AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team proved it’s still the class of the Three Rivers Conference Friday night at home against Manchester. Both teams entered the game with 3-0 TRC records, but following their 58-38 victory, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (9-2, 4-0 TRC) are on the fast track to their third-straight conference championship, having shared it with Northfield two years ago. The Squires now sit at 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the TRC, and the intensity of the game had one of a conference championship. “They were playing it like it was a conference championship game because they had already defeated Southwood and Wabash,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said of Manchester. “We were probably, maybe, the only team left on their schedule that had a chance to beat them.” Manchester’s last TRC title came in 2001 and its last winning season came in 2002, so the feel around the team is much different. However, against the Vikings, Manchester was just outmatched. “I thought we battled alright, but not enough against a team like Tippecanoe Valley that is more athletic than we are, as well as bigger and stronger at the positions that meant most,” Manchester coach Eric Thompson said. “We don’t have one guy that can match up with (6-foot-3 Valley senior) Tanner Andrews. We didn’t have one guy that could match up with (6-foot-5 Valley senior) Logan Britton. Then, when we helped out (in the post), Chainey Zolman hit big shots, which kept us honest.” Zolman finished the game with 18 points and was 5 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 at the free throw line in the first half, scoring 14 points. Zolman pushed Valley’s lead into double digits in the second quarter, hitting a three-pointer with 4:10 to play, followed by another bucket 40 seconds later, building the Vikings’ lead to 26-14. Manchester managed to cut the lead to nine with 1:59 left in the first half, but that was as close as the Squires got. “Chainey hit some big shots and that forced them to stretch their defense out a little bit,” Patrick said. “They like to jam it up in the middle, and once they had to come out, that gave Tanner an opportunity to go to the basket. The big key may have been Chainey hitting some big shots.” Andrews finished the game with 12 points, five blocks three rebounds, three steals and two assists, but most importantly, he played tough defense on Manchester senior Clayton Petrie. The most versatile Squire, Petrie was limited to six points on 2-of-11 shooting before fouling out. “Tanner Andrews is the most athletic player we’ve seen this year,” Thompson said. “I thought we got good looks, but they just blocked a lot of our shots. Their athleticism was something new for us. Tippecanoe Valley is by far the most athletic team in the conference and the most athletic team we’ve played out of conference as well.” To battle Valley’s athleticism, Manchester wanted to get physical, but it didn’t work out as senior Claudel Dickantone and sophomore Chase Fierstos each had two fouls by the midway point of the first quarter. “We had to put two of our top scorers on the bench early, and Tippecanoe Valley was in the bonus with two or three minutes left in the first quarter,” Thompson said. “That put us behind the eight ball.” Along with the fouls, Manchester also struggled from the field, converting 13 of 45, while Valley was 20 of 37. “The shots were there, they just didn’t fall,” Thompson said. “I didn’t think we forced very many shots. If you’re not hitting, you have to find other ways to score and we couldn’t get to the free throw line.” Dickantone finished the game with a team-high 15 points, followed by Petrie and Fierstos’ six points a piece. Barring a pretty large upset, Valley looks ready to run the table in the conference, with their remaining TRC games being Friday at Wabash (5-5, 2-1 TRC) and Feb. 13 at North Miami (1-11, 0-4 TRC), as well as Southwood (6-4, 2-1 TRC), on a date which is still to be determined. Thompson, however, is leaving the door open to at least share the title, but his Squires will need to defeat Rochester (4-7, 2-2 TRC) at home Wednesday, as well as win at Northfield (4-9, 2-2 TRC) Friday, then at home against Whitko (1-12, 0-4 TRC) on Feb. 15. “We still need to take care of ourselves, because if we can’t do that, it won’t matter if someone else helps us out,” he said. Manchester is right back in action today at Tri-Central, while Valley’s next game is Tuesday at Maconaquah.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 58, MANCHESTER 38 M 11 6 10 11 – 38 TV 15 15 18 10 – 58 Valley – Robby Groom 0-5 2-3 2, Jarred Littlejohn 1-2 0-0 2, Tanner Andrews 6-10 0-1 12, Chainey Zolman 5-8 6-6 18, Logan Britton 3-5 0-5 6, Ben Shriver 3-5 6-6 12, Aaron Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Bussard 1-1 2-2 4, Neil Clampitt 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Neeley 1-1 0-0 2, Alec Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Salmon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-37 16-23 58. Manchester – Chase Fierstos 3-9 0-1 6, Braydon Sewell 0-0 0-0 0, Claudel Dickantone 4-11 5-6 15, Phoenix Goad 1-1 0-0 2, Clayton Petrie 2-11 2-2 6, Branden Scott 0-1 0-0 0, David McAtee 0-3 0-0 0, Cameron Brandenburg 1-4 2-2 4, Lucas Schilling 1-3 1-2 3, Micah McDaniel 1-2 0-0 2, Bailey Ness 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-45 10-13 35. Three-pointers – Valley 2-6 (Zolman 2), Manchester 2-17 (Dickantone 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Valley 14, Manchester 21 (Petrie); Turnovers – Valley 11, Manchester 15; Rebounds – Valley 25 (Zolman 4), Manchester 23 (Dickantone 6, Petrie 6); Assists – Valley 17 (Littlejohn 7), Manchester 3; Steals – Valley 6 (Andrews 3), Manchester 4 (Brandenburg 2); Blocks – Valley 5 (Andrews 5), Manchester 0. Records: Valley 9-2 (4-0 TRC), Manchester 8-4 (3-1 TRC). JV – Valley 47, Manchester 39 Valley – Alec Craig 19, Gavis Bussard 10, Neil Camplitt 6, Alex Salmon 4, Brandon Webster 2, Trevor Neeley 2, Tyler Ross 2, Jarod Duzenbery 2 Manchester – McAtee 16, Zach Hill 6, Austin Brewer 6, Ness 5, Kane Gable 2, Levi Hicks 2, Keelan Norwood 2.
