AKRON – A strong start Saturday night lifted Tippecanoe Valley High Schoo’s varsity girls basketball team to a 54-41 Three Rivers Conference victory over Manchester. Coach Chris Kindig’s Lady Vikings (6-12 overall, 3-4 TRC) scored 22 of the game’s first 26 points and didn’t look back en route to the 13-point win. Despite the margin, Kindig noted he “never felt comfortable” throughout the evening. “(Manchester) has a good team with a player like Kayla Flack inside,” he said. “I’m glad we got that fast start. They battled us all the way.” The Lady Squires (6-13, 2-5 TRC) cut the deficit to 12 (30-18) early in third quarter. Tippecanoe Valley, however, answered right back with an 11-1 run to stretch the advantage to 22. The duo of junior Cara Hoffman and sophomore Caylie Teel helped lift the home team. Hoffman canned a pair of treys during her 18-point effort, while Teel scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior Danielle Bussard finished with nine points. “Caylie and Cara getting going early was a big key,” Kindig said. “Due to that, we were able to hold Flack down somewhat as (Manchester) tried to go to their outside game to get back in it.” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said getting behind early did his team in. “You just can’t get behind that much and expect to win,” he said. “I was very pleased with the way we played from the second quarter on though. We outscored (Tippecanoe Valley) 37-34 over the final three periods. Our team didn’t give up and played hard all the way to the end.” Flack still managed to end with a strong evening, tallying 16 points and nine rebounds. Junior Sydney Snepp came off the bench to spark the Lady Squires’ strong play down the stretch with 10 points and five rebounds. “It’s great to see Sydney and our bench play like that,” Underwood said. “We’re going to need that as we move toward the end of the regular season and toward the postseason.”
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54, MANCHESTER 41 Man 4 11 12 14 – 41 TV 20 10 14 10 – 54 Manchester – Kalene Freshour 0-11 2-2 2, Bekah Brunn 0-7 1-2 1, Katelyn Andritsch 1-5 0-0 3, Sydney Snepp 3-4 4-5 10, Madison Isbell 0-1 0-0 0, Autumn Brewer 1-10 2-2 4, Tabby DeWitt 1-5 3-4 5, Kayla Flack 4-7 8-10 16. Totals 10-50 20-25 41. Valley – Danielle Bussard 2-2 5-5 9, Cara Hoffman 6-10 4-4 18, Caylie Teel 8-10 1-3 17, Kelsey Ball 1-3 0-0 2, Courtney Newsome 0-1 2-2 2, Sara Alexander 1-3 0-0 2, Connor Fraser 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 20-35 12-14 54. Three-pointers – Manchester 1 (Andritsch), Valley 2 (Hoffman 2); Fouls – Manchester 13, TVHS 17; Fouled out – Bussard; Rebounds – Manchester 32 (Flack 9), Valley 28 (Ball 8); Assists – Manchester 5 (Freshour 2), Valley 12 (Bussard 4); Steals – Manchester 9 (Freshour 4), Valley 4 (Bussard 2); Blocked shots – Manchester 0, Valley 5 (Fraser 3); Turnovers – Manchester 12, Valley 13; Records: Manchester 6-13 (2-5 TRC), Valley 6-12 (3-4 TRC) JV – Valley 43, Manchester 26
