Three-Peat Sweet For Lady VikingsLIGONIER – With a little tweak to its attack, Tippecanoe Valley got the chance to practice its twine-cutting skills. The Lady Vikings won a third straight IHSAA Class 3A girls basketball sectional championship Saturday with a 60-48 win against Fairfield at West Noble High School and earned a berth in the Columbia City Regional. The sectional final opened with Valley turning the ball over on its first two possessions and finishing the first quarter with six turnovers (one less than the Falcons). Once the Lady Vikings made a change, things were much smoother, with just five more turnovers the rest of the way. “We came out kind of flat, so we just switched to a dribble-drive, four-out, one-in (offensive set),” Valley senior Anne Secrest said after her 20-point night and trip up the ladder to cut down the net. “That opened it up a lot more for our shooters. That gave us a little range and a little freedom to put up a shot. That helped us a lot. That kind of changed the momentum of the game.” Lady Vikings coach Chris Kindig watched his girls stay calm and win another trophy. “We came out kind of tight,” Kindig said. “That surprised me with this group a little, but you’ve got to give credit to Fairfield, which came ready to play and played hard. We missed some shots early. “More than an adjustment, it was about us settling down a little bit and hitting some shots.” The Lady Vikings’ balanced attack also featured big contributions from sophomores Emily Peterson (12 points) and Sophie Bussard (11) and junior Addy Miller (8). Felicity Bontrager (16 points), Jordan Kintigh (12), Alexis Thaxton and Erica Zook (9) led the way for coach Brodie Garber’s Falcons. “(Kindig) came up to me at the end and said ‘your kids played really hard,’” Garber said. “I should stop taking that for granted. Tippecanoe Valley is a very good team and they are very deserving of (the championship). I’d like to think we gave them everything we could. I can live with that. “Our scrappiness is from quarter 1 to quarter 4. The best compliment you can give a team or a player is ‘I don’t know the score because you’re always playing hard. Down 20 or tied, you still play the same way.’” Valley never let Fairfield get closer than nine points in the fourth quarter. Secrest scored six in the final stanza for the champs, while Zook had five and Kintigh four for the runners-up. Paced by Secrest’s five points and three each from Miller and Peterson, the Lady Vikings enjoyed a 49-37 edge at the end of the third quarter. Bontrager tallied five points and Thaxton three (her second banked three-pointer of the night) to lead Fairfield’s third-period scoring. Miller knocked down a top-side trey in the first minute of the third quarter to help the Lady Vikings go up 39-27. The Valley lead later swelled as big as 13 a few times, the last at 47-34. Valley closed the first half on a 12-4 run and took a 36-27 lead into intermission. Fairfield came within a point at 24-23 on a basket by Kintigh prior to the Lady Vikings taking off. Secrest netted seven points, Bussard six and O’Connor five in the second period as Valley outpointed the Falcons 25-16. Bontrager canned eight points and Kintigh six in the second quarter for Fairfield. The score was deadlocked at 11-all heading to the second quarter. Peterson tossed in seven first-period points for Valley while Fairfield starter Thaxton had six (two 3-pointers). After winning the program’s eighth sectional crown, Valley advances to the four-team Columbia City Regional. The No. 8-ranked Lady Vikings will meet No. 6 Fort Wayne Concordia (20-4) in the second semifinal game at approximately noon on Saturday. The 10 a.m. semifinal pits No. 4 Heritage Christian (19-6) against Norwell (16-9). The championship is slated for 8 p.m.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 60, FAIRFIELD 48 F 11 16 10 11 – 48 TV 11 25 13 11 – 60 Fairfield – Alexis Thaxton 4-8 0-0 11, Jenean Schwartz 0-2 0-2 0, Felicity Bontrager 7-11 0-0 16, Katie Lashley 0-2 0-0 0, Erica Zook 3-8 3-4 9, Jordan Kintigh 4-4 4-4 12, Drea Lockwood 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzie Bobeck 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan Sanchez 0-0 0-0 0, Gabrielle Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0, Chloe Bell 0-0 0-0 0. Team: 18-36 7-20 48. T. Valley – Anne Secrest 8-11 4-8 20, Hannah Dunn 1-2 0-0 2, Sophie Bussard 4-9 3-5 11, Addy Miller 3-7 0-0 8, Meredith Brouyette 1-3 0-0 2, Asia O’Connor 2-2 1-1 5, Emily Peterson 5-9 0-0 12, Taneisha Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Makenzie Woodcox 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Team: 24-43 4-8 60. Three-pointers – Fairfield 5-14 (Thaxton 3, Bontrager 2), Valley 4-12 (Peterson 2, Miller 2); Rebounds – Fairfield 27 (Zook 9), Valley 18 (Bussard 6); Turnovers – Fairfield 20, Valley 11; Fouls – Fairfield 16, Valley 10; Fouled out – none; Records: Valley 22-4, Fairfield 13-10
