Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MENTONE - When first-year Wawasee coach Jerry Davis started this season he said that all of the games with his new team would be close.
For the most part, he has been right.
He also said he wanted his Warriors to have a chance with three minutes to go, so they would be in a position to win.
With three minutes to go the Warriors were down by only a point, but could not pull it off, losing to Tippecanoe Valley 48-43 Friday in a Kosciusko County matchup.
"The sad part is we played 10 minutes of fairly good basketball, and we still had a chance to win. We didn't deserve to win," Davis said of the loss. "The way we played the last three minutes we had some crucial possessions, and we didn't take the shot that needed to be taken. We missed blockouts on rebounds, we've got to play better than we played tonight."
Those 10 minutes of good basketball for Wawasee came at the start of the second half, and into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors came out of the lockerroom down 22-15, but started to eat away at the Vikings' lead with an 8-4 run capped off by a steal and breakaway bucket by Jordan Bender.
Valley hit a three, and then the Warriors ran up six more points to tie the game at 29.
Both teams traded buckets to end the third period tied at 31.
Things started off well again in the fourth, before the Warriors caved in on themselves, turning over the ball in six of 10 possessions.
Valley took command, and forced the Warriors to foul. From the line the Vikings were ready for the test, hitting six of eight.
All this, and Wawasee still had a chance. With 29 seconds remaining Valley led by three, and the Warriors missed their last opportunity.
Jay Haugh took a long three that bounced off the rim, and Wawasee's hopes of an overtime with it.
"We had a rough week of practice," Valley coach Gregg Sciarra said. "We figured that Wawasee was pretty good, we thought it would be a close game. We lost to Warsaw by one in overtime, and they lost to them by three, so if you can look at other teams like that, we figured they would be pretty tough and solid."
Valley's defense took command of the Warriors early on. Leading 5-4, Jeff Brown blocked two Wawasee shots. The first came against Bender. Bender drove to the hoop ad put up a four foot shot that Brown sent into the bleachers. The second came two possessions later.
After a turnover and a missed shot by the Vikings, the Warriors took the lead by three before Valley went on six point roll to end the first quarter up by three.
Jay Haugh led for the Warriors with 12 points, and Ryan Mikel had 10.
For Valley, Brown led with 12 points, and Andy Young added 11.
The Warriors (2-3) will ride a three-game losing streak into South Bend to face a powerful Riley team tonight.
"We have to take each day and each challenge and answer it as best we can. I think that that's the main thing we forgot to do tonight. We didn't answer a challenge. We didn't come out and play with any purpose, we just ran around out there. If we do that tomorrow, then we're gonna get beat by 50," Davis said.
Valley (4-2) plays in the Plymouth Holiday Tournament on Friday.
