LIGONIER – Tippecanoe Valley fell just short Monday.
The Lady Vikings’ girls basketball team lost 41-39 to host West Noble in Monday’s Class 3A Sectional 21 championship game.
“We can be disappointed in some of the calls we got, but still there were opportunities we had to win the basketball game,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig.
The game wasn’t decided until the final seconds.
Valley and West Noble traded leads three times in the fourth quarter before Madison Schermerhorn made the back end of two free throws to tie the score at 39 with 1:37 remaining.
A Valley turnover gave West Noble a chance to score, but a missed three-pointer was rebounded by Valley’s Hayley Backus.
Valley called timeout with 26.7 seconds remaining, but the Lady Vikings were called for a carry around half-court.
“Do you make that call in that situation?” Kindig said. “I don’t think so.”
A missed layup by West Noble turned into a loose ball. The Lady Vikings briefly had possession before Schermerhorn snatched the ball and put up a shot that fell through the net.
She was fouled on the play, but missed the ensuing free throw.
Valley rebounded the ball, but got caught in a West Noble trap and was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
“This has been a very, very emotional week for our team, and it couldn’t have ended in a better way for us tonight,” said West Noble coach Dale Marano.
West Noble jumped out to a 10-0 lead early before Valley battled back with an 11-point run that carried into the second quarter.
The Lady Chargers regained the lead, and carried four-point advantages at the end of the second and third quarters.
Sophie Bussard led the Lady Vikings (16-7) with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Sidney Wagner also scored 15 points.
Kindig said he’s disappointed that he won’t be able to see Bussard go further in the tournament.
“(Bussard) worked so hard to get here,” he said. “She really brought this team along. They kind of followed her. As she played, they played well, and really helped their confidence a lot.”
Megan Godfrey and Tara Miller each had nine points for West Noble (18-5).
West Noble will play in Saturday’s Columbia City Regional.
Kindig is excited about the players he has returning.
“How much they’ve improved over the last year or two, it’s just been tremendous,” he said. “If we can continue that trend, we’ll have something next year.”
West Noble – Lauren Burns 2-4 3-3 7, Megan Godfrey 3-9 2-2 9, Tori Miller 3-5 1-1 9, Tara Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Madison Schermerhorn 3-7 1-3 7, Lilly Mast 1-4 0-0 3, Nichelle Phares 0-0 0-0 0, Angela Gross 2-7 0-0 5, Totals 14-39 7-9 41.
Three-pointers – West Noble 6 (To. Miller 2, Gross 1, Mast 1, Burns 1, Godfrey 1); Rebounding – Valley 24, West Noble 20; Turnovers – Valley 13, West Noble 8; Fouls – Valley 13, West Noble 15; Fouled out – none; Records: Valley 16-7, West Noble 18-5.
