AKRON – To win the sectional championship this week, veteran coach Bill Patrick said his Tippecanoe Valley basketball team will have to do two things it’s struggled to do this season – rebound, and win games on the road. The Vikings enter Class 3A Sectional 21 action at West Noble High School with a 14-8 record. Valley is 12-1 at home this year, and just 2-7 on the road. “We haven’t shot well on the road,” said Patrick. “When you look at the team’s we’ve played on the road ... Warsaw, John Glenn, Plymouth, Triton, Winamac ... we’ve played the toughest part of our schedule on the road. I’m not sure we’d beat those teams if we played them at home. We’ve got to shoot better on the road, and we’ve got to rebound. Rebounding is going to be big. We’ve only outrebounded two teams all year.” Whitko and Wawasee will open sectional play at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Wednesday’s action gets underway at 6 p.m. with Fairfield and Lakeland, followed by West Noble and NorthWood. Valley plays either Whitko or Wawasee in Friday’s first semifinal game, followed by Wednesday’s winners. The championship game is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Blackford Regional. “We’ll take the draw and play it,” said Patrick. “I’ve always thought it was better to play the first night and get a game under your belt. Whitko is playing well. Wawasee is playing well. Wawasee would probably have to be the favorite in that game based on talent and experience, but Whitko has played well the last month.” The Vikings have won eight of their last 10 games and enter the 105th annual state tournament on the heels of a 63-49 win over Wawasee. If Wawasee beats Whitko in Tuesday’s opener, it would be the third straight year Valley has closed the regular season with Wawasee and then met them in sectional play. Patrick’s response to that potential meeting is the same as it has been the last couple years. “That’s not the ideal situation,” said Patrick. “If the sectional teams remain the same, we probably should see if we can move that game. I’m not sure it’s good to play the same team two games in a row.” Playing Wawasee in the regular season finale and the sectional opener during the past two seasons, Valley went 4-0 against the Warriors. Of the seven teams in Class 3A Sectional 21, only NorthWood and Fairfield have more wins than the Vikings. NorthWood, the defending sectional champion, is 7-0 against the rest of the field. “I think NorthWood is the favorite, but Fairfield isn’t far behind,” said Patrick. “I’d put Wawasee up there behind Fairfield. Wawasee is playing well right now, they beat Fairfield and John Glenn earlier in the season, and they just beat an Eastside team that had won eight in row. I’d put those three teams ... NorthWood, Fairfield and Wawasee ... at the top.” Senior Alex Thacker leads the Vikings in scoring at 19 points per game, while junior Neil Clampitt averages just under 14 points per game. Senior Chandler O’Connor and junior Gavin Bussard both average eight points per game. Clampitt leads Valley in rebounds with 4.6 boards per game, while Thacker averages 4.2 rebounds per game. Thacker is second on the team in assists and blocked shots and leads the squad in steals.
