AKRON – Excitement was in the air at Tippecanoe Valley High School Friday night as the Class 1A No. 4 Triton Trojans in town. In a game that featured neighboring communities battling it out on the hardwood, the host Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (16-3) fed off the energy, making their first four three-pointers, to get a 59-45 win over the Trojans (15-5) in high school boys basketall action. Valley's only deficit of the night came at 2-0, which was quickly erased after junior Jacob Ritchey and senior Jeffrey Tillman hit back-to-back treys. Tillman then hit another three-pointer and after junior Nick Kindig hit one as well, Valley was in front 14-6 with 3:28 remaining in the opening quarter. "I don't know what it is, but they get off to great starts," Triton coach Jason Groves said about Valley. "They're a good shooting team, and it's not just one kid. It's whoever is open. We had to do a better job of getting out on them." Kindig has been Valley's most lethal deep threat, but Tillman has also shown a knack for nailing the long shot, finishing the game with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. "Tillman's shooting our best percentage on the year from behind the three-point line," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "He can shoot the ball well, so that's not unusual from him." By the time the first quarter was over, Valley had made 5 of 7 three-pointers, and after limiting Triton to six points in the second quarter, the Vikings held a 32-16 halftime advantage. "They're good defensively," Groves said. "That's why they're a good team. They're well-rounded. They're good offensively, they're good defensively. They do a lot of nice things. Give them credit, but I think we settled sometimes. Instead of trying to get to the basket and draw a foul, we may pull up and fade away." Making 62 percent of its first-half field goals, it appeared Valley would run away with the win, but after getting outscored 15-3 in the third quarter, the home team was clinging to a 35-31 lead going into the final quarter. "It was just effort," Groves said about the turnaround. "I got on them and said, 'Hey, what are you made of. We do this in practice. You go at half speed and you don't work hard all the time. This is what's going to happen.' Why does it take us getting down big for them to play that way? That's what I don't understand. "I feel like, defensively, we're not very good right now," Groves added. "It takes us being down 16 to wake up in the second half and hold them to three points (in the third quarter)." It may take a big deficit for Triton to pick up its defensive intensity, but Patrick has noticed his team becoming lax once it gets up big on an opponent. "We did that against Maconaquah," Patrick said. "We had a 16-,18-point lead in the fourth quarter and let them back in the game. We did it a little bit against North Miami too. When we get the big lead, we just kind of play not to lose. When it got down to four and we had the timeout, I told them, 'Quit messing around and just play like we were playing in the first half.'" Holding that 35-31 lead, the game had a pivotal moment after Triton senior Zak Shively was whistled for a blocking foul with 7:01 to play. Upon learning the foul was on him, and not a charge on Valley sophomore Robby Groom, Shively had something to say, which drew a technical and also left him with five fouls, ending his night. Once the dust had settled, Groom made his two free throws for the initial foul, Kindig made 1 of 2 free throws for the technical and Tillman also made two free throws after Valley was awarded the ball. In all, Valley had a five-point possession, which increased its lead to 40-31 and put Triton in a hole it couldn't dig out of. Kindig finished with a game-high 24 points, while sophomore Tanner Andrews had 15 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots and three assists. Along with putting up numbers, Andrews also drew the defensive assignment of guarding Triton junior Clay Yeo, who was coming off a 44-point night Tuesday at Rochester. Against Valley, Yeo went for 23 points, converting 7 of 20 shots and making just 1 of 10 three pointers. "Tanner Andrews really did a good job on Yeo," Patrick said. "He got 23 points, but he earned every one of them." The win was a big one for Valley and made it clear the squad is back after going 7-14 a year ago, which followed 8-13 and 4-17 campaigns. Valley will look for its 18th win of the season, and Patrick's 694th career win, Friday at Wawasee, while Triton will look to claim at least a share of the Northern State Conference championship Friday at Knox. Sophomore Tanner Sheperd, who played on the varsity team for Valley last season, scored seven points for Triton.
