John Glenn holds off Valley rally, wins back-to-back sectionals

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Stephen Akase Riley Shepherd

AKRON — Chase Miller scored a game-high 18 points, and Joe Chrapliwy scored all nine of his points in the second half as the John Glenn boys basketball team beat Tippecanoe Valley 35-30 in the Class 3A, Sectional 18 final at Valley Saturday.

Stephen Akase led Valley with 12 points, and Riley Shepherd added eight.

John Glenn avenged a regular season loss to Valley on Dec. 9 and improved to 13-13. They will play South Bend St. Joe in a regional at South Bend Washington this Saturday.

Valley finished 16-9. They have not won a sectional title since 2019.

John Glenn made 19 of 24 free throws while Valley went five for eight.

Valley drew within 30-28 in the fourth quarter when Ian Cooksey scored on a back door cut from 10 feet out on the right side of the basket with 3:48 left.

But Chrapliwy split a pair of free throws with 3:21 left. Valley point guard Davis Cowan fouled out on the play.

Cooksey traveled with 1:53 left.

Chrapliwy made two more free throws at the 1:02 mark to make it 33-28. Valley coach Joe Luce called his final timeout.

A Miller free throw with 31.4 seconds left made it 34-28.

Blain Sheetz scored on a putback for Valley to get back within four, but Joseph Divine’s free throw with 13.2 seconds left completed the scoring.

Employing a deliberate strategy at the start, John Glenn scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed. They led 15-7 at halftime and grew the lead to 22-9 on two Miller free throws with 4:00 left in the third quarter.

Two Akase free throws sandwiched around a Shepherd 3-pointer got the lead down to eight, and the lead stayed at 28-20 going in the fourth.

Valley ratcheted up their pressure.

Akase’s putback was matched by Chrapliwy’s weak side cut to the hoop for a layup. It was 30-22.

Akase used his off hand to fend off John Glenn’s Joseph Shoue in the lane and give him space to make a 12-foot half-hook.

A pullup 12-footer from Shepherd with 4:41 left got the lead down to 30-26. 

This was as close as Valley had been since the score was 2-0.

Valley’s pressure defense forced seven Falcon turnovers in the fourth quarter with help from backups like Sheetz and DeOndre Hamilton

John Glenn 35, Valley 30

VALLEY (30) (16-9)

Davis Cowan 0 0-0 0, Ian Cooksey 2 0-0 4, Riley Shepherd 2 3-4 8, Stephen Akase 5 2-4 12, Kyler Johnson 1 0-0 2, Blain Sheetz 2 0-0 4, Wes Parker 0 0-0 0, DeOndre Hamilton 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 12 5-8 30

JOHN GLENN (35) (13-13)

Chase Miller 2 12-14 18, Kaden Lang 0 0-0 0, Joseph Chrapliwy 3 3-4 9, Carson Krueger 0 2-2 2, Joseph Shoue 2 1-2 5, Joseph Divine 0 1-2 1

TEAM: 7 19-24 35

Three-point field goals:

Valley 1 (Shepherd),

John Glenn 2 (Miller 2)

Total fouls: Valley 21, John Glenn 14

Fouled out: Cowan (TV), 3:21, fourth

Turnovers: Valley 16, John Glenn 19

Score by quarters

Valley 2 5 13 10 – 30

John Glenn 8 7 13 7 – 35