AKRON – For the first time in recent memory, the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings have a first-round bye in the state tournament. The 42nd annual tournament begins Tuesday at 64 sites around the state, and the Lady Vikings are looking for their third straight sectional title and the program’s eighth overall. Class 3A No. 8 Valley will play in Sectional 21 at West Noble High School and takes a 20-4 record into postseason action. West Noble and Lakeland get things started Tuesday at 6 p.m., followed by NorthWood and Wawasee. In Friday’s first semifinal, Fairfield plays either West Noble or Lakeland, followed by Valley squaring off with Tuesday’s other winner. The championship game is slated for Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Columbia City Regional to play the winner of the Fort Wayne Concordia Sectional. Sectional winners from Tipton and Norwell also feed into the four-team, one-day regional at Columbia City. “This is the first time we’ve had a bye in the seven years I’ve been the coach,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig, who has led the Lady Vikings to a record of 70-7 overall and 25-0 in the Three Rivers Conference over the past three seasons. “I would say some years you might be better off playing a first-round game just because you want to get your feet wet, but it depends on who you’re playing, too. I like the bye from the standpoint that you have an extra day or two to practice. “We’ll have an opportunity on Tuesday to watch our opponent, and I think it’ll be a good game between Wawasee and NorthWood. We have a veteran team, and I hope that we don’t come out tight because of the bye. There’s always good and bad aspects to it, but I think for us, for this year with the experience we have, the bye is a good thing.” The Lady Vikings average 61 points per game, while giving up just 35. Valley has won six games in a row and 10 of 11. In that span, just one team has scored more than 39 points on the Lady Vikings – then-No. 1 and undefeated North Harrison in a 67-58 Valley loss in the Hall of Fame Classic. The Lady Vikings are 3-1 against the rest of the sectional field, having posted wins over Lakeland (54-26), West Noble (56-33) and Wawasee (48-21). On a night Valley shot just above 20 percent from the field, the Lady Vikings lost 50-41 to NorthWood. “Four of the teams have 15 wins or so – us, NorthWood, West Noble, and Fairfield is getting up there,” said Kindig. “I thought it was a really balanced draw from the standpoint that you have Lakeland and West Noble in that first round. I wouldn’t want to be Wawasee or NorthWood because you’re going to have to beat three good teams. “We’ve played everybody but Fairfield. We beat them in the championship last year, and they lost a few players off that team. We’re capable of playing really well, but if we don’t shoot the ball well we could have problems, and that’s what happened to against NorthWood. We’re going to have to play well two games to win it.” Senior Anne Secrest, a four-time Times-Union Area Player of the Year selection, leads the Lady Vikings with nearly 15 points and seven rebounds per game. She shoots nearly 70 percent from the field. Senior Meredith Brouyette and junior Addy Miller both average nine points per game, while sophomores Sophie Bussard and Emily Peterson are close to eight points per game.
