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The first night of the Indiana boys basketball tournament pit two local teams against each other on Tuesday night, as Wawasee and Tippecanoe Valley met at Columbia City’s Birdcage. The Warriors led for a majority of the game, and while the Vikings were able to keep things from getting out of hand, it was Wawasee advancing with a 49-38 win.
“I thought we played well. You never know what to expect that first night of the sectional, but luckily we have some senior leaders who have been through it before and they were ready to play,” Wawasee head coach Nate O’Connell said.
It became clear very early on that all of the time that both teams had to prepare for one another had paid off. Each defense was incredibly effective to start the game, wreaking havoc and making it difficult for any points to be put on the board. Most of the game’s early offense was the result of patience, moving the ball around and finding an open shooter.
Wawasee seemed to have better luck shooting from deep than Valley did in the opening eight minutes, as three different players nailed three pointers for the Warriors in the first quarter. Combined with the big man, former Viking Stephen Akase, controlling things down low, Wawasee began to separate itself toward the end of the period.
Five straight points by Nolan Holzwart in the final two minutes of the quarter put an exclamation point on what was a very successful opening eight minutes for the representatives from the Northern Lakes Conference. Valley managed just two field goals in the first, and the Warriors took full advantage, taking a 15-6 lead into the second period.
Holzwart continued his hot start by scoring the first four points of the following quarter to give him nine in the first nine minutes. With his team now trailing by 13 and still struggling mightily on offense, Valley coach Eli Henson used a timeout call to attempt to stop the bleeding.
Owen Omondi’s second bucket of the night finally ended what was over a five-minute drought without a field goal for Valley, and after back-to-back triples a minute later by Ty Kiser and Grant Anthony, all of a sudden, the Vikings had life once more. The Warrior offense, which had been on fire for a good chunk of this game, had now grown stagnant.
Needing a spark to get going once more, Wawasee upped Akase’s touches significantly. It paid off for them, as the senior was working with quite a height advantage and was using all of it. After Valley had spent the last few minutes narrowing the gap, a massive stretch by Akase erased all of the progress his opponent had made. Holzwart joined him in double figures on the last play of the first half, as he buried a three to make it 30-17 at the break.
Tippecanoe Valley senior Hudson Shepherd muscles his way to the basket as Kaden Andrew of Wawasee defends...Nieter
Anthony hit a couple of shots for the Vikings in the early stage of the third quarter to make it a single-digit game once more. Despite the Warriors remaining in the driver’s seat for a large chunk of the game, Valley was still hanging around. However, Wawasee was doing a good job of keeping their opponent at a distance, as each time the Vikings started to gain some momentum, the Warriors would go right down to the other end and answer quickly.
The third quarter was no different. Just as quickly as the visitors on the scoreboard had cut the deficit to nine, their opponent had gotten hot and gone back up by 16. Valley did its best to make it a closer game as the fourth quarter neared, but another last-second shot by Holzwart made the challenge a bit steeper. With eight minutes left, Wawasee held a 14-point edge, leading 42-28.
“Nolan was huge for us tonight and I’m not surprised. He’s more than capable,” O’Connell said. “He’s incredibly quick, a great athlete. It’s hard to stay in front of him. He went down with an ankle on Friday night so for him to go out there and look 100%, it was encouraging.”
A three pointer by Jude Kammerer put the Vikings in the right direction to begin the fourth. With five minutes left in the game, Valley had cut the deficit to nine. As the game’s most crucial minutes neared, the visitors were beginning to really play with some fire. Wawasee had been held scoreless for the first three minutes of the period before Holzwart hit another midrange jumper in a big moment to give his team some more breathing room.
Holzwart crossed the 20-point threshold not long afterwards. Time was now becoming a serious factor and the Warriors were still up by double digits. The home side knew this and was in no rush offensively. Wawasee spent a large chunk of the final few minutes of the contest taking the air out of the basketball, not allowing Valley to get nearly enough time on the other end to stage its comeback.
The Vikings battled valiantly until the final whistle, but the Warriors were too much. The home side took care of the ball, hit shots when it needed to and closed things out to advance to the semis.
Wawasee (17-8) will take on NorthWood on Friday night. Tippecanoe Valley (9-14) will return next season.
“It’s going to be a tough game, it’s going to be a physical game, so we’ll have to be ready for that,” O’Connell said. “Coach Wolfe does a heck of a job over there, so it’s going to be tough. But I think our guys are excited for the challenge and are ready for Friday night.”
