AKRON – Before meeting in the opening round of Class 3A Sectional 21, the Wawasee and Tippecanoe Valley varsity boys basketball teams squared off Friday night in Akron. In a preview of Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. tournament opener at Wawasee (5-15), the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (17-3) had no trouble in the regular-season finale, winning 78-48. “I expect a different game Tuesday,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said. “It will just be a totally different game,” he added. Speeding it up in the opening quarter, Wawasee stayed in the game with the three-point shot, but Valley made 11 of 16 shots, to take a 27-15 lead after one. “We have to take away the high-percentage shot and play some better man-on-ball defense,” Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. “They just shot the ball too well.” In all, Valley made 31 of 59 field goal attempts (53 percent), led by senior Nick Kindig, who made 13 of 18 for 32 points in his final game on the TVHS basketball court. “He’s meant a lot,” Patrick said of the four-year starter, who also had six rebounds, five assists and a steal. “Nick has just gotten better each year. He’s a smart basketball player that handles the ball well. We’re going to miss him next year. He’s a good all-around player.” Patrick will have 6-foot-3 junior Tanner Andrews back next year, and although he scored just six points in the win, he had 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Also returning is a player who’s been coming on lately, junior Ben Shriver. Shriver, who didn’t play basketball as a sophomore, netted a career-high 11 points in last week’s loss at Triton, but did even better Friday, posting 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. “Ben played a nice game, for the first time he’s started all year,” Patrick said. “He’s just gotten better throughout the year.” Wawasee sophomore Jake Hutchinson started out hot, making 3 of 4 three-point attempts in the first six minutes, but scored just one point after that initial surge, finishing with 10. “They made an adjustment on him,” Mishler said. “At halftime, teams make adjustments and knew they couldn’t leave him open.” Sophomores Aaron Voirol and Alex Clark each netted 12 points for Wawasee, with sophomore Gage Reinhard posting five points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Already without a senior on the roster, Wawasee was also without one of its two juniors, as Chase Myers sat out with an injury. Starting five sophomores, Mishler’s been working to get the team better as the season has progressed, and knows what needs to be addressed for Tuesday night’s postseason game. “I thought we did a nice job on the defensive boards, but we need to do a better job on the offensive boards,” Mishler said. “We only got about 19 percent of them. We had some chances to get some long rebounds, but we just couldn’t haul them in.” The teaching lesson for Patrick will be much easier – just do what they did Friday night. “I thought we moved the ball well and played well together, for the most part,” he said. “We didn’t make too many mistakes.”
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 78, WAWASEE 48 W 15 9 18 6 – 48 TV 27 17 19 15 – 78 Valley – Alex Thacker 4-8 0-0 8, Tanner Andrews 3-7 0-0 6, Jacob Ritchey 2-4 0-0 4, Nick Kindig 13-18 3-3 32, Ben Shriver 7-9 3-3 17, Bryce Zimpelman 1-1 0-0 2, Jarred Littlejohn 0-1 0-0 0, Chainey Zolman 1-1 1-2 3, Gavin Bussard 1-2 3-4 6, Derrick Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0, Chandler O’Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-51 10-12 78. Wawasee – Aaron Voirol 4-10 0-0 12, Gage Reinhard 1-11 2-2 5, Jake Hutchinson 3-7 1-2 10, Alex Clark 3-10 4-7 12, Elijah Solina 0-1 1-2 1, Jeffrey Moore 1-5 0-0 3, David Rocha 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Hershberger 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Clark 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Ciriello 1-2 0-0 2, Chase Rookstool 0-0 0-0 0, Stori Bright 0-1 2-2 2, Kody Carpenter 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 13-49 11-17 48. Three-point goals – Valley 4-8 (Kindig 3, Bussard), Wawasee 11-33 (Voirol 4, Hutchinson 3, A. Clark 2, Moore); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Valley 14, Wawasee 15 (S. Clark); Turnovers – Valley13, Wawasee 13; Rebounds – Valley 34 (Andrews 11), Wawasee 23 (Reinhard 4, A. Clark 4, Bright 4); Assists – Valley 11 (Kindig 5), Wawasee 11 (A. Clark 5); Steals – Valley 3, Wawasee 3 (Reinhard 2); Blocks – Valley 4 (Andrews 3), Wawasee 0; Records: Valley 17-3, Wawasee 5-15 JV – Valley 27, Wawasee 26 Valley – O’Connor 13, Littlejohn 5, Neil Clampitt 3, Brandon Webster 2, Zimpelman 2, Alex Salmon 2 Wawasee – Ciriello 8, Moore 6, Voirol 4, Parker Hatfield 3, Cal Heinisch 3, Solina 2
