Bussard Leaving Footprint On Valley Program
January 29, 2018 at 6:54 p.m.
Bussard Leaving Footprint On Valley Program
By Dale [email protected]
Tippecanoe Valley High School junior Sophie Bussard’s shoes certainly say a lot about her.
Some of her favorite Bible verses – 2 Chronicles 15:7, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 139:14 and Philippians 4:13 – are written on the white Nikes she wears during games and practices.
There’s also a tribute – “RIP Gram” – to her late grandmother, as well as the inscription “E4” as a way to acknowledge legendary Valley player and current boys assistant coach Trey Eaton, whom Bussard trains with.
The E is for Eaton’s name, of course, and the four a reminder to Bussard that great players show up in the fourth quarter.
Bussard, a versatile 5-foot-8 player that leads her team in scoring, rebounding, steals and assists, is soft-spoken, humble and quick to praise her teammates when the questions are about her.
Bussard is a big reason the Lady Vikings are ranked in the Class 3A top 10 poll and take a 19-3 record into Tuesday’s Sectional 21 matchup with Lakeland.
Shooting 47 percent from the field overall and 75 percent from the free throw line, Bussard has scored 362 points this season.
She averages 17.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 3.0 assists per game.
Bussard said she works extremely hard on being an all-around player, and that the rebounds, steals, assists and her defensive effort are as important to her as the points.
A perfect example of Bussard’s all-around play was Valley’s home game against Southwood on Jan. 20. All Bussard did was flirt with a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight steals.
“My freshman year, I was the first one off the bench, and my sophomore year I got to start, but my job was to play defense,” said Bussard, who has been named the Times-Union Area Player of the Year.
“Coach would look at me and say ‘hey, you got the best player on the other team, go shut her down.’ That was my job, and then being the point guard I had to get Anne (Secrest), Meredith (Brouyette) and Hannah (Dunn) the ball so we could get the shots we needed. My role was to be the provider, the assister, to rebound and do the little things.
“This year, I’ve been able to score a lot more, but I’m also rebounding more and assisting more and I’m more of a leader in a lot of areas.”
While Bussard is the leader on Valley’s current team, she is quick to heap praise on former Lady Vikings Secrest, Brouyette and Dunn.
That trio was part of the 2017 senior class that won its final 28 Three Rivers Conference games, and that led Valley to the state finals in 2015.
“Anne, Meredith and Hannah were awesome seniors last year, they were awesome teammates,” said Bussard. “They were awesome leaders, and I took a lot from them ... things like coming into practice everyday and going hard, holding each other accountable and being a good teammate.
“I learned a lot from them, they really left a huge impact on the program, and I really like the challenge of stepping up and doing what I can.”
Bussard has scored 769 points so far in her varsity career. During that time, Valley is 66-10 overall, 23-2 in the TRC, and has won two sectional titles.
Following the four years that Secrest was named the Player of the Year, Bussard pushes the Lady Vikings’ stranglehold on the award to five years.
“When she’s playing well, we’re playing well, obviously,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said of Bussard. “She rebounds well, she’s one of our scorers, but she plays great defense. We always give her the toughest defensive assignment.
“Sometimes she has to handle the ball, sometimes she doesn’t, it just depend on the situation. Other than Anne Secrest, I don’t know that we’ve had that type of a versatile player in this program.
“She really can do it all, and I think she took a major jump from her sophomore year to her junior year. We always talked about that with Anne, and every year she seemed to do things just a little better. Same thing with Sophie ... she didn’t start her freshman year, but she started at point guard for us last year because she had to. This year she doesn’t have to focus on playing point guard, so we’re able to put her in different spots.
“She jumps really well, rebounds really well ... so she’s really good around the basket. She’s developed an outside shot, and you can’t just sag in on her and back off of her. You’ve got to guard her every foot of the floor. I think that’s what makes her so tough to guard, she can attack from so many different places on the floor.”
The 16-year-old Bussard is the daughter of Chuck and Bridget Bussard, and has two older brothers, Derek and Dustin.
Tippecanoe Valley High School junior Sophie Bussard’s shoes certainly say a lot about her.
Some of her favorite Bible verses – 2 Chronicles 15:7, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 139:14 and Philippians 4:13 – are written on the white Nikes she wears during games and practices.
There’s also a tribute – “RIP Gram” – to her late grandmother, as well as the inscription “E4” as a way to acknowledge legendary Valley player and current boys assistant coach Trey Eaton, whom Bussard trains with.
The E is for Eaton’s name, of course, and the four a reminder to Bussard that great players show up in the fourth quarter.
Bussard, a versatile 5-foot-8 player that leads her team in scoring, rebounding, steals and assists, is soft-spoken, humble and quick to praise her teammates when the questions are about her.
Bussard is a big reason the Lady Vikings are ranked in the Class 3A top 10 poll and take a 19-3 record into Tuesday’s Sectional 21 matchup with Lakeland.
Shooting 47 percent from the field overall and 75 percent from the free throw line, Bussard has scored 362 points this season.
She averages 17.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 3.0 assists per game.
Bussard said she works extremely hard on being an all-around player, and that the rebounds, steals, assists and her defensive effort are as important to her as the points.
A perfect example of Bussard’s all-around play was Valley’s home game against Southwood on Jan. 20. All Bussard did was flirt with a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight steals.
“My freshman year, I was the first one off the bench, and my sophomore year I got to start, but my job was to play defense,” said Bussard, who has been named the Times-Union Area Player of the Year.
“Coach would look at me and say ‘hey, you got the best player on the other team, go shut her down.’ That was my job, and then being the point guard I had to get Anne (Secrest), Meredith (Brouyette) and Hannah (Dunn) the ball so we could get the shots we needed. My role was to be the provider, the assister, to rebound and do the little things.
“This year, I’ve been able to score a lot more, but I’m also rebounding more and assisting more and I’m more of a leader in a lot of areas.”
While Bussard is the leader on Valley’s current team, she is quick to heap praise on former Lady Vikings Secrest, Brouyette and Dunn.
That trio was part of the 2017 senior class that won its final 28 Three Rivers Conference games, and that led Valley to the state finals in 2015.
“Anne, Meredith and Hannah were awesome seniors last year, they were awesome teammates,” said Bussard. “They were awesome leaders, and I took a lot from them ... things like coming into practice everyday and going hard, holding each other accountable and being a good teammate.
“I learned a lot from them, they really left a huge impact on the program, and I really like the challenge of stepping up and doing what I can.”
Bussard has scored 769 points so far in her varsity career. During that time, Valley is 66-10 overall, 23-2 in the TRC, and has won two sectional titles.
Following the four years that Secrest was named the Player of the Year, Bussard pushes the Lady Vikings’ stranglehold on the award to five years.
“When she’s playing well, we’re playing well, obviously,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said of Bussard. “She rebounds well, she’s one of our scorers, but she plays great defense. We always give her the toughest defensive assignment.
“Sometimes she has to handle the ball, sometimes she doesn’t, it just depend on the situation. Other than Anne Secrest, I don’t know that we’ve had that type of a versatile player in this program.
“She really can do it all, and I think she took a major jump from her sophomore year to her junior year. We always talked about that with Anne, and every year she seemed to do things just a little better. Same thing with Sophie ... she didn’t start her freshman year, but she started at point guard for us last year because she had to. This year she doesn’t have to focus on playing point guard, so we’re able to put her in different spots.
“She jumps really well, rebounds really well ... so she’s really good around the basket. She’s developed an outside shot, and you can’t just sag in on her and back off of her. You’ve got to guard her every foot of the floor. I think that’s what makes her so tough to guard, she can attack from so many different places on the floor.”
The 16-year-old Bussard is the daughter of Chuck and Bridget Bussard, and has two older brothers, Derek and Dustin.
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