AKRON - It will forever be in the record books as a loss, but Tuesday's game against the Knox Redskins very well could have been the first win of the season for Tippecanoe Valley's varsity boys basketball team.
Playing a Knox team that beat them by 20 points on Dec. 2, the host Vikings led by five midway through the fourth quarter last night and had plenty of chances to win before falling 51-48 in the semifinal round of the Winning Edge Holiday Tournament.The loss dropped Valley to 0-6 on the season, while the Redskins improved to 5-1.
The Vikings' three-point loss to Knox came after they fell 64-62 at Glenn in their last game.
"The last two games, we've been in a position to win," said Valley coach Bill Patrick. "That's a plus, we've made progress. We had a chance to beat Glenn, and we had a couple opportunities to win tonight."
Instead, the Vikings remained winless on the season and will play Winamac (2-6) in Friday's consolation game at 6 p.m. Winamac fell 94-31 to Class 3A No. 5 Rochester (5-1) in Tuesday's first semifinal game.
Rochester, which got 31 points from standout senior Bruce Grimm Jr., will play Knox in Friday's 7:30 p.m. championship game. Rochester is in search of its fourth-straight Winning Edge Holiday Tournament championship.
"It's scary," Knox coach Todd Boldry said of having to play Rochester. "They're very athletic. They're the most athletic team we'll play all year. Bruce Grimm is by far the best player we'll see all year, based on individual talent. And they've got a lot more than just him."
Earning a berth in the championship game, Knox scored nine unanswered points in the second quarter and closed the first half with an 11-1 run to take a 22-17 lead.
It was a much different story from the Dec. 2 meeting between these two teams, when the Vikings struggled shooting the ball and found themselves trailing by 19 in the second quarter.
"We shot a lot better tonight," said Patrick. "The last time we played them we started the game 1 of 13 (from the field). They just kind of held us off from there. We were a little more patient tonight. Our shot selection was better."
Boldry agreed that Valley shot the ball better last night.
"They shot the ball better, especially early," said Boldry. "The first game, we got up 20-1. We got a big lead and just held them off. It was an even game after that. The last six quarters we've played against them have been pretty even."
Valley may have played even with them, but the Vikings didn't do enough to win.
Valley led 33-32 after three quarters of play, and then held a 41-36 advantage before the Redskins battled back and the teams traded baskets.
A three-pointer by Anthony Tolson gave Valley a 46-44 lead with 1:35 to play, but a bucket and free throw by Cody Binkley put Knox up 47-46 with a minute remaining.
A pair of free throws by Chris Newbauer gave the Redskins a three-point lead with 36 seconds remaining, and then a bucket by Valley's Kenny Campbell cut the deficit to one, 49-48, with 19 seconds to play.
Devin Garbison hit two free throws for Knox with 12 seconds to play, accounting for the final score.
The Vikings had a chance to tie it in the waning seconds, but three-pointers by Dan Kitch and Zach Owens were off the mark.
Six-foot-6 junior Kyle Sanders led Knox with a game-high 18 points, while Garbison added 13 points and Newbauer chipped in with 11 points.
"We didn't have an answer for Sanders," said Patrick.
The tallest Valley player in the game was 6-2 junior Taylor Burkhart.
"He's 6-6," Boldry said of Sanders. "He's 6-6 and they're 6-1, 6-2. He should be able to score. If I was 6-6 I'd score on them too. As good as his offense was, I thought his defense was just as bad. He probably accounted for 30 points, 18 for us and 12 for them."
Senior Kenny Campbell, who didn't play basketball as a freshman, sophomore or junior, led Valley with 16 points.
"Kenny Campbell played really well," said Patrick. "He didn't play basketball before this year. And he's playing with a bad ankle, he's only about 85 percent. If he had played basketball the past three years, he'd really be an outstanding player."
Owens finished with 14 points for Valley, while Tolson chipped in with eight points.
