AKRON – Tippecanoe Valley’s one-two combo of Nick Kindig and Tanner Andrews delivered the knockout punch Friday night. Kindig, a senior, scored a game-high 23 points, dished out five assists and made three steals. Andrews, a junior, added 22 points, five rebounds and three steals. The dynamic duo’s effort led the host Vikings to a 63-43 win over Three Rivers Conference opponent Northfield. With its ninth-straight win, Valley improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the TRC, while the Norsemen fell to 6-5 and 1-1. “I thought Nick shot well in the first half,” said Valley coach Bill Patrick, whose team has won eight of its last nine conference games. “In the second half, Northfield didn’t have an answer for Tanner inside. Those two guys are probably gonna lead us in scoring most nights, but it would be nice to have a third or fourth scorer step up.” Junior Logan Britton scored nine points for Valley, while juniors Ben Shriver and Derrick Cunningham added four points each and sophomore Jarred Littlejohn rouned out the Vikings offensive output with a free throw. Though Valley was playing its first game in nearly two weeks, the outcome was never really in doubt. The Vikings scored the first five points of the game and never trailed. Valley led 15-9 after one quarter of play, 27-16 at halftime and 44-24 at the end of the third quarter. “We don’t usually have a size advantage, but we did tonight,” said Patrick. “We’re a better shooting team than Northfield, and we’re probably a little more experienced.” While Patrick wasn’t completely happy with his players’ defense and rebounding, saying they came out a little flat, he couldn’t complain about the offensive numbers. The Vikings made 26 of 42 field goal attempts (62 percent), while Northfield was just 14 of 42 (33 percent). “I thought we’d be a good shooting team,” said Patrick. “And we shot the ball well tonight, we just weren’t as sharp defensively, and our rebounding could have been better.” The Vikings out-rebounded Northfield 27-21, but the Norsemen were able to grab 13 offensive boards. Rebounding will be a key factor for Valley tonight, as they travel to Plymouth, where they will face 6-foot-9 NCAA Division I prospet Mack Mercer. “We don’t have anybody to matchup with the big kid underneath,” Patrick said when asked about the 8-1 Pilgrims. “We have to do a better job rebounding. It’ll be a challenge.” Senior Ryan Keaffaber led Northfield with 12 points, while sophomore Tanner Wilcox added 11 points and six rebounds.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 63, NORTHFIELD 43 NF 9 7 9 18 – 43 TV 15 12 17 19 – 63 N’field – Carter Frieden 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Roser 1-3 0-0 3, Collin Dawes 2-8 2-4 6, Tanner Wilcox 5-11 1-2 11, Caleb Coe 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Kroh 0-1 1-2 1, Noah Shear 1-3 0-0 2, Ryan Keaffaber 2-11 8-10 12, Jon Richardson 3-4 0-0 8. Totals 14-42 12-18 43. Valley – Alex Thacker 0-0 0-0 0, Robby Groom 0-2 0-0 0, Jarred Littlejohn 0-0 1-2 1, Tanner Andrews 11-14 0-0 22, Jacob Ritchey 0-0 0-0 0, Chainey Zolman 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Kindig 8-15 5-6 23, Aaron Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Britton 3-5 3-6 9, Derrick Cunningham 2-3 0-0 4, Ben Shriver 2-3 0-0 4, Chandler O’Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-42 9-14 63. Three-pointers – N’field 3 (Richardson 2, Roser), Valley 2 (Kindig 2); Rebounds – N’field 21 (Wilcox 6), Valley 27 (Britton 6); Turnovers – N’field 18, Valley 17; Fouls – N’field 13, Valley 16; Fouled out – Dawes; Records: N’field 6-5 (1-1 TRC), Valley 9-1 (2-0 TRC) JV – Valley 21, Northfield 19 Valley – Aaron Hoffman 6, Jarred Littlejohn 5, Alex Salmon 4, Gavin Bussard 2, Chandler O’Connor 2, Neil Clampitt 2
