Vikings Not Themselves In Loss To EaglesAKRON – Uncharacteristic.
That’s a fair way describe the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team’s 63-27 home loss Friday to Columbia City.
“As one of the fans said, we were in the twilight zone tonight,” said Valley coach Chad Patrick.
Tippecanoe Valley turned over the ball 17 times, including eight in the first half.
The Vikings also had just 13 shot attempts in the first half, while the Eagles were 13 of 25 from the floor in the first two quarters.
The result was a 12-6 Columbia City lead that morphed into a 34-19 advantage by the break, aided in large part by Bryce Taylor’s 12 points on four three-pointers.
“It’s easy to shoot when you get that inside-out (look) in that extra pass and you’re just standing wide open,” Patrick said. “And boy, they just picked us apart.”
As stalwart as the Eagles’ defense was in the first half, they ramped it up in the second.
Valley made just one field goal in the entire second half, on Parker Dalrymple’s bucket in the third quarter.
“Defensively we were really, really good tonight,” said Columbia City coach Brett Eberly. “They have some weapons. (Trippiedi) and (Dalrymple) are really good players for them, and we handled their offensive action with a lot of poise.”
Meanwhile, Columbia City piled on the points, including two more treys by Taylor, to take a 48-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles didn’t let up in the fourth, and finished the game on a 15-3 run.
Valley shot just under 26 percent from the floor.
“The lack of effort was bad tonight,” Patrick said. “We haven’t done that all year. We’ve shot questionable shots at times, but our effort has kept us in games.
“When you shoot like that and you don’t have effort, that’s a bad night.”
Taylor led all scorers with 18 points, while Tanner Trippiedi led Valley with 13 points.
The Vikings will host Northfield in a Three Rivers Conference game Friday.
“There’s not much to say after that game,” Patrick said. “Let’s just move on from that and in four days it’s a new year, and we’ll start over.”
COLUMBIA CITY 63,
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 27
CC 12 22 14 15 – 63
TV 6 13 5 3 – 27
Columbia City – TJ Bedwell 4-8 3-4 12, Cam Scott 1-1 0-0 3, Nick Hull 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell Wilson 4-7 3-3 11, Max Bedwell 0-4 0-0 0, Bryce Taylor 6-7 0-0 18, Michael Sievers 5-7 2-4 12, Gregory Bolt 1-1 0-0 2, Dillon Shiess 1-3 1-2 3, Totals 23-39 9-13 63.
Three-pointers – Columbia City 8 (Taylor 6, T. Bedwell 1, Scott 1), Valley 3 (Parker 1, Dalrymple 1, Trippiedi 1); Rebounding – Columbia City 25 (Sievers 6), Valley 15 (Melanson 3); Turnovers – Columbia City 12, Valley 17; Fouls – Columbia City 8, Valley 12; Fouled out – none; Records: Columbia City 4-6, Tippecanoe Valley 5-5.
JV – Tippecanoe Valley 41, Columbia City 39
Valley – Rex Kirchenstein 14, Ross O’Connor 14, Alex Craft 6, Braden Shepherd 4, DJ Estep 3.
