AKRON – Much like the weather, Tippecanoe Valley’s offense was downright cold Tuesday night. In a high school boys basketball game against the visiting Culver Military Academy Eagles, Valley struggled shooting the ball, making just 16 of 46 attempts, and fell 57-42. It was the first loss of the season for the Vikings, who opened the season with a thrilling two-point win over county rival Warsaw, followed by a 30-point win at Argos and an 11-point win at Knox. Both Valley and CMA are now 3-1 on the season. “We’ve struggled shooting in the last two games,” said Valley coach Bill Patrick, whose team led 2-0 Tuesday night but quickly found itself in a hole. “We’ve been pressing for some reason. I think of a lot of it is mental, and that may mean the kids just need to put some more time in. “It may be a case where the kids didn’t put in as much time in the summer as they should have,” added Patrick. “That’s a part of the game you have to be skilled at. You can’t just come out, pick up a ball, and shoot well.” The Eagles, who have won just six of their last 50 games, led 13-10 after one quarter of play, 25-14 at halftime and 41-28 at the end of the third quarter. While the Vikings struggled to put the ball in the basket, CMA was considerably more efficient, making 22 of 36 attempts overall and 7 of 13 from the arc. “The biggest key for us was getting off to a great start, and I thought we did that,” said fourth-year CMA coach Mark Galloway, who was previously the head coach at Carmel High School. “We took their fans out of it a little bit and we adjusted to the officiating. That’s what you have to do on the road.” Valley trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter before going on a 7-0 run and trimming the deficit to 39-26. CMA led by at least 14 points during the enitre fourth quarter. Senior Devonte Campbell led the Eagles with a game-high 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while senior Nick Zalduendo and junior Elijah Miller added 15 and 10 points, respectively. The Vikings got 13 points out of senior Tanner Andrews, while classmates Ben Shriver and Robby Groom chipped in with 10 and seven points, respectively. Logan Britton, also a senior, chipped in with six points and juniors Chainey Zolman and Jarred Littlejohn finished with four and two points, respectively. Not only did he watch his team struggle offensively, Patrick got a couple scares in the second half when Andrews and Groom went to the floor with injuries. Groom appeared to have landed awkwardly and rolled his ankle after running down a CMA player and going up for a block. Groom, after lying on the court in obvious pain, went to the locker room area and later returned. Andrews, already wearing a shoulder brace, hit the floor and landed on his kneecap. He was helped off the court by a pair of teammates. Both Groom and Andrews were walking around after the game. Both are important to Valley’s team as the Vikings move forward, starting with Saturday’s home game with Glenn. “Glenn is a better team than Culver (Academy),” said Patrick. “Glenn has a better defense. If Culver has a weakness, it’s defensively, and we didn’t take advantage of that.”
CULVER MILITARY ACADEMY 57, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 42 CMA 13 12 16 16 – 57 TV 10 4 14 14 – 42 CMA – Justin Batiz 0 0-0 0, Devonte Campbell 9 2-2 22, Elijah Miller 5 0-0 10, Sam Concannon 0 0-0 0, Eljay Murray 1 0-0 3, James Van Pelt 0 0-0 0, Nick Zalduendo 4 3-3 15, Rayford Dexter El 0 0-0 0, Lorenzo Ricks 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 5-5 57. Valley – Robby Groom 2 2-2 7, Gavin Bussard 0 0-0 0, Jarred Littlejohn 1 0-0 2, Logan Britton 2 2-4 6, Ben Shriver 3 4-4 10, Tanner Andrews 6 1-1 13, Neil Clampitt 0 0-0 0, Chainey Zolman 2 0-0 4. Totals 16 9-12 42. Three-pointers – CMA 7 (Zalduendo 4, Campbell 2, Murray), Valley 1 (Groom); Turnovers – CMA 14, Valley 9; Fouls – CMA 14, Valley 9; Fouled out – none Records: CMA 3-1, Valley 3-1 JV – CMA 46, Valley 35 Valley – Neil Clampitt 11, Alec Craig 7, Trevor Neeley 5, Gavin Bussard 5, Brandon Webster 4, Ivan Santiago 3
