NAPPANEE — Taking on the Sectional 21 host NorthWood Lady Panthers Friday night, the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings proved they could hang, but not for 32 minutes. Falling 84-61 to the two-time defending Sectional 21 champions, the Lady Vikings were able to score, but defending the bigger, more experienced Lady Panthers was another story. “If you would have said we’d score 61 points, I would have liked our chances to win,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said. “But we gave up 84. We had a hard time containing them all night.” The first leak came early, as NorthWood junior guard Haley Roe hit four of her first five shots, including three treys, en route to 12 first-quarter points. Coming into the game averaging 13, she finished with 26 and was an obvious X-Factor in the game. “Obviously, the key for them was Roe getting off to a fast start,” Kindig said. “You could tell by the way we were defending them, that we were trying to take away (senior center Morgan) Olson and (junior guard Jordyn) Frantz. Then Roe comes out and has a career game. That’s what you need in this tournament to advance sometimes.” The 6-foot Olson still had a big game, finishing with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Frantz posted 17 points, seven steals and four rebounds. NorthWood advanced to face another Three Rivers Conference opponent tonight at home against Whitko, which defeated Lakeland 61-45 in Friday’s first semifinal. For Valley, its season ends at 13-7, but it loses just three seniors, however they include starters in Cara Hoffman and Kelsey Ball. “Their future is ahead of them, I believe,” veteran NorthWood coach Steve Neff said. “They’re going to do a nice job.” Hoffman led Valley’s offensive attack with 20 points, followed by junior Caylie Teel’s 17. Teel also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals. “(Teel) played extremely well and Cara hit some big shots,” Kindig said. Valley also got 10 points from freshman Meredith Brouyette and 10 out of classmate Anne Secrest. “When you go through our season, when we had three or four girls with double-figure scoring, we win the basketball game,” Kindig said. Between the two teams, seven girls reach double-figure scoring, as Valley’s up-tempo style lends itself to a lot of points. Against most teams, that style can rattle opponents, but against NorthWood it did not. Asked if his girls favor the fast-paced game, Neff wasn’t sure if they preferred it, but he definitely like the outcome. “I don’t know what our girls like,” the coach with 652 wins said. “Sometimes it’s slow and other times it’s frantic. It depends on the night. I don’t like that frantic pace, but when the ball’s going in, I like everything.”
NORTHWOOD 84, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 61 (Sectional 21, Semifinal) NW 21 21 19 23 – 84 TV 14 19 10 18 – 61 NW – Jordyn Frantz 5-12 4-5 17, Haley Roe 9-12 5-5 26, Taylor Fielstra 0-6 0-0 0, Tiffanie Alexander 2-6 0-0 4, Morgan Olson 9-12 7-7 25, Taitlyn Trenshaw 0-0 0-0 0, Arika Flickinger 0-0 2-2 2, Andrea Tuttle 0-0 0-0 0, Tori Schwartz 0-2 4-4 4, Inger Yoder 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Yoder 0-1 0-2 0, Shyla Southern 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 28-56 22-25 84. Valley – Karis Tucker 0-1 0-1 0, Cara Hoffman 7-19 2-2 20, Caylie Teel 6-13 4-4 17, Kelsey Ball 1-1 0-0 2, Anne Secrest 2-3 6-8 10, Taylor Trippiedi 0-3 0-0 0, Meredith Brouyette 3-8 2-2 10, Brynda Krueger 1-1 0-0 2, Hannah Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, Casey Dunn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 14-17 61. Three-pointers – NW 6-17 (Roe 3, Frantz 3), Valley 6-19 (Hoffman 4, Brouyette 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) – NW 17, Valley 20 (Teel); Turnovers – NW 13, Valley 14; Rebounds – NW 36 (Olson 5), Valley 29 (Secrest 8); Assists – NW 15 (Alexander 4, Olson 4), Valley 8 (Teel 3); Steals – NW 10 (Frantz 7), Valley 11 (Secrest 3); Blocks – NW 4 (Alexander 2), Valley 1; Records: NW 18-5, Valley 13-7
