AKRON – Bill Patrick is no stranger to the game of basketball – he’s entering his 44th season as a varsity coach, and his resumé includes 693 wins. The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame member knows games are won on the court, not on paper. That being said, though, his Tippecanoe Valley Vikings look pretty good on paper, returning four starters and nearly all of last season’s 16-5 team that won a share of the Three Rivers Conference championship. Patrick, however, isn’t taking anything for granted. “Everybody has to stay healthy, we can’t afford any injuries,” said Patrick. “And I hope the kids don’t get the idea that we can just show up at the gym and it’ll be easy. You don’t win games that way.” Last season’s 16 wins came after the Vikings went through a three-year struggle in which they were 4-17, 8-13 and 7-14. They are the only losing seasons in Patrick’s near half-century on the sidelines. And with what Valley has returning, it’s not likely the Vikings will be the underdog in many games this season. “We’re gonna have more depth than we had last year,” said Patrick, whose team opens the season Wednesday at county rival Warsaw. “We’ve got four kids back that started for us last year, and we’ve got some younger kids that made some improvements over the summer. We could be pretty good, but the kids have to show up every day and want to work. I like what I’ve seen so far. We’ve got a good group of kids.” Headlining the list of returning players are 5-foot-11 senior guard Nick Kindig and 6-3 junior forward Tanner Andrews. Kindig led the Vikings with 20 points per game. He also led the team in assists and was second in steals. Kindig shot 50 percent from the field overall, 42 percent from the arc, and made 84 percent of his free throw attempts last season. Andrews was second in scoring with nearly 15 points per game and led the team in rebounds with nearly nine boards per contest. Andrews also led the team with a total 48 blocked shots and 39 steals last season. “With Kindig and Andrews, we have our two leading scorers back,” said Patrick. “We should be able to score points, and we’re a pretty good free throw shooting team. Nick is one of the best shooters in the state, and Tanner has good quickness and jumps well. We’re gonna rely on those two to do a lot of the scoring, but we’ve also got other players who can score.” Other returning starters include 6-0 junior point guard Robbie Groom (4 ppg) and 5-10 senior forward Jacob Ritchey (5 ppg). Jeff Tillman was the only starter to graduate from last year’s team. Tillman started all 21 games and averaged seven points per contest. Also on Valley’s varsity roster are juniors Logan Britton, Derrick Cunningham, Ben Shriver and Chandler O’Connor, and sophomores Alex Thacker, Jarred Littlejohn, Chainey Zolman and Aaron Hoffman. Following Wednesday’s season opener at Warsaw, the Vikings play three-straight home games, as they welcome Argos (Nov. 27), Knox (Nov. 30) and Lakeland Christian (Dec. 4). After games at John Glenn (Dec. 8) and Peru (Dec. 11), Valley will open TRC play Dec. 14 by hosting Whitko. If the Vikings were to be undefeated going into the conference opener with Whitko, Valley could make Patrick just the fifth boys coach in state history with 700 career wins. Patrick currently has the fourth-most wins in state history, trailing Jack Butcher (806), Howard Sharpe (723), Bill Stearman (714) and Pat Rady (714). Rady is the only one ahead of Patrick that is still coaching. Entering his 44th season, Patrick has been the varsity head coach in 967 games. His teams have won 71 percent of those games.
