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BREMEN -ÊGoing into Friday night's basketball game, the No. 6 (2A) Bremen Lions and Tippecanoe Valley were both on winning streaks. The Lions had won their last six games, while Valley had won eight games in a row.
But of course nothing lasts forever. Valley stopped Bremen's streak at six with a 69-53 victory in the Lion's Den. The Vikings also handed the Lions their first home loss. Bremen is 5-1 on its home floor this season.
Although the Vikings finished the game with a 16-point advantage, things did not look bright for them early in the game.
When Brandon and Trey Eaton combined for the first six Valley points, the Vikings jumped out to a 6-4 lead. Then Bremen held the Vikings scoreless for the last 5:14 of the quarter to build a 15-6 advantage.
"We were pretty passive to start out with," said Valley coach Bill Patrick.
However, Valley was not down for long.
Drew Shafer hit a three-pointer with 7:42 on the second-quarter clock to start a 14-0 Valley run. With just over four minutes left in the half, the Vikings held a 20-15 advantage.
Valley increased its lead to 26-18 at the 2:01 mark, but Bremen scored six straight points to cut the Viking lead to two at the halfway point, 26-24.
"I thought we played well in the second quarter," said Patrick. "Drew Shafer came in and hit a couple of threes, and that took some of the pressure off Brandon (Eaton). (Justin) Ross came off the bench and helped put the pressure on their big kid inside."
Trey Eaton hit the first basket of the second half to put Valley up 28-24, but the Vikings and Lions traded baskets for most of the third frame. At the end of the third stanza, Valley held a 41-36 lead.
The deciding factor in the game, however, was a strong Viking fourth quarter. Valley hit 7 of 8 shots from the field and was 14 of 14 from the charity stripe for 28 points. Brandon Eaton and Noah Silveus combined for 12 of those 14 free throws to put the game away for the Vikings.
"Silveus played his best four or five minutes of basketball all year," said Patrick. "Earlier this week, Silveus and a few other guys had to run line drills because they were not hitting their free throws, I guess it paid off."
Brandon Eaton finished the game with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Cody New also finished in double figures for Valley with 12 points.
"The difference in this ball game was defense," said Patrick. "Bremen was getting some good inside shots early. Then we put a full man-to-man on and forced them to shoot from the outside."
"This game was a big win for us. We showed we can beat a quality team. Bremen is a quality team, and they are definitely one of the best teams we have played all year."
Valley improves to 13-3 on the season, while Bremen falls to 14-4. The Vikings host the 10-6 Triton Trojans in Akron tonight.
