AKRON - The Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team seems to be getting its footing.
Downing the visiting Wabash Apaches (2-11, 1-5 Three Rivers Conference) Friday at home, the 70-48 conference victory increased the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings' (6-9, 4-2 TRC) win streak."That's three wins in a row and in the conference, we're 4-2," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "We have a chance to finish third or maybe even second (in the TRC). That's a plus, especially since we're playing two freshmen and two sophomores most of the time."
One of those freshmen is Tanner Andrews, but against the Apaches, he looked like anything but a freshman, recording 25 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
"He started taking the ball to the basket," Patrick said of the 6-foot-2 Andrews. "In all fairness, he sprained his ankle Monday night, so now he's injured both. So having the two days off (this week) was probably good for him. He does play hard."
Along with Andrews' production, the Vikings also got 11 points from freshman Tanner Shepherd and another 10 from sophomore Nick Kindig, but Patrick wasn't overly thrilled with the entire performance of his team.
"I didn't think we were very sharp," the veteran coach said. "We didn't practice Tuesday or Wednesday, so that may have been part of it."
On separate occasions, Valley built a 10-point lead, but allowed the Apaches to storm back within a possession. Despite never losing the lead, Patrick did see enough to worry him.
"I didn't think we played hard all the time," he said. "We got the 15-5 lead, then let up, allowing them back in the game. They'd get close, then we'd play a little harder, getting a spurt and going up by eight or nine points. It just seemed like, three or four times, we just played hard enough to get ahead, then wanted to coast."
Valley found a way to keep extending its lead by forcing 22 turnovers, with sophomore Jacob Ritchey posting four steals.
The Vikings have a chance to record their fourth-straight win in their TRC finale Thursday at North Miami (3-11).
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 70, WABASH 58
W 13 12 17 16 - 58
V 17 15 15 23 - 70
Valley - Dereck Ferrell 2-2 0-0 5, Jacob Ritchey 1-1 2-2 4, Tanner Shepherd 5-8 1-3 11, Tanner Andrews 11-23 3-8 25, Nick Kindig 4-10 1-2 10, Bret Cooper 3-5 1-2 8, Taylor Breeden 0-0 0-0 0, Jeffrey Tillman 3-4 1-1 7. Totals 29-53 9-18 70.
