Familiar Teams In Girls Hoops RegionalAKRON – If the pairings for Saturday’s girls basketball regional at Columbia City High School trigger a bout of deja vu, well, it’s because they’re the same as last year. In what appears to be – on paper at least – the toughest Class 3A regional in the state, No. 4 Heritage Christian, the defending state champion, will square off with Norwell at 10 a.m., followed by No. 6 Fort Wayne Concordia and No. 8 Tippecanoe Valley. The championship is slated for 8 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to a Feb. 18 semistate that will be played at either Logansport or Crown Point. “This year, we’re the third-rated team in that regional, so we’re the underdog,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig, whose team is 22-4, while Concordia is 20-4, Heritage Christian is 19-6 and Norwell is 16-9. “I think that all four teams have a real good opportunity. It just depends on who comes ready to play. I think the teams are pretty evenly matched, maybe moreso than last year. I think Concordia is better than last year, from what I’ve seen on film. “We’re going to have to play well. If we can get all of our offensive players to play well together on one day, and play well defensively, I think we’ll be OK, but Concordia is awfully good.” In last year’s regional semifinals, Heritage Christian beat Norwell 60-42, while Valley topped Concordia 56-53. Heritage Christian beat Valley 72-47 in the title tilt and went on to win its seventh state championship in 11 years, though the 2016 crown was the first in Class 3A. How things turn out Saturday is anybody’s guess, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the same four teams make up the regional field. Heritage Christian has won a sectional title in 13 of the last 14 seasons. Norwell has won seven consecutive sectional titles. Concordia is in the regional for the seventh time in eight years. And Valley is making its third straight regional appearance, something the Lady Vikings have done only one other time, as Indiana All-Star Rebekah Parker led the team to sectional titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004. “They’re definitely a good team, and we’re going to have to play our hardest, and play good to beat them,” Valley senior Anne Secrest said of Concordia. “I have full confidence in our team that we can beat them. We’re just going to have to come play well and be ready to go.” Secrest, a four-time Times-Union Area Player of the Year selection, leads the Lady Vikings in points (15.0), rebounds (7.2), assists (3.1), steals (2.6) and blocks (1.7) per game Senior Meredith Brouyette and Addy Miller average just under nine points each, while sophomore Sophie Bussard scores an average of eight points per game. As a team, Valley scores 60 points per game and gives up just 35 points. In the Lady Vikings’ last 13 games, only two teams – NorthWood and Fairfield – have scored more than 39 points against Valley. Concordia scores an average of 51 points per game, while giving up 36. Sophomore Sylare Starks leads Concordia with 16 points per game, while senior Shania Kelly and sophomore Carissa Garcia average nearly 12 points each. “We have to play our game,” said Brouyette. “We were just talking about that at practice. If we play our game, and we have everyone firing on all cylinders on offense, and defensively we’re playing hard and aggressive and going after loose balls, as long as we’re being the team we’ve been before, we’re gonna be fine.”
