Lake Central rallies in 4th, beats Valley at LaPorte tourney despite Cumberland’s 18

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Boys basketball

Lake Central 52, Tippecanoe Valley 44 (Dec. 29): Nolan Cumberland scored 18 points,

but the Vikings could not hang on to a 36-34 lead after three quarters and fell to Lake Central in a quarterfinal of the LaPorte tournament on Dec. 29.

Riley Shepherd hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with nine. Tayde Kiser had seven.

Valley did not record a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Brandon Escobedo had 18 points, and Jake Smith had 14 for Lake Central, a Class 4A school with an enrollment of 3,212.

Valley will play Lowell in the consolation round. Lowell lost their quarterfinal to South Bend Adams 66-31.

VALLEY (44) (5-3)

Cooper Walls 0 0-0 0, Tayde Kiser 2 3-4 7, Nolan Cumberland 4 9-11 18, Kyler Johnson 1 0-0 2, Riley Shepherd 3 0-0 9, Ian Cooksey 0 0-0 0, Stephen Akase 3 0-2 6, Dylan Neese 0 2-2 2

TEAM: 13 14-19 44

LAKE CENTRAL (52) (6-1)

Yekich 2 0-0 4, Milausnic 2 2-3 8, Beatty 1 2-2 4, Smith 4 3-5 14, Escobedo 7 3-5 18, Spain 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Greene 0 0-0 0, Berry 0 0-0 0, Pieters 1 2-2 4

TEAM: 17 12-17 52

Three-point field goals:

Valley 4 (Shepherd 3, Cumberland),

Lake Central 6 (Smith 3, Milausnic 2, Escobedo)

Total fouls: Valley 14, Lake Central 16

Score by quarters

Valley 13 16 7 8 – 44

Lake Central 15 10 9 18 – 52