AKRON – As Wednesday's season opener approaches, Hall of Fame coach Bill Patrick has a big concern in regards to his Tippecanoe Valley High School boys basketball team. Patrick's big concern is that his players aren't very big. The Vikings' 10-player varsity roster lists just three players that are taller than 6-foot, and only one of them – 6-4 sophomore Bryce Webster – is taller than 6-2. The Vikings will be shorter than just about every team they play, including season-opening opponent Warsaw, which features a 6-3 shooting guard and post players that are 6-4, 6-6 and 6-7. How will Valley be able to defend those players or rebound the basketball? “That's a good question,” said Patrick, who enters his 47th season with a record of 744-291, which includes a 17-year record of 266-111 at Valley. “We're going to have to do an outstanding job boxing out ... because of our size we'll have to box out farther away from the basket than most teams. There's going to be times we might have four guys on the court that are under 6-foot. “Another big question is how are we going to defend big post players inside. We've got to find a way to compensate for our lack of size.” Valley's varsity roster includes seniors Brandon Webster, Trevor Neeley, Gavin Bussard and Neil Clampitt; juniors Keith Wright, D.J. Heckaman, Alec Craig, Ivan Santiago and Jared Duzenberry; and sophomore Bryce Webster. Bussard and Clampitt are returning starters, while Craig, a talented three-sport athlete, played quite a bit on the varsity team last year. Patrick said he expects his starting lineup to include to include Brandon Webster, Neeley, Bussard, Clampitt and Craig. That combination would give Valley a starting lineup of players that are 5-8, 5-9, 5-11, 6-0 and 6-2. “We're not going to be very big,” said Patrick. “I hope that helps us on the other end. I hope we're going to be quicker than most teams. We're going to have to be.” Following Wednesday's season opener against Warsaw, the Vikings will play road games at Argos on Dec. 1 and Knox on Dec. 4 before hosting Culver Academy (Dec. 8), John Glenn (Dec. 12) and Peru (Dec. 15). Peru, along with Maconaquah, have joined the Three Rivers Conference, pushing the league to 10 teams. Valley was 14-9 overall last season and finished in a three-way tie for the top spot in the TRC with a 6-1 record. Patrick said he believes the conference will be balanced again, with as many as four or five teams competing for the title. “I there's four or five teams that will be pretty good,” said Patrick. “Maconaquah may be the favorite. They have a 6-10 kid that's going to Toledo (University), and they have a freshman guard that's pretty good. Manchester and Southwood are going to be good, and Wabash has some athletes. Peru has size as usual, and has a really good freshman group. Whitko will be a lot better than they've been. (Coach) Roger (Fleetwood) has done a nice job with those kids. It's going to be tough to win the conference.”
