AKRON – The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings rolled sevens Friday night and hit the jackpot. With their seventh-straight win, this one a 57-40 victory over the Fairfield Falcons in the second semifinal of the Winning Edge Holiday Tournament, the Vikings improved to 7-1 on the season. In the process, they gave Hall of Fame coach Bill Patrick his 700th career win. Patrick is just the fifth varsity boys coach in the state to achieve the milestone, joining Jack Butcher (806), Howard Sharp (723), Pat Rady (716) and Bill Stearman (714). “The big thing is we get to play in the championship game tomorrow night,” said the always-humble Patrick, whose team will play the NorthWood Panthers tonight in the 7:30 p.m. title tilt. “We wanted to win and play in the championship game. That’s the big accomplishment.” NorthWood improved to 6-0 and advanced to the tourney final with a 77-45 win over Rochester in the first semifinal. Rochester (1-6) and Fairfield (3-4) will play in the 6 p.m. consolation game. “No disrespect to the seven teams we beat, but they’re not in NorthWood’s league,” said Patrick. “NorthWood is a good team. They’re one of the top three or four teams in 3A. They’re the best team in this area.” In grounding the Falcons, Valley led 16-9 after one quarter of play, 29-21 at halftime and 41-27 at the end of the third quarter. The Vikings opened the second half with an 11-0 run and eventually led by as many as 20 points. “In the first half we didn’t play together defensively or offensively,” said Patrick. “I didn’t think we played very well in the first half. We played better in the second half. We’ve been a team of spurts. Against a good team, that’ll get you in trouble. We’ll have to play better to beat NorthWood.” Senior Nick Kindig led Valley in scoring with 12 points, while junior Tanner Andrews added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds and senior Jacob Ritchey chipped in with nine points. Their effort helped Patrick improve his career record to 700-275. The other three head coaches in the tournament – Fairfield’s Troy Beachy, NorthWood’s Aaron Wolfe and Rochester’s Rex Reinholt – had 100 wins between them going into Friday’s night action. “To me, 500 was a big milestone,” said Patrick. “Anything after that just added to it. I’ve had a lot of good players and good coaches. You don’t win 700 games by yourself. I’ve had a lot of help along the way.” After coaching 29 seasons at schools that make up the Whitko School Corporation, Patrick has spent the last 15 seasons at Valley, where his teams have won 10 Three Rivers Conference championships and posted an overall record of 222-95. “He gets the most out of his players,” said Andrews. “He expects the best, and if you don’t give your best, you don’t play. He’s really demanding. If you’re not giving your best effort he’s gonna be on you. That’s probably why he’s won 700 games. He expects your best, and he knows how to get it out of you. Just when you think you’ve done all you can, he shows you you’ve still got more in you.” Fairfield finished Friday’s game 13 of 33 (39 percent) from the field. Senior Brad Lantz led the Falcons with 13 points, while senior Garrett Scott and junior Marcus Rodes chipped in with nine points each.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 57, FAIRFIELD 40 FF 9 12 4 15 – 40 TV 16 13 12 16 – 57 Fairfield – Garrett Scott 3-7 2-2 9, Marcus Rodes 2-7 3-5 9, Brock Geoglein 0-0 0-0 0, Mitch DeWitt 1-2 0-0 2, John Stack 1-2 2-3 4, Nate Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Line 1-2 0-0 2, Clay Bontrager 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 13-33 11-18 40. Valley – Bryce Zimpleman 0-0 0-0 0, Robby Groom 2-3 2-2 6, Jarred Littlejohn 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Andrews 5-9 1-3 11, Jacob Ritchey 3-4 0-0 9, Chainey Zolman 2-5 0-0 5, Nick Kindig 6-11 0-0 12, Aaron Hoffman 0-0 2-2 2, Logan Britton 1-2 0-0 2, Derek Cunningham 0-1 4-6 4, Ben Shriver 3-3 0-1 6, Chandler O’Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-38 9-14 57. Three-pointers – Fairfield 3 (Rodes 2, Scott), Valley 4 (Ritchey 3, Zolman); Rebounds – Fairfield 21 (Lantz 4), Valley 23 (Andrews 6); Turnovers – Fairfield 13, Valley 14; Fouls – Fairfield 20, Valley 18; Fouled out – Stack; Records: Fairfield 3-4, Valley 7-1
