SYRACUSE - The seven-win Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team proved to be a tough out in first-round action of Class 3A Sectional 21 at Wawasee High School.
Against the hosting and defending sectional champion Wawasee Warriors (16-5) Wednesday, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (7-14) trailed by just one point in the fourth quarter, but ultimately lost 72-63."We're a lot better than we were earlier in the year," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "In the last three games, we've played really well. We've played well enough to win, we just aren't able to finish the game."
With the win, Wawasee moves on to face Lakeland in Friday's second semifinal. Lakeland advanced to the next round by defeating West Noble 57-48 in Wednesday's first game.
"They looked really good against West Noble," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said about Lakeland, which his team defeated 54-52 in LaGrange on Jan. 29. "They do a lot of nice things. They penetrate and keep there composure so they can make good passes off the penetration. We need to make sure we recognize that and not let people get behind us."
Against Tippecanoe Valley, which Wawasee had just defeated 74-70 Saturday in Akron, the Warriors' defense struggled, evidenced by the Vikings' 57-percent shooting.
Facing the Warriors' full-court press, the Vikings routinely broke it and got easy buckets for junior Bret Cooper and freshman Tanner Andrews, who finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
In the half-court set, sophomore Nick Kindig hurt the Warriors with his three-point shooting, hitting 4 of 7 and 10 of 15 total field goals to finish with a game-high 24 points.
"My hat's off to them," Mishler said. "They put two really solid, solid games together and gave us all we could handle."
Valley did find ways to break the Warriors' trap, but there were also times when the press got the best of them, including a span when the Vikings committed three-straight turnovers.
Leading 20-18 midway through the second quarter, junior Bauer Schmeltz increased the Wawasee lead to 23-18 with a three-pointer, which was followed by the Warriors scoring six more points on layups off turnovers.
Once the dust had settled, Wawasee scored 11-straight points in a minute-and-half, increasing its lead to 31-18.
"We just got totally out of sync and turned the ball over," Patrick said. "We had nobody that took charge and slowed things down. That stretch really hurt us. That was a big, big stretch."
Despite getting out to the big lead, Wawasee did allow Valley to creep back into the game, even claiming the lead at 43-40 on a Kindig three-pointer in the third quarter.
"All night was kind of a surge, then we'd let them back, then we'd surge and let them back," Mishler said. "The disappointment was, we know we're going to miss some shots and the other team is going to have a surge here and there, but to have an empty possession with the turnovers really hurt us."
Wawasee built its lead back up to 54-47, but another Valley run got the Vikings within 54-53 with 6:28 remaining in the game.
However, Wawasee used a 7-0 run, which included three lay-ups and an and-one, to get some more breathing room at 61-53 with 5:16 remaining.
"We were recognizing what they were giving us," Mishler said. "That's what's nice about an experienced ball club. Each player knows his role and when that opportunity arises, which is some open penetration looks, they took advantage of it."
The most experienced player on the court was Wawasee senior Riley Stichter, who finished the game with 17 points, 14 rebounds, two blocked shots, two assists and a steal.
"At the half, we really challenged Riley," Mishler said. "He came out and thought, 'It's time. I'm a senior.' He got it done for us."
Wawasee senior Logan Hatfield also scored 15 points, 14 of which came in the first quarter when he made four three-pointers, while junior Jake Clark had 10, but it was Stichter that Patrick noticed the most.
"Andrews did a nice job on him, but he's just too good," Patrick said about Stichter. "He does things so well with either hand. He's as good as anyone we've played against inside. I don't know anyone we've played that's better than him."
Battling Stichter with his 6-foot-3 frame, Andrews had nine rebounds and two steals to go with his 14 points in the loss, showing the potential to make Mishler nervous for future meetings.
"Andrews played a heck of a game, defensively," Mishler said. "He's going to be a very nice player. He maintains his cool, he's strong, physical and gave Riley all he could handle in there. That's going to be a tough matchup for years to come."
While the experienced Warriors move on the sectional, Patrick's team, which started two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior, will be looking to the future.
"We're going to be better next year," Patrick said.
