AKRON – With his team trailing by eight points, Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball coach Bill Patrick delivered a simple halftime speech Tuesday night. The Hall of Famer told his players to “just play basketball.” The Vikings did that, as they overcame a low-scoring first half and outscored the Culver Community Cavaliers 41-25 after the break en route to a 54-46 non-conference win. Valley trailed their guests 12-8 after one quarter of play and 21-13 at halftime. The Vikings made their move in the third quarter, outscoring the Cavaliers 21-8 in the eight-minute frame. “We probably did too much talking during the week on shot selection, I think we had them where we wouldn’t shoot the ball in the first half,” said Patrick, whose team improved to 9-12 on the season with its third win in the last four games. “We passed up a lot of good shots in the first half. At halftime, we told them to just play basketball ... shoot the basketball, quit passing up good shots, and take the shots when you get them. “At halftime we just told them to play. We told them to take shots and get up and down the floor and play basketball.” After making just 6 of 19 attempts in the first half, Valley was 12 of 19 in the third and fourth quarters. Culver, which fell to 8-10 with its sixth straight loss and eighth in the last nine games, went from making 10 of 14 attempts in the first two quarters to making 9 of 22 in the second half. A basket by Valley senior Jarod Duzenbery tied the game at 25-all with 3:25 left in the third quarter, and then the Vikings took their first lead at 27-25 on a bucket by sophomore Wes Melanson. The Vikings led 40-31 at one point during the final frame, capping off a 27-10 run that helped Patrick secure the 764th win of his coaching career. “In the second half we played much better,” said Patrick. “We shot the ball a lot better. Our shot selection was better. Our defense was a little bit better. “It was two very different halves. We just couldn’t score in the halfcourt game, and we just weren’t taking shots in the first half. You can’t score if you don’t shoot. We relaxed a little bit in the second half, and I think that was probably the difference.” Senior Alec Craig scored a game-high 23 points in the win, while classmates Keith Wright and Duzenbery chipped in with 13 and six, respectively. The Cavaliers had a trio of seniors score in double figures. Josh Krsek led the way with 15 points, while Nate Carnegie and Cash Harris finished with 14 and 11, respectively. The Vikings are in action again Friday when they travel to Bourbon to face nonconference rival Triton. The Trojans are 14-5 after a 52-49 win over Rochester Tuesday.
