AKRON – Losing two starters from its lineup over the weekend, it was easy to see why the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team was out of sync Tuesday night. At Saturday’s practice, Valley coach Bill Patrick learned he’d be losing junior guard Robby Groom and junior forward Logan Britton, as they chose to leave the team. With new players in the lineup, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (13-2) didn’t score during the first five minutes of Tuesday’s game against the Maconaquah Braves (9-5), but did pull it together enough to get a 57-50 victory. “We probably missed eight or 10 layups that first half, with kids just trying too hard,” Patrick said of his squad, which did shoot 9 of 31 in the opening half, but still led 20-14. “The kids just needed to relax. They’re playing little different roles than they’re used to. After a couple games, when everyone gets accustomed to each other, we’ll be fine.” One player that was comfortable with his role was junior Tanner Andrews, but even he got off to a slow start. After Andrews made just one of his first five field goal attempts, Patrick called a timeout to get his 6-3 center going with 4:07 left in the first half. Out of the timeout, Andrews made his next three shots, finding out he could dribble past Maconaquah’s 6-10 senior Micah Pier. “We told him, ‘Quit going away from the guy. Take it right to him,’” Patrick said. “Tanner’s quicker than he is, but I think he was afraid he was going to block his shot and kind of went away from him.” Andrews did get it going, finishing the game with 25 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots, but Pier got his too. After scoring six points in the first half, Pier got the ball more in the second, when he made 8 of 11 attempts, finishing with 23 points and nine rebounds. “He turns to his left shoulder every time,” Patrick said of trying to defend Pier. “A couple times, we didn’t get any help side and Tanner kind of let up on him on a little bit. “He’s a tough player,” he added. “He had 16 against us last year. He’s a nice player.” Andrews and Pier went back-and-forth much of the second half, but some other Vikings got involved late. After junior Derrick Cunningham hit a trey with 3:03 remaining, Valley led 46-42, but Maconaquah didn’t go away, as Braves junior Tyler Bradley drew the score closer at 46-44 just 20 seconds later. Valley senior Nick Kindig then converted an ‘and-1’ on the Vikings’ next possession, but like before, Maconaquah answered 20 seconds later, this time with junior Adam Barts hitting a three-pointer. With the Vikings leading 49-47, Andrews hit another bucket to go up 51-47, and that’s when things got real interesting. On the Braves’ ensuing possession, it appeared junior K.J. Walton would get an ‘and-1’ opportunity himself. However, while most watched the referee, who blew an apparent foul on the Vikings following Walton’s bucket, the points were wiped away as Maconaquah coach Andy Steele was given a technical foul. Instead of Walton having a chance to close the gap to one point, his basket was waived off and Kindig made two free throws for the technical and Valley was awarded the ball. On the extra possession, Andrews scored again, turning the close score into a 55-47 lead for the Vikings. No matter how it finished, the win was one Patrick will take, especially as his squad looks to gell back together with just five games left before the postseason begins. “We’ll just need to get a little better conditioned, because we won’t have quite the rotation we had,” Patrick said. “Before, we had a nine-man, now we have a seven-man rotation. Kids are going to have to work harder to get in a little better condition.” Up next for Valley is Friday’s home Three Rivers Conference game against Wabash.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 57, MACONAQUAH 50 M 3 11 17 19 – 50 TV 6 14 12 25 – 57 Valley – Alex Thacker 3-11 1-2 7, Tanner Andrews 12-23 1-2 25, Nick Kindig 4-12 5-5 14, Derrick Cunningham 2-6 0-0 5, Bryce Zimpelman 0-0 0-0 0, Jarred Littlejohn 0-0 0-0 0, Chainey Zolman 1-5 0-0 2, Aaron Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Shriver 2-5 0-0 4, Chandler O’Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 7-9 57. Maconaquah – K.J. Walton 3-5 1-2 7, Tyler Bradley 4-7 2-2 10, Nick Love 0-3 1-2 1, Adam Harts 2-9 0-0 6, Micah Pier 11-18 1-1 23, D.J. Wilson 0-0 1-2 1, Kyle Dinn 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-44 6-9 50. Three-point goals – Valley 2 (Kindig, Cunningham), Maconaquah 2 (Harts 2); Team Fouls – Valley 13, Maconaquah 14; Turnovers – Valley 8, Maconaquah 20; Rebounds – Valley 28 (Andrews 9), Maconaquah 36 (Pier 9); Assists – Valley 9 (Ritchey 3, Kindig 3), Maconaquah 12 (Harts 4); Steals – Valley 10 (Thacker 4), Maconaquah 4 (Bradley 2); Blocks – Valley 4 (Andrews 3), Maconaquah 4 (Pier 2); Records: Valley 13-2, Maconaquah 9-5 JV – Valley 51, Maconaquah 31 Valley – Aaron Hoffman 13, Neil Clampitt 13, Chandler O’Connor 10, Brandon Webster 6, Gavin Bussard 5, Bryce Zimpelman 4
