AKRON - Tippecanoe Valley's varsity girls basketball team is heading into Christmas break on a good note.
Sitting at 1-6 after a loss at Wabash on Dec. 5, the Lady Vikings (4-7) have won three of four after defeating the visiting North Judson Lady Bluejays 60-35 Monday.Valley was propelled to the victory by a 23-point, five-steal night by sophomore Staci Groom, who's beginning to find her groove on the varsity level.
"We had hoped to give her more playing time on the varsity last year, but with the people we had, there wasn't room," Valley coach Gary Teel said. "The (junior varsity) needed her too as a shooter and a ball handler. Then we graduated Whitney Sparkman, Melody Hoffer, Stacie Hoffman, Dominique (Parker) and Angelea (Inglehearn). The three kids (Sparkman, Hoffer and Hoffman) are 1,400 points and 950 rebounds that we graduated. We knew we had spots to fill."
Along with those three graduated players, Valley also lost a guard when junior Allison Thacker transferred to Triton, allowing Groom to get her opportunity.
"I'm just very pleased with her progress," Teel said of Groom, who also scored 28 points in a 63-60 loss at Winamac Thursday.
In Monday's game, Groom really hit her stride in the third quarter, scoring 15 of Valley's 24 points in the frame, including 10 of the final 12 points, pushing a 33-21 lead into an insurmountable 48-21 advantage.
"We talked at halftime about learning to extend your lead, instead of relaxing," Teel said. "In the Whitko game (Saturday) when we got the 17-point lead, we relaxed for three or four possessions (and let them get within four points). (Tonight), our kids responded by attacking the basket, reversing the ball. Give Staci Groom credit because she was in shooting form and she was ready to shoot."
Groom got those shots thanks to good ball movement, showcased by Valley's 15 assists, five coming from senior Hannah Boggs, who also scored 10 points.
Valley also held a decided advantage on the boards, outrebounding Judson 34-16, led by senior Kate Myers' eight, followed by five each from Groom and junior Becky Minnick.
Judson entered the game with one junior, five sophomores and three freshmen, but Teel knew their experience outweighed the grades they were in.
"Those kids have varsity experience - the sophomores," Teel said. "Kenley Sanchez, Staci Allen and Elisabeth White started for them last year as freshmen. The thing about those kids is, they're still good basketball players and when they get to be junior and seniors, they're just going to be really good."
Sanchez was Judson's high scorer with nine points, followed by junior Paydin Barrett's eight and freshman Jordann Frasure's seven.
The Vikings will have some time to relax before getting back on the court Jan. 6 at Triton, playing a game that was originally scheduled for Dec. 9.
"That was nice the Triton game was put there, because if it wasn't, our next game wouldn't be until Jan. 9 against Northfield, and that's almost a three-week layoff," Teel said. "That's a long layoff without playing. I'm glad to have Triton on Wednesday, just to get ready for the conference game Saturday."
