Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON - Talk about a change of pace.
In the first game of the 3A No. 22 sectional at Tippecanoe Valley, the host Vikings played a helter-skelter style in a 67-53 win over Fort Wayne Elmhurst Tuesday night. The nightcap featured a slowed-down tempo as Whitko ended its season with a 61-49 loss to Peru in the Viking Gym.
Tippecanoe Valley vs. FW Elmhurst
It wasn't pretty. In fact at times it was just plain ugly, but the Vikings were able to overcome Elmhurst's speed and aggressive play along with their own poor free-throw shooting to advance to Friday's semifinal.
The Trojans tried to force the issue as they raced the ball up and down the court on offense.
Valley, typically prone to play an up-tempo style, looked frazzled at times missing easy layups and open shots in the early going.
The Vikings were able to build a seven-point lead at halftime to the tune of 29-22.
Kevin Kindig, a 6-foot-1 junior, provided a spark for Valley in the second quarter with two steals and two points to stem a hard-charging Trojan squad.
Valley shot just 10 of 29 in the first half but did hold a 21-12 rebounding edge.
Sophomore Chad Hoffer came off the bench in the second half to score eight points in the third quarter.
Elmhurst, coached by former Indiana University player Keith Edmonds, cut Valley's lead to five at 47-42 after three quarters.
The Trojans were led by junior guard Brandon Underwood. Underwood scored 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting to lead Elmhurst.
Senior Brian Smith hit a jumper to cut Valley's lead to three at 47-44 but that was as close as the Trojans would get.
Valley's Shane Drudge came down and hit a three-pointer on the Vikings' next possession.
Drudge scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and along with some timely, if not great, free-throw shooting carried the Vikings to a win.
Valley finished 16 of 29 (55 percent) from the line compared to just 3 of 4 for Elmhurst.
The Vikings were whistled for just six personal fouls while Elmhusrt was whistled for 22.
Valley went 5 of 10 from the line in the final 2:41 of the game to keep Elmhurst from inching any closer than the seven-point deficit mark.
The Trojans hit just one field goal in the final three minutes as they failed to mount a late comeback.
Drudge and Hoffer scored 14 of Valley's 20 fourth-quarter points as Drudge finished with a game-high 22 points and Hoffer ended with 18.
Lash finished his evening with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Kindig was a perfect 3 of 3 from the field as he finished with seven points and four rebounds.
The Vikings committed just nine turnovers to Elmhurst's 13.
"We played in spots," said Valley head coach Bill Patrick, "where we played really well. In the first half we did a good job on the boards. In the second half we didn' t rebound as well. Early in the game we were a bit nervous. But the big thing is we get to play Friday night.
Despite being whistled for 22 personal fouls, Elmhurst didn't have a player foul out.
Edmonds was whistled for a technical foul in the fourth quarter after arguing the disparity of fouls between his team and Valley.
Smith was the only other player for Elmhurst to finish in double digits as he ended his high school career with 10 points.
The Vikings up their record to 17-4 on the season.
Whitko vs. Peru
In a matchup of former Patrick assistants, Peru and head coach Eric Thompson got the better of an undermanned Whitko squad led by Rob Irwin.
Both coaches were assistants under Patrick and Thompson was the eighth-grade basketball coach at Carroll (Fort Wayne) while Irwin was there.
The Wildcats played a delibrate style of basketball as they held the ball for the final minute and a half in both the first and second quarter as they tried to limit possessions and keep the ball out of the hands of the Tigers and the talented Cameron Wooten.
"It's tough because I hate playing that way," said Irwin. "But we were undermanned and we knew that was the way we could play with them."
Whitko trailed by just five points at 20-15 going into halftime.
Then Wooten came alive.
After just four points on 2-of-7 shooting, the talented 6-5 senior scored nine straight points for Peru as the Tigers extended their lead to nine points after three quarter.
"(Wooten)'s a handful," said Irwin. "You can't hardly stop him with just one guy."
Wooten finished with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds as he was perfect from the field in the second half.
Junior Patrick Comerford added 12 points while Brad Smith scored 13 for Peru.
Whitko was led by seniors Camron Walter and Jeff Coats.
Irwin stated all year that this year's Wildcats, while short on numbers and skilled players, did everything he asked of them.
Walter played perhaps the game of his life and scored 18 points in his final high school game. Jeff Coats was the only other Wildcat to finish in double digits with 11 points.
The third Whitko senior, Brad Smith, scored nine points in defeat.
"Camron did a really nice job," said Irwin. "Tonight he came and played how a senior is supposed to play their last game. Jeff did a nice job too and Brad carried us all year and in the first half tonight."
The Wildcats end the year with a record of 3-18.
Valley and Peru (13-7) tangle for the second time this year at 6 p.m. Friday. The winner will take on the winner of Norwell and Fort Wayne Wayne, who are the second game Friday, in the championship Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
VALLEY 67, ELMHURST 53
Elmhurst 11 11 20 11 - 53
Valley 17 12 18 20 - 67
Elmhurst FG FT R S Pts
*Thompson 3-9 2-2 1 0 9
*Moore 4-6 0-0 4 4 8
*Underwood 6-15 1-1 2 1 13
*Tyree 1-1 0-0 2 0 2
*Smith 5-15 0-1 9 1 10
Richmond 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Elliott 2-3 0-0 3 0 4
Logan 2-4 0-0 4 0 4
Rigsby 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 24-57 3-4 27 6 53
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Lash 5-11 5-9 9 0 15
*Parker 1-1 0-0 2 1 2
*Kindig 3-3 1-2 4 2 7
*Kelley 1-7 1-2 7 2 3
*Drudge 7-15 7-10 6 0 22
Hoffer 8-13 2-6 2 2 18
Reed 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 25-50 16-29 31 7 67
Three-point goals - Elmhurst 2-14 (Thompson 1-3, Richmond 1-1), Valley 1-4 (Drudge 1-1). Turnovers - Elmhurst 13, Valley 9. Fouls - Elmhurst 22, Valley 6. Fouled out - None.
PERU 61, WHITKO 49
Whitko 5 10 17 17 - 49
Peru 12 8 21 20 - 61
Whitko FG FT R S Pts
*Walter 7-9 3-4 0 2 18
*Smith 4-12 0-0 3 1 9
*Rowland 0-3 2-2 3 0 2
*Warner 2-5 0-0 1 0 5
*Coats 5-9 1-3 3 0 11
Carroll 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Swender 1-2 0-0 0 1 2
Hart 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
Wilkinson 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 20-44 6-9 13 4 49
Peru FG FT R S Pts.
*Comeford 5-7 2-2 1 1 12
*Smith 4-8 4-4 1 0 13
*Wooten 6-11 4-6 9 0 17
*Hudson 0-1 1-2 1 0 1
*Briscoe 2-3 0-0 2 0 4
Saine 3-7 0-0 6 2 8
Maynard 2-3 0-0 2 1 4
Burt 0-1 2-2 0 0 2
Haas 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 22-42 13-16 22 4 61
Three-point goals - Whitko 3-9 (Warner 1-1, Walter 1-3, Smith 1-4), Peru 4-9 (Saine 2-4, Smith 1-2, Wooten 1-2). Turnovers - Whitko 9, Peru 9. Fouls - Whitko 10, Peru 11. Fouled out - None.
