Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON - This isn't a "We're just happy to be here" situation.
Not here at Tippecanoe Valley.
While the Vikings have won just one regional in the school's 31-year history, and are in the same 3A Blackford Regional with a Wawasee team that defeated them in the regular-season finale, true happiness lies in a trip to Conseco Fieldhouse on the second-to-last weekend of March.
"I told them to set the goal of making it to state," said Valley head coach Bill Patrick. "But they also know that they need to not look ahead and worry about Jay County."
The pieces are there for Valley to potentially reach the 3A state finals in Indianapolis March 23.
But first the Vikings must take on Jay County (17-6) in Saturday's first game of the Blackford Regional. Wawasee (19-4) takes on Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran (16-6) in the days second game while the winners meet for a semistate bid at 8 p.m.
Seniors David Lash and Shane Drudge, the 2006 Times-Union All-Area Players of the Year, provide a nice inside-out duo for the Vikings against the Patriots.
Drudge averaged 14.6 points per game during the regular season and scored a game-high 22 points as he led Valley to a 49-46 win over Peru in No. 22 sectional semifinal played at Valley.
Lash averaged 14.5 points per game during the regular season while also pulling down 8.3 rebounds.
"The Drudge kid can go inside and outside and we don't have anyone that can match up against him," said Jay County coach Craig Teagle. "The Lash kid is about as good of a kid we've seen all season. The two kids can cause a lot of problems."
"If any of us get a matchup advantage on them the rest of us will try and get them the ball," said Lash. "They may be double-teaming me and Shane, but I'm sure the other guys will step up and make shots.
One of the guys who's been making shots for Valley for most of the year is sophomore Chad Hoffer.
Hoffer comes off the bench as the Vikings, sixth man but scored 10.1 points per game during the regular season, good for third on the team, and also proved to be an integral part of Valley's 1-2-2half court trap.
There have been rumblings that maybe Hoffer should be moved into the starting lineup, but both Patrick and Hoffer agree his role, at least for this year, is as the sixth man.
"I haven't done well with starting in the past," said Hoffer. "Coming off the bench helps give my team a boost so I take that role to heart."
Hoffer has played with a face mask since January 13 after breaking his nose in a Tippecanoe Valley 63-60 win over Three Rivers Conference rival Rochester that essentially clinched the seventh conference title for the Vikings.
Also expected to contribute for Valley is senior Bryce Kelley.
Kelley has come up with some big three-pointers for his team at times and he is ready for that same role Saturday.
"I try to hit as many big shots as I can and lift the team up," said Kelley who also leads the team with 5.5 assists per game.
Jay County is led in scoring by 6-foot-3 Tyler Rigby. Rigby averages 12.1 points per game for a team that has five kids who average between seven and 12 points per game.
Forward Corey Comer averages 9.13 points per game while Randy Evans is a shooting guard for the Patriots who averages 8.7 points per game.
Jay County averages nearly 60 points a game and is quite a fan of the three-point shot as the Patriots shoot 18 threes a game.
"For the past six games we haven't shot the ball as well as we could," said Teagle of his team's recent play. "Defensively we didn't play as good as we'd like either."
In terms of common opponents both teams played Norwell with Valley topping the Knights 32-31 in the sectional final while Jay County fell to Norwell 50-41 in the regular-season finale.
Teagle is 101-81 in his eighth year at Jay County and 177-34 overall.
The Patriots have won 15 sectional crowns since 1976 including three of the last four at Blackford.
Jay County is to Blackford in terms of distance as Valley is to Warsaw.
And while Patrick believes his team won't suffer for not having played on the court at Blackford, being thrown out of a routine is a whole other animal.
The Vikings will leave early Friday afternoon for the two-hour drive to Hartford City with school getting out early for a teacher's in-service. The team will then practice for an hour and a half before retiring to a nearby motel. And then head out in the morning.
Road trips are a rarity in high school basketball but this won't be treated like a vacation.
"We'd much rather they be in their own beds," said Patrick. "But we told them we're going to concentrate on the basketball game and worry about having fun later. I told them I might even take their cell phones away from them so they're not on the phone all night."
The Valley faithful should hope early lights out Friday means some lights-out shooting Saturday morning.
Tipoff for the Valley-Jay County game is set for 10 a.m.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
(19-4, 7-0 Three Rivers Conference)
Warsaw 54, T. Valley 44
T. Valley 64, Wabash 59
T. Valley 67, Knox 46
Plymouth 53, T. Valley 36
T. Valley 66, John Glenn 49
T. Valley 63, Peru 54
T. Valley 77, Whitko 44
T. Valley 63, Knox 48
Rochester 62, T. Valley 56
T. Valley 79, Argos 42
T. Valley 65, Northfield 44
T. Valley 63, Rochester 60
T. Valley 69, Southwood 43
T. Valley 67, Manchester 45
T. Valley 63, West Central 42
T. Valley 57, Oak Hill 49
T. Valley 63, North Miami 53
T. Valley 81, Bremen 51
T. Valley 61, Triton 47
Wawasee 63, T. Valley 50
T. Valley 67, FW Elmhurst 53 (sectional)
T. Valley 49, Peru 46 (sectional)
T. Valley 32, Norwell 31 (sectional)
(Individual statitistics, per-game averages)
Scoring - Shane Drudge 14.6, David Lash 14.5, Chad Hoffer 10.1, Bryce Kelley 8.6, Kevin Kindig 6.0
Rebounding - Lash 8.3, Drudge 4.6, Kelley 3.1, Kindig 2.9, Jerrod Parker 2.2
Assists - Kelley 5.5, Lash 3.5, Kindig 3.3, Hoffer 1.4, Parker 1.4
Steals - Hoffer 1.7, Kelley 1.4, Kindig 1.3, Drudge 1.1, Lash 1.0
JAY COUNTY PATRIOTS
(17-6, 1-2 Olympic Conference)
Jay County 68, Elwood 41
Jay County 61, Blackford 27
Jay County 51, South Adams 33
Muncie Central 72, Jay County 48
Jay County 54, Centerville 39
Jay County 46, Mississinewa 45
Jay County 71, Muncie South 62
Connersville 68, Jay County 49
Jay County 57, Northeastern 28
Jay County 57, Winchester 38
Anderson Highland 47, Jay County 45
Jay County 72, Blackford 42
Jay County 53, Eastbrook 45
Fort Recovery (OH) 56, Jay County 55
Delta 46, Jay County 44
Jay County 53, Tipton 35
Jay County 62, Union City 45
Norwell 50, Jay County 41
Jay County 70, Union County 24
Jay County 66, Elwood 31 (sectional)
Jay County 52, Tipton 50 OT (sectional)
Jay County 54, Mississinewa 49 (sectional)
(Individual statistics, per-game averages)
Scoring - Tyler Rigby 12.1, Corey Comer 9.1, Randy Evans 8.7, Scott Bruggeman 7.9, Zac Green 7.2
Rebounding - Comer 5.2, John Retter 4.8, Clint Muhlenkamp 4.0, Bruggeman 3.8, Green 3.3
Assists - Bruggeman 5.0, Rigby 2.0, Green 1.2, Luke Goetz 1.2, Comer 1.1
Steals - Bruggeman 2.6, Green 1.4, Rigby 1.1, Evans 1.1, Comer 1.0
