The Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team’s fourth-quarter comeback effort fell short Thursday in a 54-43 home loss to Plymouth.
“The girls kept battling, but we’re not a finished product yet,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig. “We’re just trying to get better and better each day.”
The Lady Vikings (5-3) trailed 24-21 at halftime before Plymouth (7-1) extended its lead in the third quarter.
The Lady Pilgrims led by six when Sydni Weir threw up a three-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer to extend Plymouth’s lead to nine.
Plymouth led 46-35 when Valley began to mount its comeback. Sidney Wagner sank two free throws and a Sophie Bussard bucket cut the lead to seven.
Following a Plymouth timeout, Bussard hit two from the stripe to cut the lead to five.
However, Valley was called for a foul on the next possession, and Plymouth guard Claire Tanner sank two free throws with less than two minutes remaining.
From there, the Lady Vikings were forced to foul to stop the clock, allowing Plymouth to hit free throws and seal the win.
Kindig noted that Valley’s lack of depth factored into the game.
“Fourth quarter, we were trying to make a little bit of a run, and to a certain extent we ran out of gas,” he said.
Conversely, Plymouth’s depth kept fresh legs on the court for the Lady Pilgrims.
“That’s how we’ve been all year long,” said Plymouth coach Dave Duncan. “We’ve played eight kids and there’s stretches where our starters get tired and we’re able to put kids in, and we don’t lose a whole lot when we do that.”
Both teams started the game cold, missing their first four shots before a Halle Reichard three-pointer put numbers on the board.
Plymouth jumped out to an 8-1 lead before Valley responded with an 8-0 run for a 9-8 lead.
From there, the two teams traded leads before Plymouth went into the break with a three-point advantage.
Kindig credited Plymouth’s defense.
“Plymouth was outstanding defensively,” he said. “They forced us into spots that we weren’t comfortable with.”
Valley’s Sophie Bussard led all scorers with 16 points, while Reichard led Plymouth with 15.
The Lady Vikings will host Wabash Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
