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PLYMOUTH - JayDee Parker and Scott Cooksey provided scoring and rebounding punch for Tippecanoe Valley Tuesday as the Vikings ran away from John Glenn in the fourth quarter for a 60-40 win in the consolation game of the Plymouth Holiday Tournament.
Parker did the dirty work in the first half with seven points and 11 rebounds in the first 16 minutes, while Cooksey picked up where Parker left off in the second half. Cooksey had 18 points in the fourth quarter alone for 20 points and eight rebounds in the final 16 minutes.
Plymouth won the tourney title with a 73-48 win over Rochester in the championship game.
Although the score shows that the Vikings blew out the Falcons, that was not the case until the final five minutes of the game. Heading into the fourth quarter, Valley led 32-23, but the Vikings were anything but comfortable.
If the Vikings began to get lackadaisical, head coach Gregg Sciarra could just remind them of one night ago when they led by 14 points before losing.
"There's no time to relax and feel good," Sciarra said. "It's not like Andy in Mayberry. You never know with free throws, and the way we throw the ball around sometimes, there's always a chance of an ulcer popping up."
Valley led 34-26 when Glenn made one last run with six straight points to get to within two points with 5:35 to play. However, the Vikings went on a 10-1 run on eight points from Cooksey to take a 44-33 lead. After Josh Williams hit a three-pointer for Glenn to close to within eight points, Corey Rough added another three to make the score 46-39.
But Valley outscored the Falcons 14-1 the rest of the way to win by 20.
Cooksey ended the game with 24 points and 11 rebounds and Parker had 16 points and 17 boards. Those were the only two players in double figures for the Vikings as Eric Love added eight. Valley outrebounded Glenn 48-28 as Cooksey and Parker dominated inside.
Josh Williams had 14 points to lead Glenn scorers as the Falcons shot just 25 percent from the floor. Valley, on the other hand, shot 47 percent from the floor but still struggled with free throws.
After making just 12 of 25 from the line against Rochester, the Vikings made 16 of 25 against Glenn. That adds up to just 56 percent from the charity stripe for the tournament. However, Valley did make 12 of 15 in the fourth quarter.
"It was just like that Rochester game," Sciarra said. "If you nail your free throws, you've got a chance to extend (the lead). It went the other way in the fourth quarter this time."
The offense started slowly in the first half as Valley led Rochester 6-5 at the end of the first quarter. Glenn did not get into the scoring column until four minutes into the game.
In the second quarter, both teams still struggled to find the touch as Valley held a 13-5 advantage with 3:53 to play in the half. However, the offense began to heat up and Glenn closed to 15-10 before the Vikings took a 22-13 lead into the lockerroom. The lead stayed between seven and 11 points the entire third quarter as Parker scored six of Valley's 10 points in the frame to take the 32-23 advantage into the final quarter.
"We've always been 1-1 in this tournament," Sciarra said. "It sure would be nice to be 2-0 once, but I didn't want to be 0-2. Going into break, you don't want to feel sick. We're going to give the kids more time off, but to go in with a win really helped us out."
Valley (2-5) will be at Southwood on Jan. 9.
