AKRON — Tippecanoe Valley freshman Anne Secrest had quite the debut in Thursday night’s season-opening 68-42 home win over Bremen. Playing her first varsity girls basketball contest, the 6-foot freshman scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 3 of 4 at the free-throw line, while also posting 16 rebounds, six steals, two assists and one blocked shot. “She really plays above her age,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said. “She really is a mature person. Understands the game well and enjoys playing basketball. Our senior leadership has really welcomed her in. She’s obviously made us a much better team.” Facing the smaller Lady Lions, Secrest had her way in the paint, but needed help to get those touches. “Our guards, even (senior forward) Kelsey Ball, did a good job of getting her the ball down in the post,” Kindig said. “We had an advantage inside tonight and we really took advantage of that.” Secrest did most of the damage inside, but junior guard Caylie Teel found her way inside as well, netting 17 points. A menace all over the court, the speedy Teel also had five steals, four assists, four rebounds and a blocked shot, all while sitting out most of the fourth quarter. “I was really proud of her, because she’s been in and out of the practice the past two weeks,” Kindig said of Teel. “She has a little bit of a foot issue right now, and she was playing on pure guts tonight. “I just wonder, ‘If she’s 100 percent, what’s she going to give us?’” he added. “Really, she was at about 70 percent tonight.” Also for Valley, senior Cara Hoffman netted 13 points, with 11 of them coming in the third quarter. In the third quarter, the Lady Vikings outscored the Lady Lions 23-3, extending their 38-27 halftime lead to 61-30 heading into the fourth. “I really like the fact that this team had that killer instinct,” Kindig said. “Last year, at times, we didn’t have that. Tonight, we were able to put them away and that was good to see.” The win was Valley’s third-straight over Bremen, and was lopsided due to the Lady Lions’ 38 turnovers. Valley also had trouble taking care of the ball, committing 30 turnovers, but hit 29 of 58 field goal attempts, while Bremen only connected on 15 of 45. Next up for Valley are the Warsaw Lady Tigers, who had three coaches scouting the game. Against Warsaw on Nov. 22 in Akron, Valley won’t be able to turn the ball over like it did against Bremen. If it does, its chance to snap a six-game losing streak to the Lady Tigers will be slim. “Tonight was our most important game, because it was the one right in front of us,” Kindig said. “This game is over. Now, our most important game is against Warsaw. We’re going to prepare the best we can for that challenge on here at home. If we take care of the basketball, maybe not rush some things at times like we did tonight, I like our chances.”
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 68, BREMEN 42 B 8 19 3 12 – 42 TV 18 20 23 7 – 68 Valley – Karis Tucker 2-9 1-5 5, Cara Hoffman 6-12 0-0 13, Caylie Teel 7-15 3-3 17, Kelsey Ball 2-4 1-2 5, Anne Secrest 10-15 3-4 23, Meredith Brouyette 1-2 1-2 3, Robyn Dunnuck 1-1 0-0 2, Madison Strong 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, Casey Dunn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 9-16 68. Bremen – Jasmine Shafer 3-7 2-6 9, Chelsea Huppert 2-3 2-2 6, Ashley Lucchese 2-9 0-0 6, Sara Slabaugh 2-10 3-4 7, Rachel Czarnecki 5-11 1-1 11, Alexis Jennings 1-4 0-0 2, Gabby Buck 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Gall 0-0 0-0 0, Shelby Zellmer 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 15-45 9-14 42. 3-point goals – Valley 1-6 (Hoffman), Bremen 3-17 (Lucchese 2, Shafer); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Valley 15, Bremen 16 (Slabaugh); Turnovers – Valley 30, Bremen 38; Rebounds – Valley 39 (Secrest 16), Bremen 28 (Huppert 5, Czarnecki 5); Assists – Valley 14 (Teel 4), Bremen 7 (Lucchese 3); Steals – Valley 17 (Secrest 6), Bremen 15 (Shafer 6); Blocks – Valley 3, Bremen 1 Records: Valley 1-0, Bremen 0-1 JV – Valley 44, Bremen 26 Valley JV Scoring – Brouyette 13, Brynda Krueger 13, C. Dunn 10, Strong 4, H. Dunn 2, Morgan Brazo 2
