Tippecanoe Valley Eyes Fourth Straight Sectional Title
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
AKRON – The Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings have won three straight sectional titles.
They are 19-3 this season and ranked in the top 10 in the state in Class 3A.
Valley allows just 39 points per game and has an average winning margin of 17 points.
Coach Chris Kindig believes his team is ready to make another tournament run.
All that, however, and the Lady Vikings may not even be the favorite to win 3A Sectional 21 at Fairfield High School.
The six-team field is loaded, featuring four teams with at least 15 wins.
Action gets underway Tuesday when Valley plays Lakeland (10-12) at 6 p.m., followed by West Noble (18-6) and NorthWood (15-8).
Friday’s first semifinal game features Wawasee (12-10) and the Valley/Lakeland winner, followed by No. 3 Fairfield (20-2) and the West Noble/NorthWood winner.
The championship game is slated for Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Columbia City Regional to face the winner from the Bishop Dwenger Sectional.
Winners from sectionals at Bellmont and Blackford also feed into the Columbia City Regional
“I think this year more than any other year I’ve been coaching, there’s four or five teams that can win the sectional,” said Kindig, now in his eighth year at Valley, and who has led the Lady Vikings to a 91-13 record the past four seasons.
“You can’t afford to sleep on any team that’s in the sectional. I can promise you that we’re going to take Lakeland very seriously. If we win that game, we’re going to take the next game very seriously.
“We’ve had some nights where we haven’t shot the ball well, and that puts you in a bind. Lakeland is better than what they have been, they’ve got a pretty good freshman class. I’m not gonna tell you that we got a poor draw, but you have to be ready to play every game. I would prefer not to play that game on Tuesday. I would prefer we didn’t have to win three games to win the sectional.
“I would say that we’re not going to be the favorite in the sectional. We’re not the highest ranked team ... Fairfield is ranked higher than us, and they’re playing on their home floor. West Noble has beat Fairfield this year, and we played NorthWood earlier this season and it was a dogfight. There’s no gimmes in this sectional.”
While Kindig insists he and his players will take every team serious, the Lady Vikings did get a “favorable” draw compared to the other serious contenders.
Valley will open tournament play against Lakeland team with a losing record, though the Lakers have won four in a row and five of their last six.
If they advance to the semifinals, the Lady Vikings would face a Wawasee team they beat 46-33 last week, though Valley did trail 17-16 at halftime before dominating the second half.
Valley would only have to face one of the other sectional “favorites” – Fairfield, West Noble and NorthWood.
The Lady Vikings have wins over both West Noble and NorthWood this season, though both games were tightly contested.
“Fairfield’s got a huge advantage because they’re playing at home, and they’re ranked ahead of us,” said Kindig. “I could see us being the favorite if we were playing at home, but Fairfield has that advantage. I think playing at home is a big advantage, and they only have to win two games. We have to travel three nights to win the sectional. We’re the farthest school away in the sectional. The travel kind of worries you a little bit ... you’re traveling that far on a Tuesday night, and then hopefully again on Friday, and then again on Saturday.”
