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CONVERSE - Big players play big in big games when the game is on the line.
Thursday's Tippecanoe Valley/Oak Hill boys basketball game was big, with the Three Rivers Conference championship on the line, and Cody New and Brandon Eaton played big when Valley needed them.
New, a junior, scored a game-high 29 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, while Eaton, a senior, added 25 points, including an 8-of-9 performance at the charity stripe, to lead the Vikings past Oak Hill 86-74.
Valley's 11th consecutive win improves its overall season record to 15-3, but more importantly 7-0 in the TRC, giving them the outright championship. Oak Hill falls to 13-5 and 5-2.
"It's been a long time coming," said Eaton of winning the TRC title. "Noah (Silveus) and I, and the rest of the seniors, talked at the beginning of the season, and the TRC was a big deal to us. At 6-0 coming in we knew we had a chance, but we weren't too happy with the whole sharing thing."
The Vikings last won a conference crown in the 1989-90 season, when they shared it with Whitko.
The two teams traded baskets in the opening quarter, with the biggest lead going to Oak Hill, 17-13 at one point. After one quarter of play Oak Hill led 21-20
New scored Valley's first eight points of the game, making his first four field goal attempts.
"Brandon and I feel like we can pick up for each other," said New. "Brandon kind of had a slow start, I know he would've picked up for me."
New's offensive output is a prep career high, though he's quick to mention he once scored 29 in an 8th-grade game.
Said Valley coach Bill Patrick: "Cody takes a lot of pressure off. People want to bang and bump with Brandon. Everyone's aware of what Brandon can do offensively, and that leaves Cody open. Cody can shoot and score. He got some great shots. If you leave him open he'll score. It's not an accident that he can score like that."
Oak Hill took a 40-36 lead into halftime, but Valley solidified its sole possession of the TRC title by outscoring the Eagles 30-13 in the third quarter.
Eaton connected on a three-pointer to start the third quater, cutting the deficit to one. A trey by New with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter knotted the game at 44. Through the remainder of the third quarter Valley went on a 22-9 run, giving it a 66-53 lead with one quarter to play.
The Vikings were 11 of 13 from the field in the third quarter, including a 6-of-7 performance from three-point land. New and Eaton combined for 23 third-quarter points.
In all, Valley outscored the Eagles 50-34 in the second half on 16-of-19 shooting.
"We scored 50 points in the second half, and we didn't take that many shots," said Patrick. "We picked it up defensively in the second half."
Junior Ty Henderson led Oak Hill with 18 points, while senior Logan Shively scored 13 points off the bench.
After the 54-point combination from New and Eaton, Valley got 11 points from senior Dax Snyder, six points each from freshman Trey Eaton and senior Noah Silveus and five from senior Justin Ross.
"We've been playing well on the road," said Patrick "We're getting good play from our bench. Noah had a big second half. We have eight or nine kids that played real well."
The Vikings are now 9-1 on the road this season. Valley's three losses have come to Warsaw, Plymouth and Peru, team's that have been ranked in the top 10 at one point or another this season.
"We've worked very hard this season," said Brandon. "We lost three games to three good teams, two of them we could've won I guess. We're very pleased with the way the season has gone, and we're looking forward to the tournament."
Valley's current 11-game win streak is two short of the school record. In the 1989-90 season, the Vikings won 13 consecutive under Bob Dubois and finished with an 18-4 record.
Valley (15-3, 7-0) will host Glenn next Friday.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 86
OAK HILL 74
T. Valley (15-3) 20 16 30 20 - 86
Oak Hill (13-5) 21 19 13 21 - 74
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
Silveus (G) 1-3 4-6 0 3 6
Shafer 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Martin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Snyder (F) 4-6 2-3 5 3 11
Wagoner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
B. Eaton (F) 7-12 8-9 5 1 25
Domenico 0-0 1-2 1 0 1
New (F) 12-19 2-2 10 0 29
Ross 2-3 1-1 3 0 5
Kuhn (C) 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
T. Eaton 3-6 0-0 2 0 6
Harmon 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Yarian 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 30-51 18-23 30 7 86
Oak Hill FG FT R S Pts.
Mann (G) 1-2 2-2 2 1 5
Shively 6-9 0-2 2 0 13
Skinner 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Arrendale 2-8 4-6 3 0 8
Strange (F) 3-4 1-1 3 0 8
Henderson (G) 2-11 14-15 5 1 18
Planck (F) 3-13 0-0 5 0 8
Hall (C) 4-6 1-1 4 0 9
Owsley 1-1 2-2 0 0 5
Totals 22-54 23-29 26 4 74
Three-pointers - Valley 8 (B. Eaton 3, New 3, Shafer 1, Snyder 1), Oak Hill 6 (Planck 2, Mann 1, Shively 1, Strange 1, Owsley 1). Turnovers - Valley 12, Oak Hill 13. Fouls - Valley 20, Oak Hill 18. Fouled out - Ross, Kuhn.
JV: Oak Hill 53, Tippecanoe Valley 53
