AKRON – As veteran coach Bill Patrick put it, his Tippecanoe Valley Vikings “decided to play better.” It was almost like someone flipped a switch. Hosting the Lakeland Christian Academy Cougars Tuesday night, Valley used a 17-2 run and turned what was a close game at the time into a dominating 71-36 victory. “I think the kids decided to play better,” said Patrick. “We jumped out to an 8-0 lead, and then we let them get close. It was kind of a wake-up call. The kids decided to play better, and we played pretty well after that.” The Vikings, who improved to 3-1 with their third-straight win, used the 17-2 spurt to turn a 17-13 lead in the first quarter into a 34-15 second-quarter cushion. Valley led 23-13 after one quarter of play, 41-21 at halftime and 58-29 at the end of the third quarter. “I like the way we competed in the first quarter when we got back in the game,” said LCA coach Lee Compson, whose team fell to 1-3 with its third-straight loss. “The last minute of the first quarter and the first couple minutes of the second quarter is what cost us. We just had too many sloppy turnovers.” The Cougars committed 17 turnovers in the loss, 10 of which were steals by the Vikings, and tallied just one assist. Valley, on the other hand, turned the ball over just nine times and dished out 16 assists as a team. “We’re a good team,” said Patrick. “We’re not a great team, we have things we can work on, but we’re getting better. By the end of the season, we could be pretty good.” A game in which Patrick substituted frequently, 10 Valley players scored – nine of them scored at least five points. Junior Tanner Andrews led the way with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while sophomore Alex Thacker was 5 of 7 from the field en route to scoring 12 points. Senior Nick Kindig added seven points, while senior Jacob Ritchey and juniors Logan Britton and Ben Shriver scored six points each, juniors Robby Groom, Derek Cunningham and sophomore Chainey Zolman scored five points each and sophomore Jarred Littlejohn chipped in with three points. “We’ve got nine kids who can really play, and all nine can score,” said Patrick. “We shot the ball pretty well tonight.” The Vikings were 29 of 53 (55 percent) from the field overall, 8 of 15 from the arc and 5 of 5 at the free throw line. After opening the season with a loss at county rival Warsaw, Valley has won its last three games by 28, 40 and 35 points. The Cougars finished the game 14 of 41 (34 percent) from the field overall, 3 of 15 from the arc, and 5 of 8 at the charity stripe. Seniors Collin Price and Zarek Finley scored 12 points each for LCA. Finley also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Cougars. “Zarek Finley played well in the second half,” said Compson. “In the first half, Collin Price carried us. Both those seniors really led us tonight.” Senior Calvin Prinsen scored five points in the loss, while senior Chris Maron and juniors Chris Silveus and Logan Mount scored two points each and senior Noah Cole made a free throw. Valley is in action again Saturday at John Glenn, while LCA hosts South Bend Trinity.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 71, LAKELAND CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 36 LCA 13 8 8 7 – 36 TV 23 18 17 13 – 71 LCA – Joel Haines 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Maron 1-3 0-0 2, Kenneth Koontz 0-0 0-1 0, Colling Price 5-13 0-0 12, Chris Silveus 0-6 2-2 2, Logan Pitts 0-3 0-0 0, Billy Pitts 0-1 0-0 0, Zarek Finley 5-9 2-3 12, Calvin Prinsen 2-3 0-0 5, Noah Cole 0-1 1-2 1, Logan Mount 1-1 0-0 2, Connor Blum 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Twombly 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-41 5-8 36. TV – Alex Thacker 5-7 0-0 12, Robby Groom 2-5 0-0 5, Jarred Littlejohn 1-2 0-0 3, Tanner Andrews 7-11 2-2 16, Jacob Ritchey 2-2 0-0 6, Chainey Zolman 2-5 0-0 5, Nick Kindig 3-8 0-0 7, Aaron Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Britton 2-4 2-2 6, Derek Cunningham 2-5 1-1 5, Ben Shriver 3-3 0-0 6, Chandler O’Connor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-53 5-5 71. Three-pointers – LCA 3 (Price 2, Prinsen), Valley 8 (Thacker 2, Ritchey 2, Groom, Littlejohn, Zolman, Kindig); Rebounds – LCA 22 (Finley 8), Valley 31 (Zolman 4, Britton 4, Cunningham 4); Turnovers – LCA 17, Valley 9; Fouls – LCA 8, Valley 11; Fouled out – none; Records: LCA 1-3, Valley 3-1 JV – Valley 68, LCA 18 LCA – Connor Blum 8, Jon Harmon 3, Carter Twombly 3, Nathan Gross 3, Tony Shen 1 Valley – Aaron Hoffman 13, Neil Clampitt 13, Chandler O’Connor 10, Alex Salmon 8, Trevor Neeley 7, Bryze Zimpleman 5, Jarred Littlejohn 4, Gavin Bussard 4, Brandon Webster 2, Eric Hammer 2
