Droughts Early And Late Put An End To Valley’s Season
March 4, 2020 at 5:41 a.m.
Droughts Early And Late Put An End To Valley’s Season
By Alaister McFarren-
The teams were tied at the half and the Vikings were down only six after the third, but a scoreless fourth quarter ended Valley’s chances of repeating as sectional champions.
Although they were outmuscled, giving up 22 points to Lakeland junior Brayden Bontrager through three quarters and scored only six points in the first period, Valley’s young squad trailed by only six entering the fourth.
Viking fans had high hopes – their team had just staged a mini-comeback in the first half when they surged from down 14-6 after the first to a 24-24 tie entering halftime. But they were unable to hit a single shot in the fourth and watched a 33-39 deficit become 49-33 after only four minutes of play.
“We didn’t adjust well to their zone in the second half,” said Viking head coach Chad Patrick. “We played hard, but it’s hard to win when you don’t put up any points in the fourth.”
Lakeland started the game with the same intensity it displayed down the stretch. Senior Bracey Shepherd hit two threes in the opening quarter that gave the Lakers their initial lead.
“(Shepherd) got hot in the first,” said Patrick. “We wanted to throw in some different defenses, triangle-and-one, but when they shot like that we got in trouble. I knew we were going to struggle against Bontrager inside if we went to man, but we had to (so that we could) stop their outside shooting. And when he started hitting outside shots like he was, there was nothing we could do to stop him.”
Bontrager finished with 26 points.
“I was proud of how our young guys played there early,” Patrick continued. “I figured we’d start out a little slow with our younger kids – we missed three layups there in the first – but we fought back hard and had a good comeback.”
Despite only winning six games this season and sporting the worst record in the sectional group, Lakeland’s athleticism and tenacity proved to be too much for the Vikings. Although not a large team, the Lakers out-rebounded Valley on the offensive glass all game long.
“They probably had 15 offensive rebounds,” said Patrick. “Any team that gets that many is going to score a lot of points. I can think of at least three of those they immediately kicked back out for three-pointers.”
One key factor to Lakeland’s win was their success in shutting down Valley’s second-leading scorer senior Tanner Trippiedi, who did not score in the game.
“(Their defense) was really good against Tanner,” Patrick said. “There have been games this year where, outside of (freshman Paul Leasure) and Tanner, we struggled to get anyone else to score a whole lot. Limiting him makes it tough to win.”
Leasure scored 15 in the game, hitting four threes, but was largely defended well and denied the ball in key situations. He led the Vikings in scoring this year with over 13 points per game.
Tippecanoe Valley is stacked with young talent that bodes well for the program’s next several years. Outside of senior-heavy West Noble, though, many of the other sectional teams are in the same situation; a sectional title looks to be a tough accomplishment in the near future, but Patrick knows his team has what it takes to compete for it.
“It’s going to be a loaded sectional,” he said, “but it’s not going to take much pushing to get these kids going. They love this game as much – if not more than – I do.”
“We’re not going to be patient,” he added. “We’re going to hit the weight room right away. We’re going to hit it and hit it hard. There’s a lot of work to put in this offseason. These kids have to let it burn a little bit, get in the gym and get better.”
Lakeland will play Wawasee (13-9) at 7:30 p.m. Friday . The winner of that game will take on either NorthWood (15-8) or West Noble (8-14) Saturday in the championship game at 7 p.m.
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The teams were tied at the half and the Vikings were down only six after the third, but a scoreless fourth quarter ended Valley’s chances of repeating as sectional champions.
Although they were outmuscled, giving up 22 points to Lakeland junior Brayden Bontrager through three quarters and scored only six points in the first period, Valley’s young squad trailed by only six entering the fourth.
Viking fans had high hopes – their team had just staged a mini-comeback in the first half when they surged from down 14-6 after the first to a 24-24 tie entering halftime. But they were unable to hit a single shot in the fourth and watched a 33-39 deficit become 49-33 after only four minutes of play.
“We didn’t adjust well to their zone in the second half,” said Viking head coach Chad Patrick. “We played hard, but it’s hard to win when you don’t put up any points in the fourth.”
Lakeland started the game with the same intensity it displayed down the stretch. Senior Bracey Shepherd hit two threes in the opening quarter that gave the Lakers their initial lead.
“(Shepherd) got hot in the first,” said Patrick. “We wanted to throw in some different defenses, triangle-and-one, but when they shot like that we got in trouble. I knew we were going to struggle against Bontrager inside if we went to man, but we had to (so that we could) stop their outside shooting. And when he started hitting outside shots like he was, there was nothing we could do to stop him.”
Bontrager finished with 26 points.
“I was proud of how our young guys played there early,” Patrick continued. “I figured we’d start out a little slow with our younger kids – we missed three layups there in the first – but we fought back hard and had a good comeback.”
Despite only winning six games this season and sporting the worst record in the sectional group, Lakeland’s athleticism and tenacity proved to be too much for the Vikings. Although not a large team, the Lakers out-rebounded Valley on the offensive glass all game long.
“They probably had 15 offensive rebounds,” said Patrick. “Any team that gets that many is going to score a lot of points. I can think of at least three of those they immediately kicked back out for three-pointers.”
One key factor to Lakeland’s win was their success in shutting down Valley’s second-leading scorer senior Tanner Trippiedi, who did not score in the game.
“(Their defense) was really good against Tanner,” Patrick said. “There have been games this year where, outside of (freshman Paul Leasure) and Tanner, we struggled to get anyone else to score a whole lot. Limiting him makes it tough to win.”
Leasure scored 15 in the game, hitting four threes, but was largely defended well and denied the ball in key situations. He led the Vikings in scoring this year with over 13 points per game.
Tippecanoe Valley is stacked with young talent that bodes well for the program’s next several years. Outside of senior-heavy West Noble, though, many of the other sectional teams are in the same situation; a sectional title looks to be a tough accomplishment in the near future, but Patrick knows his team has what it takes to compete for it.
“It’s going to be a loaded sectional,” he said, “but it’s not going to take much pushing to get these kids going. They love this game as much – if not more than – I do.”
“We’re not going to be patient,” he added. “We’re going to hit the weight room right away. We’re going to hit it and hit it hard. There’s a lot of work to put in this offseason. These kids have to let it burn a little bit, get in the gym and get better.”
Lakeland will play Wawasee (13-9) at 7:30 p.m. Friday . The winner of that game will take on either NorthWood (15-8) or West Noble (8-14) Saturday in the championship game at 7 p.m.
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