AKRON - Tippecanoe Valley's varsity boys basketball team seems to have turned a corner.
Following a five-game losing streak, the Vikings (5-6, 1-1 Three Rivers Conference) have won three straight, including Friday night's 72-58 home win over TRC rival Rochester (6-4, 1-2 TRC)."They've been coming along," Rochester coach Rob Malchow said of Valley. "Even though they were 4-6 coming in, they played (North) Judson well (on Jan. 9), and North Judson's a good basketball team. They're starting to get some confidence with their young players, and they really brought it to us tonight."
The Vikings took it to the Zebras right off the bat, hitting 6 of 11 shots in the opening quarter, building a 17-11 lead in the process.
"We just got off to a good start, and played well," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "Honestly, three or four weeks ago, I wasn't sure if we could play with them."
That good start continued throughout entire game, as Valley hit 27 of 43 shots (63 percent).
"It's hard to shoot that well, even if you're just out at the park," Malchow said.
The 72 points is the most scored against Rochester this year, as the Zebras had allowed just 49 points per game.
"Tippecanoe Valley played a very good basketball game tonight," Malchow said. "Our defense wasn't as solid as it's been at times this year. We didn't rotate as quickly as we should have, and they took advantage of it."
Valley seniors Anthony Tolson and Zach Owens took advantage of their opportunities, scoring 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Along with their point production, Valley also got 12 points from sophomore Bret Cooper and eight out of senior Taylor Burkhart, making it hard for Rochester to focus on any one player.
"Our ball movement has really improved, our shot selection has been good and we've been shooting the ball well," Patrick said.
"We balanced the scoring out," continued the coach with 667 career wins. "Earlier in the season, we were just looking to Owens or Tolson."
On the other side of the ball, Rochester had to rely on senior Colt Meadows, who hit seven three-pointers on his way to 31 points.
"He was very determined," Malchow said of Meadows' performance. "He's that kind of competitor. We just didn't have enough around him, helping him."
Meadows entered the game averaging 17 points a game, and usually has junior teammate Evan Hoff helping out with 16 points per contest.
However, against Valley, that wasn't the case as Hoff was shutout on 0-of-3 shooting.
"We were probably a little more concerned about him than Meadows early," Patrick said of Hoff. "Then we let Meadows get on a roll."
Meadows' roll began in the second quarter when he hit three-straight treys, keeping his team in the game.
"We let him get off in the first half," Patrick said of Meadows. "We knew exactly what he was going to do, because they did the same thing with (Bruce) Grimm last year. They put their shooter down on the baseline, then run him off screens. Our kids didn't talk, and let him hit four in the first half. Once he got on a roll, it's hard to stop a shooter."
Meadows hit three more three-pointers in the second half, but Valley's balanced scoring proved to be too much.
"It just wasn't a good night tonight," Malchow said.
Patrick's take on the night was a little brighter, as Valley now sits at 1-1 in the TRC and has to hope Southwood and North Miami, which both sit at 3-0 in the conference, can pick up losses along the way.
"We're right back in a position where we can do something," Patrick said.
Valley's next game is Tuesday at Northfield.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 72, ROCHESTER 58
R 11 14 13 20 - 58
V 17 16 20 19 - 72
Valley - Bret Cooper 4-6 1-2 12, Zach Owens 7-9 5-8 20, Taylor Burkhart 3-7 2-3 8, Anthony Tolson 10-16 0-2 22, Gus Lukens 1-2 4-4 6, Nick Kindig 1-1 0-0 2, Jared Gordon 1-2 0-0 2, Jordan Littlejohn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-43 12-19 72.
