve had plenty of down times. We’re going to enjoy this, and enjoy it at school tomorrow, and then we have to get back to work with a very dangerous West Noble team waiting for us.”
WAWASEE 41, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 37 (OT)
TV 6 6 9 14 2 – 37
W 9 3 12 11 6 – 41
Valley – Tannier Trippiedi 2-6 1-2 6, Keith Wright 2-8 0-0 5, DeSean Heckman 6-8 1-1 14, Alec Craig 4-14 3-4 12, Alex Morrison 0-0 0-1 0, Jarod Duzenbery 0-3 0-0 0, Wes Melanson 0-1 0-0 0, Parkur Dalrymple 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 5-8 37.
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Schlabach 2-6 0-0 5, Tyler Smith 3-3 0-1 7, Jairus Boyer 1-4 0-0 3, Bennett Hoffert 2-6 0-0 6, Ryan Edington 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Evans 1-2 1-3 3, Trevon Coleman 5-8 4-4 14, Zak Linnemeier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-30 6-9 41.
Three-pointers – Valley 4 (Trippiedi, Heckman, Craig, Wright), Wawasee 5 (Hoffert 2, Schlabach, Smith, Boyer); Rebounds – Valley 15 (Trippiedi 3, Craig 3), Wawasee 30 (Evans 7); Turnovers – Valley 6, Wawasee 13; Fouls – Valley 16, Wawasee 17; Fouled out – Boyer; Records: Valley 10-14, Wawasee 7-17
Four days after falling 53-42 at Tippecanoe Valley, the Warriors hosted the Vikings Tuesday in the opening game of Class 3A Sectional 21 and celebrated a 41-37 win in overtime.
The difference in the gameplans from Friday’s game and Tuesday’s contest was Wawasee’s defense.
In Friday’s 11-point loss, the Warriors played man-to-man defense, and Valley’s Alec Craig scored 32 points.
Tuesday, Wawasee coach Jon Everingham put his team in a zone defense, and it worked.
“We had a little different gameplan, and we felt really good about that, it was just whether or not we could handle the pressure of the sectional,” said Everingham. “We had however many losses, 16 of 17, but you just wouldn’t know that from our group. We’re a confident group.
“We’ve been very competitive and we haven’t been able to get over the hump, but we made free throws down the stretch and we made big shots. Teams gotta think about covering Trevon (Coleman) on the inside, and then I think we’ve got some knockdown shooters from the outside.
“We did enough. Bill Patrick, obviously, is a legendary coach and Alec Craig is a top-notch player in our area, so we’re really fortunate to get a victory tonight.”
With Valley holding a 37-35 lead in the four-minute extra session, Wawasee senior Tyler Smith hit a three-pointer that turned out to be the game-winning shot as the Vikings didn’t score again.
Sophomore Aaron Evans extended the host’s lead to 39-37 with 57 seconds remaining with a free throw, and then junior Trevon Coleman iced the game with a pair of charity tosses with 24 seconds left.
Coleman finished the game with 14 points and five rebounds, while Smith tallied seven points and four boards in the win.
Sophomore Bennett Hoffert and senior Cameron Schlabach finished with six and five points, respectively, for the Warriors.
Senior DeSean Heckman led Valley with 14 points, while Craig scored 12, freshman Tanner Trippiedi six and senior Keith Wright five.
Craig played nearly 32 minutes of the 36-minute game.
He sat out nearly half of the second quarter after picking up his third foul.
“He picked up his third foul and that changed the game totally,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said of Craig being on the bench. “Not much you can do about that, really. I didn’t agree with the one,?I thought it was a cheap foul. It’s tough to play without him. We rely on him for a lot of scoring and defense.
“We had our chances, but we didn’t get a stop when we had the two-point lead (in OT) and we gave up a three-pointer.
“First half, they hurt us with offensive rebounds. They got two offensive rebounds that they put back. A close game like that you can’t give up offensive rebounds.”
Wawasee led 9-6 after one quarter of play and the teams were tied 12-12 at halftime.
The Warriors led 24-21 at the end of the third quarter and the teams went into the overtime frame knotted 35-35.
Valley finished the season with a 10-14 record, while Wawasee snapped a nine-game losing streak with its first win since Jan. 24, improving to 6-17.
The Warriors will play West Noble in a 6 p.m. semifinal game Friday.
Second-ranked NorthWood improved to 21-2 with a 78-35 win over Lakeland in Tuesday’s second game and will face Fairfield in a semifinal game at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The championship game is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re going to enjoy this,” said Everingham. “High School athletics is about enjoying your fun times, because we’ve had plenty of down times. We’re going to enjoy this, and enjoy it at school tomorrow, and then we have to get back to work with a very dangerous West Noble team waiting for us.”
WAWASEE 41, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 37 (OT)
TV 6 6 9 14 2 – 37
W 9 3 12 11 6 – 41
Valley – Tannier Trippiedi 2-6 1-2 6, Keith Wright 2-8 0-0 5, DeSean Heckman 6-8 1-1 14, Alec Craig 4-14 3-4 12, Alex Morrison 0-0 0-1 0, Jarod Duzenbery 0-3 0-0 0, Wes Melanson 0-1 0-0 0, Parkur Dalrymple 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 5-8 37.
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Schlabach 2-6 0-0 5, Tyler Smith 3-3 0-1 7, Jairus Boyer 1-4 0-0 3, Bennett Hoffert 2-6 0-0 6, Ryan Edington 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Evans 1-2 1-3 3, Trevon Coleman 5-8 4-4 14, Zak Linnemeier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-30 6-9 41.
Three-pointers – Valley 4 (Trippiedi, Heckman, Craig, Wright), Wawasee 5 (Hoffert 2, Schlabach, Smith, Boyer); Rebounds – Valley 15 (Trippiedi 3, Craig 3), Wawasee 30 (Evans 7); Turnovers – Valley 6, Wawasee 13; Fouls – Valley 16, Wawasee 17; Fouled out – Boyer; Records: Valley 10-14, Wawasee 7-17
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