Fourth-quarter surge lifts Valley to 46-44 win over Wawasee
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
SYRACUSE – As cliché as it may sound when it comes to tournmament play, survive and advance is exactly what the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings did Wednesday night. For the first three quarters of its Class 3A Sectional 21 opener at Wawasee High School, Valley was outplayed and outhustled by the host Warriors. Simply put, the team that lost 16 games in the regular season had its way with the team that won 16 games. That is until the fourth quarter, when the Vikings righted the ship and went on a 17-2 run that led them to a 46-44 win. “We survived,” said Tippecanoe Valley coach Bill Patrick, whose team beat Wawasee by 12 points in Friday’s regular season finale in Syacuse. “That’s a tough way to win,” added the Hall of Fame coach. “That’s a tough loss for Wawasee. They controlled most of the game and they outplayed us. Our kids pulled it out in the fourth quarter, but give Wawasee credit, they outplayed us.” With the win, Valley improved to 17-3 and advanced to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 5 NorthWood. NorthWood (19-2) advanced by beating Lakeland 71-45 in Wednesday’s second game. West Noble (17-5), which beat Whitko Tuesday night, will play Fairfield (12-8) in Friday’s first semifinal game at 6 p.m. On paper, it looked like a sure bet Valley and NorthWood would win their respective games Wednesday. On the court, however, Wawasee played like the favored team for the majority of the game. After struggling through a regular season in which they went 4-16 overall and 0-7 in the Northern Lakes Conference under new coach Steve Wiktorowski, the Warriors put it all together for 26 of the 32 minutes. Wawasee led 13-10 after the first quarter, 26-17 at halftime and 36-28 at the end of the third quarter. A three-pointer by junior Gage Reinhard gave the Warriors a 39-28 advantage, its largest lead of the game, early in the fourth quarter. From that point on, however, things unraveled for Wawasee, and Valley outscored the hosts 18-5 the rest of the way. “I told them how proud I was of them,” a dejected and tearful Wiktorowski said when asked about the message to his players in the locker room. “I couldn’t be any more proud of them. “Valley pushed us around Friday, but the kids accepted the challenge tonight and I couldn’t be any more proud of them,” added Wiktorowski, whose team finshed the season with a 4-17 record. “We came out and played hard.” Valley tied the game at 41-all on a rebound and bucket from junior Jarred Littlejohn with 1:51 remaining. After Wawasee turned the ball over on its next possession, Valley senior Tanner Andrews was fouled. He made a pair of free throws with 38 seconds remaining, giving the Vikings a 43-41 advantage, Valley’s first lead since it was 4-3. “Littlejohn hit a big basket,” said Patrick. “That may have been the biggest basket of the game. He got the rebound and put it back in. That was a big basket.” Two more free throws by Andrews gave Valley a four-point cushion at 45-41 with just under seven seconds to play. Refusing to give up, Wawasee trimmed the deficit to one with a three-pointer from junior Alex Clark with a tick under four seconds to play. Andrews accounted for the final score when he hit 1 of 2 charity tosses with a second remaining. “I think we’re the better team, the more talented team, but Wawasee outplayed us tonight,” said Patrick. “We survived. We had to fight back to win.” With the narrow victory, Valley now has a chance to avenge a 58-43 loss it suffered at NorthWood on Jan. 3. Andrews led Valley with a game-high 21 points, while fellow senior Robby Groom chipped in with 11 and junior Chainey Zolman added seven points. Reinhard paced Wawasee with 20 points, while Clark chipped in with eight points and sophomore Jeffrey Moore added six.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 46, WAWASEE 44 (3A Sect. 21, 1st Rd) W 13 13 10 8 – 44 TV 10 7 11 18 – 46 Wawasee – Stori Bright 1-3 2-5 4, Alex Clark 3-14 0-0 8, Sam Clark 1-2 0-0 2, Gage Reinhard 8-11 0-1 20, Jeffrey Moore 2-9 0-0 6, Jake Hutchinson 0-0 0-0 0, Kody Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Myers 2-2 0-0 4, David Rocha 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41. T. Valley – Logan Britton 1-2 2-2 4, Chainey Zolman 2-6 1-2 7, Jarred Littlejohn 1-4 0-0 2, Tanner Andrews 7-13 7-10 21, Robby Groom 4-12 2-2 11, Ben Shriver 0-0 1-2 1, Gavin Bussard 0-0 0-0 0, Alec Craig 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-37 13-18 46. Three-pointers – Wawasee 8 (Reinhard 4, A. Clark 2, Moore 2), Valley 3 (Zolman 2, Groom); Rebounds – Wawasee 26 (Bright 10), Valley 25 (Britton 9); Turnovers – Wawasee 10, Valley 8; Fouls – Wawasee 13, Valley 13; Fouled out – Bright; Records: Wawasee 4-17, Valley 17-3
