Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MENTONE - One claim Tippecanoe Valley's 10-4 boys basketball team could make was that out of the 14 games, the Vikings did not give away a game by coughing up a lead in the fourth quarter.
All four losses - to Manchester, Peru, Plymouth and Warsaw - were by double-digits.
But after Tuesday, they can no longer make that claim. Southwood, which owned one lead in the first 27 minutes, owned six leads in the final five minutes. The Knights held the one that counted most, the one at the final buzzer, the 70-65 win.
Valley led 18-17 after one quarter, 39-36 after two quarters and 52-48 after three quarters. The Knights outscored Valley 22-13 in the fourth quarter to win by five.
Southwood improved to 11-2 overall and 2-2 in the Three Rivers Conference. Valley dropped to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in the TRC.
Before Tuesday, the Vikings were undefeated in their new white uniforms, sporting a 5-0 home record.
Southwood coach Steve McClure all but apologized for winning the game and breaking the streak.
"I'll say this right away," he said. "I don't feel like we deserved to come out of here with a win. Valley outplayed us and outhustled us."
The coach at the other locker room at the opposite end of the gym agreed.
"We should have won," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "No question about that."
The question is why. Why didn't Valley win?
"A couple of times we didn't make good passes, and we missed key free throws," Patrick said. "Three times in the fourth quarter we just turned the ball over. We didn't stop them on defense. We gave up a three on the side. We missed some easy shots we should have made."
The Vikings hit 7 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, but this was not good enough for two reasons.
One, two of the misses came at key times late in the game. With Valley holding a 60-59 lead at the 3:13 mark, junior center Craig Kuhn hit 1 of 2 free throws. With Southwood up 63-61 with 2:33 left, junior guard Brandon Eaton hit 1 of 2 free throws.
Two, any misses were too many misses, as Southwood was automatic from the line. The Knights hit 8 of 8 in the fourth quarter and 16 of 16 for the game.
These missed free throws were not the only reason Valley lost. Turnovers, Patrick said, hurt.
Southwood turned the ball over five times in the second half; Valley turned the ball over five times in the fourth quarter.
Southwood took its 63-61 lead with 2:37 left on a turnover. Forward Tom Wright stole the ball near halfcourt but missed the layup. No matter, because 5-foot-7 sophomore backup guard Brandon Ehret grabbed the offensive rebound and scored.
Southwood held a 68-65 lead with 1:03 left. Instead of cutting into the lead, Valley turned the ball over Sophomore forward Cody New tried to pass the ball inside, but senior forward Paul Wright picked it off.
The Knights didn't score after this steal, but they got the next best thing, time off the clock.
These missed free throws and turnovers were not the only reasons Valley lost. Valley's defense, as Patrick said, also did not get the job done.
Through three quarters, Ehret scored two points. He scored seven in the fourth. He hit three field goals. All three gave Southwood leads.
His first basket in the fourth pushed Southwood ahead 55-54, its first lead since 10-9 in the opening quarter. His second basket was the one that put Southwood up 63-61 with 2:37 left. His third negated a three-point play by Valley. With 2:16 left, Valley senior forward Eric Prater scored inside, drew a foul and hit a free throw to put Valley ahead 65-63.
With 1:56 left, Ehret took advantage of Valley's 2-3 zone by getting open and swishing a three-pointer, the one that Patrick talked about. The Knights led 66-65. They never trailed again.
Valley's offense didn't help matters, either, in the second half.
Valley hit 15 of 27 field goals in the first half en route to a 39-36 halftime lead. Senior guard Jarvis Shepherd and Eaton spent the first half driving to the basket at will as the Vikings made nine layups.
Valley made just six field goals in the second half, going 6 for 20 and making but four layups. Eaton and Shepherd combined for eight field goals in the first half. They had three total field goals in the second half.
After the game, Manchester College men's basketball coach Jamie Matthews stood outside Southwood's locker room door. Cracked McClure, "I knew you were in the stands because we weren't playing any defense again."
That is, until the second half.
"We got to the ball side and got in the passing lanes the second half," McClure said. "In the first half, we just trailed after them as they ran their offense. Let me tell you, they can dice you up.
"We played reactive defense the first half. We played proactive defense the second half."
Said Patrick: "Southwood did a better job defensively in the second half. We didn't move the ball as well as we did in the first half. Our passing wasn't as good. They took away the drive, and we needed to make adjustments."
Then there was the matter of Paul Wright. Wright, who was averaging 21.3 points per game, scored at least six in every quarter and finished with 26 on 10-of-17 shooting.
"Wright hurt us a couple of times," Patrick said.
Eaton led Valley with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Shepherd added 16 points and six rebounds. Prater chipped in 12 points.
The missed free throws, the turnovers and the missed layups ... these were the reasons McClure felt like Valley gave his team the win.
"As far as wins, this is not one that makes you tingle," he said.
Tuesday was Groundhog Day. For Patrick, this was the first time in 15 games this season he saw his Vikings disappear into a hole. Asked if this was the toughest loss to take this season, he said: "Probably.
"It's kind of hard to explain. We had control the whole game. We let it slip away. It's one that got away. In a game like this, you have to take care of the ball better than we did."
SOUTHWOOD 70
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 65
Southwood (11-2) 17 19 12 22 - 70
T. Valley (10-5) 18 21 13 13 - 65
T. Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Eaton (G) 8-15 1-2 1 1 9 20
Shepherd (G) 3-9 10-11 2 1 6 16
Prater (F) 4-9 4-6 3 1 2 12
Cumberland (F) 3-5 3-3 2 0 4 9
Kuhn (C) 2-4 1-2 0 1 2 5
New 1-4 0-0 0 1 2 3
Silveus 0-0 0-0 0 2 1 0
Weber 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Snyder 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Domenico 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Totals 21-47 19-24 9 8 27 65
Southwood FG FT A S R Pts.
P. Wright (F) 10-17 4-4 1 4 3 26
T. Wright (F) 2-5 4-4 1 2 1 10
Perigo (G) 3-6 2-2 3 0 2 8
Dawson (C) 3-4 2-2 0 2 5 8
D.J. Marshall (G) 0-4 0-0 2 1 1 0
Ehret 4-7 0-0 0 0 1 9
C. Marshall 1-7 2-2 2 3 1 5
Zellers 1-1 2-2 1 0 8 4
Kauffman 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Totals 24-51 16-16 11 12 22 70
Three-point goals -ÊSouthwood 6-13 (P. Wright 2-4, T. Wright 2-3, C. Marshall 1-3, Ehret 1-2, D.J. Marshall 0-1), Tippecanoe Valley 4-11 (Eaton 3-6, New 1-2, Shepherd 0-3). Turnovers - Southwood 14, Tippecanoe Valley 17. Fouled out -ÊNone. Total fouls - Southwood 22, Tippecanoe Valley 18.
Officials - Eric Coburn, Butch Lehman.
JV: SOUTHWOOD 51, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 35
Southwood (8-5) scoring - Brian Bassett 16, Aaron Eckman 15, Jeremy Jones 7, Derrick Flora 7, Matt Horine 4, Brady Eltzroth 2.
Tippecanoe Valley (5-10) scoring - Chris Standeford 7, Drew Shafer 6, Brandon Harmon 6, B.J. Cunningham 5, Anthony Domenico 5, Andy Martin 4, Andrew Kramer 2.
