AKRON - First-year Argos High School boys basketball coach Joel Grindle said he didn't make any major halftime adjustments Tuesday evening.
His team's 50-41 come-from-behind win over the host Tippecanoe Valley Vikings was a result of effort and execution."We got on them at halftime," Grindle said of the conversation with his players in the locker room. "There wasn't any major adjustments, the kids just did what we asked of them."
Valley led the Dragons 28-20 at halftime but went flat in the second half, as Argos opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run.
In all, Argos outscored the Vikings 19-3 in the third quarter and 30-13 in the second half.
"They played harder than we did," 11th-year Valley coach Bill Patrick said of the Dragons. "In the second half Argos picked it up and played harder than we did. And we couldn't match it."
The nine-point victory was the first career varsity coaching win for Grindle, a 1999 Plymouth graduate who is assisted by 2002 Warsaw grad Jerad Shaw.
Grindle's first win denied Patrick of his 659th career win.
"Our offense was a little stagnant in the first half," said Grindle, whose team improved to 1-1 on the season. "I think the kids were a little shocked coming over here and playing a program like Valley. Valley is always very well-prepared and very well-coached."
In the second half of Tuesday's game, the same could be said for the Dragons, as it was Argos that looked like the team with the veteran coach.
"This is a big win for our program," said Grindle. "The kids have bought in to what we're trying to do. This win is about the kids. If it was coaching than we were in trouble. Valley had us down what, 650-something to nothing in career wins."
The loss dropped Valley to 0-2 on the season.
The Vikings hadn't started the season with two-straight losses since the 1997-98 season under Greg Sciarra.
Valley led 12-9 after the first quarter and then pushed the lead to six when junior Zach Owens opened the second quarter with a three-pointer.
Owens led Valley in scoring with 17 points in the season opener against Warsaw, the team he played for last year. But against Argos, his second-quarter three-pointer were the only points he scored.
Still, the Vikings were up by eight points at halftime.
In the second half, however, Argos looked like a completely different team.
And the two fierce, fiery, enthusiastic young coaches on the Dragons' bench barked out instruction to their players just like the coaches they learned from, Jack Edison and Al Rhodes.
And like Edison and Rhodes did so many times, Grindle and Shaw got winning results from their players.
"We're very excitable guys," Grindle said when asked about his and Shaw's passion and intensity rubbing off on their players in the second half. "We love what we're doing. I've waited a long time be a head coach, and Coach Shaw has waited a long time to get to the varsity level. We love being around the kids. We love coaching. We'd remember the first win whoever it was against, but beating a classy program like Valley and a classy coach like Bill Patrick makes this first win very special."
Leading 39-31 after three quarters of play, Argos scored the first three points of the fourth quarter, capping off a 22-3 run that left the Vikings shell-shocked.
Junior Scott Sanders scored nine of his team-high 15 points for Argos in the third quarter.
Sophomore Sam Edmonds also scored 15 points for Argos, while senior Drew Overmyer scored eight points, senior Bryant Kuchel added six points, senior Ben Gilbert scored four points and junior Jeremy Wierick chipped in with two points.
Senior Ross Miller led Valley with 16 points, while junior Anthony Tolson added 10 points.
Sophomore Dan Kitch, senior Brad Shepherd and Owens scored three points each, while seniors Devin Vogel and Kenny Campbell and junior Taylor Burkhart scored two points each.
Valley hosts Knox Friday, while Argos hosts Winamac Saturday.
