Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON -ÊWhat a way to end the season.
If given their druthers, most basketball coaches would like the last game before sectionals to be a competitive contest.
When the Wawasee Warriors traveled to Tippecanoe Valley Friday night, that's exactly what the coaches got as Valley won 54-49.
"I thought both teams played really hard," said Valley coach Bill Patrick. "They played aggressive, and it was really competitive. Wawasee is probably the best team we have played all year, they have good inside players and good outside players and they are very strong."
Kory Lantz scored the first basket of the game to give Wawasee a 2-0 lead, but Valley's Casey Wise answered with a pair of free throws to tie the game.
At the 5:05 mark, Trey Eaton hit a long-range three-pointer to make the score 5-3, breaking the 2-all stalemate.
The Vikings held a slim lead until the 1:32 mark when Wawasee senior Ryan Stichter netted a trey to knot the score at 8-all.
Eaton grabbed a steal and hit a layup with 0.4 seconds left on the first-quarter clock to give the Vikings a 10-8 lead going into the second quarter of play.
However, that lead was short lived as Warrior Stephen Conrad hit a three-pointer to put Wawasee up 11-10 at the 7;13 mark in the second frame.
At the 6:16 mark, Shane Drudge hit a basket to put the Vikings up 12-11, and Eaton followed with another basket to give Valley a three-point advantage.
The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes until the 3:02 mark when Eaton roped in another steal.
He ran down the court unguarded and took the ball up for a slam dunk that ignited the crowd and put Valley up 20-17.
Kory Lantz followed with a free throw to cut the lead to two, but Valley's Cory Vanlaningham netted a three-pointer to give Valley its biggest lead of the game at 25-18.
But Conrad nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to slice Valley's lead to four, 25-21, at the half.
Wawasee came out of the halftime break with renewed energy as Kory Lantz and Ben Knisely scored the first five points of the third frame to put the Warriors up 26-25 at the 5:34 mark in the third frame.
Brandon Cody stopped the Warrior run with a basket to make the score 27-26, but Kory Lantz answered with another basket to restore Wawasee's lead.
With 4:16 remaining in the third stanza, Eaton was fouled behind the arc and converted at the charity stripe to give Valley a lead it held through the rest of the quarter.
While Valley held a 36-32 advantage going into the fourth frame, Wawasee refused to give in. Knisely hit a basket and three free throws to open the final quarter of play and put the Warriors in control, 37-36.
However, at the 6:53 mark, Shane Denny was fouled, hit his first free throw and got his own rebound after missing the second. Denny then dished the ball off to Eaton who hit his second three-pointer of the game to put Valley in the lead, 40-37.
Wawasee threatened throughout the remaining 6:44 of the game, but never regained the lead. The Warriors were within one, 50-49, with 54.2 ticks left on the clock, but they were unable to pick up the win.
Eaton, in his last regular season game, led all scorers with 28 points. He also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Wawasee saw two players score in double figures as Kory Lantz and Clint Custer netted 12 points each.
"Our defense was pretty solid out there," said Patrick. "We stayed with our defense the whole game, but we made some adjustments in our offense in the second half. We moved Trey out front a bit more."
Valley finishes the regular season with a 19-1 mark, while Wawasee ends with a 14-7 record. The Vikings are off until Friday when they face Kankakee Valley in the bye game of the Plymouth Sectional. Wawasee hits the court again Tuesday when the Warriors face off against Fort Wayne Carroll in the Warsaw Sectional.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54, WAWASEE 49
Wawasee 8 13 11 17 - 49
T. Valley 10 15 11 18 - 54
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Ko. Lantz 5-15 2-4 0 1 12
Conrad 3-6 0-0 2 0 9
Ky. Lantz 2-4 2-3 3 1 6
Custer 1-3 2-2 6 1 4
Knisely 4-6 4-5 3 3 12
Kauchek 0-0 3-6 2 0 3
Stichter 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Kaiser 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 16-36 13-20 16 7 49
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
Eaton 8-12 9-9 3 2 28
Wise 0-1 2-2 3 1 2
Cody 1-2 1-2 2 0 3
Vnlnghm 2-3 3-3 1 0 8
Parker 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Drudge 4-6 0-4 2 0 8
Denny 2-3 1-2 2 0 5
Gibson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-28 16-22 23 4 54
Three-point goals - Wawasee 4-10 (Ko. Lantz 0-3, Conrad 3-5, Ky. Lantz 0-1, Stichter 1-1), Valley 4-6 (Eaton 3-4, Cody 0-1, Vanlaningham 1-1). Fouls - Wawasee 20, Valley 16. Fouled out - none.
