SOUTH WHITLEY – After overcoming a five-point deficit in the first half, the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings pulled away from the Whitko Lady Wildcats for a 55-45 win Saturday night in Three Rivers Conference action. Caylie Teel (16 points, nine rebounds) and Taylor Trippiedi (14 points, three rebounds) led the way for the Lady Vikings (4-6 overall, 2-1 TRC). Melanie Kelsey led all Whitko scorers with 11 points, and Josie Sparks added 10 for the Lady Wildcats. Whitko (3-7 overall, 1-2 TRC) struggled from the free throw line, making 24 of 37 attempts. “We're going to spend an awful lot of time on free throws simply because we missed 13 tonight. That's not going to cut it,” said Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley. “We missed an awful lot on Thursday [against West Noble] as well.” Both teams faced foul trouble early and often over the course of the game, combining for 53 fouls. “We were definitely in foul trouble tonight...but the girls hung in there tough,” said Valley head coach Chris Kindig. “I think each of us want to win so badly, that we don't all know how to do that yet,” said Bradley. Whitko held a five-point lead after the first quarter and a two-point lead at halftime before Valley made its second half surge. “I'm real proud of our effort, in the second half especially," said Kindig. “I thought we handled their zone defense in the second half better than we did in the first half. I thought we were real patient.” Valley will travel to North Judson Thursday for an 8 p.m. tipoff. Whitko will travel to Monroe to take on Adams Central, a familiar opponent for coach Bradley, who had previously coached at South Adams. “It gets loud. They're very proud down there,” said Bradley “But right now, it's not about them, it's about us. We have to fix our free throw woes, we have to fix our inexperience as best we can in four days.”
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 55, WHITKO 45 TV 8 17 15 15 – 55 W 13 14 7 11 – 45 Valley – Taylor Trippiedi 6 2-4 14, Cara Hoffman 3 2-4 8, Caylie Teel 5 6-13 16, Kelsey Ball 3 0-0 6, Courtney Newsome 1 2-4 4, Sara Alexander 2 1-4 5, Connor Fraser 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 13-19 55. Whitko – Jennifer Reiff 2 3-4 7, Cagney Craig 0 4-8 4, Josie Sparks 2 6-7 10, Heather Bryan 0 2-2 2, Melanie Kelsey 4 2-2 11, Kelly Reiff 1 4-8 6, Aly Nicodemus 0 2-2 2, Maddie Gawthrop 0 0-2 0, Abby Alberding 1 1-2 3. Totals 10 24-37 45. Three-pointers – Valley 0, Whitko 1 (Kelsey); Turnovers – Valley 13, Whitko 14; Fouls – Valley 29, Whitko 24; Fouled out – Bussard, Ball, Fraser, Reiff; Records: Valley 4-6 (2-1 TRC), Whitko 3-7 (1-2 TRC)
