SYRACUSE – Over the course of the 2015-16 boys basketball regular season, Tippecanoe Valley didn’t commit many turnovers. That trend continued in the first half Friday, with the visiting Vikings coughing the ball up just twice in the first 16 minutes of play – the first time with 3:30 left before intermission – on the way to a 53-35 victory at Wawasee. It was the final game of the regular season for both squads. Valley (10-12) used its defense and cold Warrior shooting to build a 32-12 lead by halftime. “We played really good defense the first half,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said. “In the second half, we didn’t handle the ball very well and our defense gave up 15 points in the third quarter. We didn’t block out. We just didn’t play very well in the second half with the lead.” The Vikings led by as many as nine points in the first quarter and 22 in the second period. Wawasee did not get the carryover head coach Steve Wiktorowski was hoping for as the Warriors (2-20) suffered their ninth-straight loss. “For whatever reason, we came out very flat,” Wiktorowski said. “We didn’t have any energy or focus. “Too many times, we’ve seen that pattern. We had a great practice (Thursday), one of our best of the season. But we just can’t carry that energy over. That is something we cannot allow to happen Tuesday if we have any chance.” The Warriors and Vikings will meet again in the second game of the Class 3A NorthWood Sectional around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Last year, Valley beat Wawasee 63-49 in the regular-season finale and Wawasee came back with a 50-39 win a week later in the sectional. With Friday’s decision, the Vikings are 6-1 in their last seven meetings with the Warriors. Patrick has now coached Valley to at least 10 victories in 14 of his 18 seasons in Akron. The Vikings’ coach did see improvement from the hosts in Friday’s second half. “Wawasee played better,” Patrick said. “They took the ball to the basket and gave us some trouble. We got out of control a couple times against that press (turning the ball over 12 times in the final two periods). “Wawasee is a much better team than their record. They are capable of playing some good basketball. They penetrate. They go to the basket well. They’ve got some big kids inside. (Joyce Boatwright) and (Chase Rookstool) do a nice job. We don’t match up well inside.” While Wiktorowski did not want to talk too much in terms of specifics of the gameplan with a rematch coming up, Patrick said he didn’t do anything different. “We played the way we’ve been playing the last three or four weeks,” Patrick said. “We’ve been playing pretty well so we didn’t think we need to make any changes. We’ll worry about Tuesday when it gets here.” Jarod Duzenberry tallied six first-quarter points and Alec Craig tallied six in the second quarter. They both scored 14 points for Valley in the win. Duzenberry pulled down 10 of his team’s 36 rebounds while Craig grabbed seven boards. Jairus Boyer canned five of his team-best 11 points in the third quarter for Wawasee.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 53, WAWASEE 35 TV 14 18 12 9 – 53 W 7 5 15 8 – 35 T. Valley – Jarod Duzenberry 7-9 0-1 14, Neil Clampitt 2-7 0-0 5, Gavin Bussard 3-4 2-3 8, Alec Craig 6-12 2-2 14, Brandon Webster 3-10 0-0 7, Trevor Neeley 2-2 0-0 4, Bryce Webster 0-5 1-2 1, Keith Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Gearhart 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Morrison 0-0 0-0 0, Dakota Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 5-8 53. Wawasee – Chase Rookstool 1-1 2-2 4, Parker Hatfield 0-5 1-2 1, Jayce Boatwright 5-10 0-0 10, Cameron Schlabach 0-2 0-0 0, Stephon Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Smith 1-6 1-2 3, Cayden Wegener 1-2 2-2 4, Jairus Boyer 5-7 0-0 11, Trevon Coleman 1-3 0-0 2, Dalton Pearish 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Hand 0-0 0-0 0, Tim Conley 0-0 0-0 0, Zak Linnemeier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-41 6-8 35. Three-pointers – Tippecanoe Valley 2 (Clampitt, Bra. Webster), Wawasee 1 (Boyer); Rebounds – Valley 36 (Duzenberry 10), Wawasee 24 (Rookstool 4, Smith 4); Turnovers – Valley 14, Wawasee 15; Records: Valley 10-12, Wawasee 2-20 JV – Wawasee 49, Valley 39 Wawasee – John Kennedy 11, Ryan Edington 10 Valley – Jake Gearhart 21
