AKRON - Valentine's Day is the day of love, but Tippecanoe Valley didn't show the love to Whitko Saturday.
With the Wildcats in town looking for a share of the Three Rivers Conference title, Valley proved a much harder out than Whitko may have realized. Whitko escaped with a 39-38 win that gave the Wildcats a share of the TRC championship for the first time since the 1993-94 season.Trailing by one point, Valley had a chance to win the game as time expired, but Devin Vogel threw up a shot that banged off the rim, giving the Wildcats the victory.
In a game that provided plenty of drama, accompanied with cheers and jeers from the crowd, there was a championship atmosphere in the Valley gymnasium.
"There is a reason coach Bill Patrick is a (Indiana Basketball) Hall of Fame coach," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said. "He knows how to get the best out of his players. It is always tough to come into Valley and play against him."
Coming down the stretch, Whitko sophomore Zac VanDeWater hit his eighth point of the fourth quarter with 2:14 left in the game, giving the Wildcats a 39-36 lead.
With 59.6 seconds remaining, Valley junior Taylor Burkhart hit a basket, bringing Valley to within 39-38.
Following a missed Whitko shot, Valley got the ball back with 41.4 seconds left, but couldn't capitalize with a game-winning shot.
"You can't ask for anymore than to have a chance to win the game at the end," Patrick said. "We did a pretty good job against a good team. Coach Irwin has done a great job with Whitko this year."
The Wildcats finished their TRC schedule with a 6-1 record, tying them with Rochester. North Miami is 5-1 in TRC action and hosts Northfield Saturday.
"It was a good win for our seniors," Irwin said. "They have never beat Coach Patrick and Tippecanoe Valley. I haven't won against Coach Patrick since I was at Carroll and that was in a summer league game."
At intermission, Whitko held a 24-19 lead following a Kaden Krull basket with time running out to complete a 5-0 run.
Valley, which used a 2-3 zone for the entire game, continually gave the Wildcat offense fits.
"We had to make some adjustments against Whitko and play the zone," Patrick said. "I prefer to play man-to-man defense, but we didn't have the size. You can't put a 6-foot-3 guy on a 6-8 guy."
The Vikings held Whitko scoreless in the third quarter until freshman Logan Irwin hit one of two free throws with 2:29 left in the quarter. The Wildcats finished with three points in the quarter.
'We struggled against the zone," Irwin said. "Anytime a team can take out one of the best three-point shooters in the league out of the game you have done something. We need to learn to adjust against the zone. I've got a feeling we may see some more zone played against us."
Logan Irwin was called for a foul with 1:44 left his third, resulting in him slamming the ball on the ground in frustration. The display of emotion resulted in him being called for a technical foul, giving him his fourth foul and a trip to the bench.
After some time on the bench, Irwin picked up his fifth foul early in the fourth, sending him to the bench for the rest of the game.
"Logan is still a freshman and tonight he played like one at times," the elder Irwin said. "I don't think he meant to do it maliciously, it was just the heat of the moment. Even still you can't do those kinds of things."
Irwin led all players with 14 points. He also pulled down seven rebounds.
"We have played well since January and we have been in a lot of games and just not been able to close out games," Patrick said. "We did a good job against Whitko tonight and were there, but just couldn't close it out."
Zach Owens led Valley with 11 points. Burkhart added 10 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Valley fell to 3-13 overall and 1-5 in the TRC.
Whitko is now 12-4 overall.
"Unfortunately Coach Patrick is going through what we went through when I got here," Irwin said. "Coach will have a good team next year. This is a good win for our seniors as they were freshmen when I got here four years ago. I am glad for them."
"The kids have done a great job all year," he added. "They always continue to battle and find ways to win the game. This team helped put Whiko back on the basketball map, which is what they wanted to do before the seniors left."
