No. 4 Lady Vikings' season ends with loss to No. 2 Heritage Christian
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
COLUMBIA CITY – Only time will tell if he’s right, but Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Chris Kindig was confident Saturday night when he said his team’s season was ended by the state champion two years in a row. A year ago, Notre Dame recruit Jackie Young and the Princeton Tigers beat Valley 72-44 in the Class 3A state finals, ending the Lady Vikings’ magical season with a 25-3 record. Valley put together another dream season, but it ended in nightmarish fashion Saturday night, as the fourth-ranked Lady Vikings fell 72-47 to No. 2 Heritage Christian in the championship game of the Columbia City Regional. Valley finished the year with a 25-2 record, while Heritage Christian improved to 24-4 and advanced to the semistate, where it will meet No. 3 South Bend St. Joe (25-1) Saturday at Carroll High School. Heritage Christian, winners of the past two Class 2A state titles before moving to 3A this season, was the better team, and the Lady Eagles proved that by outscoring Valley 41-15 during the second and third quarters. The Lady Vikings, who upped their win streak to 20 games with a 56-53 win over Fort Wayne Concordia in Saturday’s regional semifinal, held a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter in the title tilt. Valley, however, just couldn’t match Heritage Christian’s athleticism or offensive firepower. “I don’t see anyone touching them the rest of this tournament,” Kindig said of the Lady Eagles. “They’re awfully good. They’re well-coached. They were a buzzsaw tonight, and they were ready to play. They were motivated. It’s disappointing to lose, but I think we’re probably gonna lose to the state champion two years in a row.” Five-foot-5 junior guard Dashawna Harper led Heritage Christian with a game-high 19 points, which included five three-pointers. Tyasha Harris, a 5-9 senior guard ranked 10th nationally in the 2016 class by ESPN and who is narrowing her college choice from 60-plus Division I scholarship offers, scored 18 points in the win. Darby Foresman, a 6-3 senior who has committed to play for the Indiana Hoosiers, scored 12 points, all in the first half and including a pair of nothing-but-net treys. Five-foot-10 sophomore guard Katlyn Gilbert also scored in double figures for the Lady Eagles, finishing with 10 points. How impressive was Heritage Christian’s offense? Valley’s calling card this season has been its defense. The Lady Vikings were giving up just 33 points per game – Heritage Christian had that many points by halftime. Valley hadn’t given up more than 51 points in a game all season – the Lady Eagles had that covered before the end of the third quarter, thanks in large part to the way they dominated the middle two frames. “We were trying to go on transition. We weren’t rebounding real well at the beginning of the game, so that didn’t get our transition going. Once we kind of started do better on the rebounding, that picked up the transition, and our offense is geared around transition,” said Heritage Christian coach Rick Risinger when asked about the 41-15 run during the second and third quarters. “In that period of time we started getting out in transition, which opened up some outside shots for us.” Through 28 games, which includes Saturday’s two regional games, Heritage Christian is averaging 64 points per game. In their five state tournament games, however, they’ve scored at least 72 points four times. The exception was Saturday morning’s 60-42 semifinal win over No. 5 Norwell. Heritage Christian has won its five state tournament games by margins of 50, 37, 29, 18 and 25. The Lady Eagles have dismantled No. 8 Marion, No. 5 Norwell and No. 4 Valley. With that being said, it’s easy to understand why Kindig thinks he lost Saturday night to the soon-to-be crowned state champion. “Heritage Christian, as much as you like to talk about their offense, defensively there as good as it comes,” said Kindig. “You absolutely can not play a transition game with them. We talked about that before the game, that we really wanted to try and slow the game down as much as we could, at least on their end, and make them walk the ball up. That’s easier said than done ... they get the ball out so well, even on a made basket. They get out and run and they put you on your heels. I know we were able to score 47 points, but that’s the best defensive team we’ve faced all year. So if you combine that with what they have athletically, it’s a tough deal, it’s just a tough deal.” Heritage Christian’s athleticism, speed and defensive pressure led to 16 Valley turnovers. After leading 14-13 at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Vikings trailed 35-22 at halftime and 54-29 heading into the final frame. Valley finished the game 16 of 40 from the field overall and were led in scoring by junior Anne Secrest’s 12 points. Junior Meredith Brouyette scored nine points, while sophomore Addy Miller and freshman Sophie Bussard scored eight points each, and senior Karis Tucker and junior Hannah Dunn chipped in with five points each. Saturday night’s loss ended the prep careers of Tucker, Brynda Krueger and Morgan Brazo. Over the last two seasons, the trio has been part of a 50-5 record, which included a 16-0 mark in the Three Rivers Conference, two sectional championships and the program’s first trip to the state finals. While Kindig will have plenty of talent to work with next season, his thoughts were with his seniors Saturday night as fans shuffled out of Donald S. Weeks Gymnasium. “The future is bright, but I don’t even wanna think about that right now,” said Kindig. “There’s some girls in the lockerroom that are hurting right now. They put in a lot of time. It means a lot to them. “Karis, this is a tough deal for her. You know, she hurts her knee in June, and maybe came back a little too soon, but I thought she really had a gutsy performance tonight. She was hurting, and she gave it her all. “Brynda put a lot of time in over the summer, and she improved a bunch and was a big part of our team. She did a lot of good things for us all year. “Morgan Brazo was a big part of our team, maybe not so much in terms of playing time, but a hard practice player, and she had a great, great attitude. She just fit in with everybody else and was kind of the team clown and kind of kept everybody loose. We’re going to miss each of those girls.”
Semifinal: Valley 56, Concordia 53 The Lady Vikings advanced to the championship game in extremely dramatic fashion. After leading Fort Wayne Concordia (14-12) by a 31-19 score at halftime, and then by seven, 41-34, heading into the fourth quarter, Valley dodged a huge bullet as time expired. With Valley leading 56-53, Secrest attempted two free throws with just five-tenths of a second left in the game. She missed both charity tosses, and Concordia junior Shania Kelly rebounded the ball, and heaved a 70-foot shot that swished through the net. The gym quickly fell silent in both amazement and disbelief, and Kelly fell to the floor in tears as the officials waved off the shot, saying it wasn’t released from her hand before the buzzer sounded. Kelly led Concordia with a game-high 20 points, while freshman teammate Carissa Garcia chipped in with 13 points. Krueger led Valley with 12 points, while Miller finished with 11 and Tucker and Secrest chipped in with nine points each.
HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 72, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 47 (Championship) HC 13 22 19 18 – 72 TV 14 8 7 18 – 47 Heritage Chr. – Kendall Clark 1 0-0 2, Reyna Williams 1 0-1 2, Katlyn Gilbert 4 1-2 10, Joely Pinkerton 2 0-0 4, Hannah Williams 1 1-2 3, Sydney Buis 0 0-0 0, Dashawna Harper 7 0-0 19, Darby Foresman 5 0-0 12, Tyasha Harris 7 3-3 18, Jenna Bishop 0 0-0 0, Michelle Pierce 0 2-2 2, Brookley McCullough 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 7-10 72. T. Valley – Olivia Trippiedi 0 0-0 0, Karis Tucker 2 1-2 5, Meredith Brouyette 3 2-2 9, Addy Miller 3 0-0 8, Sophie Bussard 3 1-1 8, Brynda Krueger 0 0-0 0, Asia O’Connor 0 0-0 0, Morgan Brazo 0 0-0 0, Hannah Dunn 0 5-6 5, Anne Secrest 5 2-2 12. Totals 16 11-13 47. Three-pointers – Heritage Chr. 9 (Harper 5, Foresman 2, Harris, Gilbert), T. Valley 4 (Miller 2, Brouyette, Bussard); Turnovers – Heritage Chr. 10, T. Valley 16; Fouls – Heritage Chr. 15, T. Valley 15; Fouled out – Secrest (TV); Records: Heritage Chr. 24-4, T. Valley 25-2
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 56, F.W. CONCORDIA 53 (Semifinal) TV 17 14 10 15 – 56 FWC 14 5 15 19 – 53 T. Valley – Karis Tucker 2 3-4 9, Meredith Brouyette 2 0-0 6, Addy Miller 4 1-3 11, Sophie Bussard 1 2-3 4, Brynda Krueger 3 6-7 12, Hannah Dunn 1 3-4 5, Anne Secrest 3 3-9 9. Totals 16 18-30 56. Concordia – Paige Patterson 0 0-0 0, Hope Kanning 0 0-0 0, Carissa Garcia 4 4-4 13, Hannah Nack 2 0-2 4, Sylare Starks 2 2-2 8, Brooke Macke 2 0-0 4, Addison Gepfert 2 0-0 4, Shania Kelly 7 6-11 20, Elizabeth Hetler 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 12-19 53. Three-pointers – T. Valley 6 (Tucker 2, Brouette 2, Miller 2), Concordia 3 (Starks 2, Garcia); Turnovers – Valley 10, Concordia 13; Fouls – Valley 17, Concordia 22; Fouled out – none; Records: T. Valley 25-1, Concordia 14-12 Other Semifinal: Heritage Christian 60, Norwell 42
