Omondi scores 26, Parker adds 16, but Valley falls to Manchester in OT

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

NORTH MANCHESTER — Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball coach Eli Henson said part of his job involves giving his players confidence.

Those lessons in confidence seem to be working with junior Owen Omondi. Unfortunately for Valley, Henson used to coach Aaron Reid, and it was the confidence that he gave Reid that might have worked against his team against host Manchester Tuesday.

Reid scored 22 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, and sophomore backcourt mate Wyatt Schroll added 19 for the Squires in a 62-57 win.

Omondi netted a career-high 26 points, including the game-tying free throws with 4.6 seconds left in regulation and all four points in the overtime, for Valley. Wes Parker added 16, including 12 in the fourth quarter.

Manchester improved to 1-3. Valley dropped to 0-3. Valley’s previous losses to DeKalb and NorthWood were by an average margin of 31 points per game.

But this time, they rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit, and they took a 55-54 lead on a driving layup from Omondi with 2:12 left in overtime.

But Reid hit another 3 from the left wing with 1:42 left, and Manchester was ahead for good at 57-55.

A driving layup from Schroll made it 59-55.

Grant Anthony missed two free throws for Valley, and Dallas Martin split a pair with 1:01 left, and Samuel Winger split a pair with 45.1 seconds left. The lead was 61-55.

In addition to the missed free throws, Valley also committed five turnovers in the overtime.

But the bigger headline for Valley might have been Omondi and Parker’s progressions.

“Those guys know they can go be aggressive for us,” Henson said. “I don’t care if they make mistakes. They have to score for us. So the best part of their game is getting to the rim, and then I thought they did a pretty good job in the second half especially with getting to the rim and finishing.”

Valley trailed 28-19 at halftime, but two Omondi hook shots in the lane got the lead down to five.

Schroll scored on a steal and layup, but Anthony hit a pullup jumper in the lane. Omondi would hit four of six free throws as Valley cut the lead to 33-29, and when Omondi scored on a post layup, it was 34-31 going into the fourth.

Valley would eventually tie it at 40 on Omondi’s driving runner and 3-point play with 4:13 left.

Then Parker would score Valley’s next eight points on two 3-pointers and a layup off an Anthony assist. That tied it at 48.

Schroll fed Lincoln Young for a short banker with 1:23 left, but Omondi would split a pair of free throws. After Dallas Martin missed two free throws with 52.1 seconds to go, J.J. Kammerer made two for Valley.

The Vikings had their first lead of the half at 51-50 with 29.0 seconds left.

“We had a couple injuries, so J.J. got moved up, but I liked what I saw, so he’ll continue to play,” Henson said. “It’s another player that has no varsity experience. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”

Reid buried a clutch 3 from the right corner with 11 seconds left, and Valley had no timeouts left, but Omondi raced down and was fouled by Reid with 4.6 seconds left.

He made both free throws to tie the game at 53.

Young scored the first point of the overtime before Omondi answered back.

“He was tough,” Manchester first-year coach Pat Lepper said of Omondi. “We could have put four guys on him, and he still would have gone around us. He was great, and he got better as the game went on. He settled in down the stretch there and found his rhythm and how to whittle in the paint. He was composed with the ball, but he was great. He got downhill, and he finished through contact. I was really impressed with him. He’s going to be really good in that league, and coach Henson’s going to get him going and playing at a high level.”

Henson coached Manchester from 2020-25. He left and accepted the Valley job after guiding the Squires to a 26-2 record and the Class 2A state title in March.

When Winger hit a 3-pointer with 4:19 left in the first quarter, he appeared to turn around and say something to Henson, and officials immediately hit Winger with a technical foul.

“I don’t know,” a smiling Henson said when asked what Winger said. “He just got all jacked up and looked at me and said something. It wasn’t anything personal. Sam and I are good.”

During the postgame handshake, Henson said something to Winger that made them both smile. Then, Henson and Reid shared a big embrace.

It appeared to be a window for Valley fans into the relationships that Henson will build with his new players.

“I won a state championship with those guys,” Henson said. “There’s love all over the place. Those are guys I care about. Those are my guys. Of course, I’m happy for them. I’m not happy that we lost, but I’m happy for them because they needed a win. Those are guys I competed with every day for four years, so at the end of the day, we’re all people, so that was just an emotional exchange a little bit.”

Manchester 62, Tippecanoe Valley 57

VALLEY (57) (0-3)

Grant Anthony 3 0-2 7, Jude Kammerer 0 0-0 0, William Mellott 0 2-2 2, Owen Omondi 9 8-12 26, Wes Parker 6 2-2 16, Mason Miller 0 0-0 0, Hudson Shepherd 1 0-0 2, J.J. Kammerer 1 2-2 4

TEAM: 20 14-20 57

MANCHESTER (62) (1-3)

Wyatt Schroll 8 1-1 19, Aaron Reid 7 3-8 22, Samuel Winger 3 1-2 10, Dallas Martin 1 1-4 3, Lincoln Young 2 2-3 6, Carson Heath 0 1-2 1, Parker Satterthwaite 0 1-2 1, Carson McLain 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 21 10-22 62

Three-point field goals:

Valley 3 (Parker 2, Anthony),

Manchester 10 (Reid 5, Winger 3, Schroll 2)

Total fouls: Valley 24, Manchester 18

Fouled out: Mellott (TV), 2:03, fourth; Shepherd (TV), :33.5, OT

Turnovers: Valley 19, Manchester 17

Score by quarters

Valley 11 8 12 22 4 – 57

Manchester 14 14 6 19 9 – 62