‘They were difference makers for us:’ Valley’s bench shines in sectional win over W. Noble

Defense holds Lady Chargers to 1 FG in final 14:43

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

GOSHEN — Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Rebekah Parker called a 30-second timeout with 6:43 left in the third quarter against West Noble in a Class 3A, Sectional 20 quarterfinal at Fairfield Tuesday.

Her team was ahead 19-12, but Parker was not happy. Play to your potential, she urged.

Valley found that higher level, allowing only one field goal in the final 14:43 and pulling away to win 40-19.

Lucy Hayden had a game-high nine points, and unheralded reserve Maycee Koch came off the bench to score six. Fellow reserves Hailey Stookey and Malaynie Costello had five each.

Valley had an 18-2 advantage in bench points.

Valley won their fourth straight game to improve to 13-10. They will play Fairfield, who received a bye, in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday.

“That talk I believe at that time was more about wanting to win,” Parker said of the timeout chat. “I don’t think we were playing to our potential at that point. And I felt like we were getting outworked, just by effort alone. And so my message was hopefully to give them some motivation to play harder, and I think they came out and responded.”

The status for starting guard Hadley Wise is “day to day,” according to Parker. Wise suffered an apparent head injury after colliding with teammate Gaby Gonzalez chasing a loose ball in the second quarter. Official Trent Long called a timeout and sent Wise out of the game to be checked by trainer Jen Backus. She did not return, though she did spend the second half on the bench with her teammates.

Valley won their first sectional game for the fourth straight year.

Marley Mast, Elyse Mead and Ava DeLong had five points each for West Noble, who closed the season on a seven-game losing streak and finished 3-20. Freshmen and sophomores scored all 19 West Noble points.

It took more than two minutes after Parker’s timeout, but Koch drilled a left baseline jumper, and Hayden hit a 12-footer in the lane. Then Hayden got a friendly bounce off the rim on an off-balance shot in the lane, and after an officials’ discussion, they awarded her the continuation, and Hyaden then completed the 3-point play.

A Gonzalez rebound, coast-to-coast drive and nifty scoop layup finish capped the 9-0 run and extended the lead to 28-12.

Gonzalez scored four points but affected the game in many other ways. “She’s a kid that does a little bit of everything,” Parker said. “We needed her tonight to settle everybody down and get us to where we needed to go.”

Meanwhile, Valley had switched to its 1-3-1 zone with Gonzalez on top and Stookey and later Betty Shepherd running the baseline.

“I think it was good,” Stookey said of the defense. “I think we worked well together and communicated well. I think switching to ‘3’ (the 1-3-1) was a good choice at the end. We’ve been working on it at practice, and it’s paying off.”

In the fourth quarter, Gonzalez drove and fed to Shepherd for a layup. After DeLong hit two free throws, Carlee Snyder split a pair from the line, and Costello canned a 3 from right in front of the Valley bench.

“It was huge,” Parker said of the bench. “They were difference makers for us, and I think when you get into postseason, I think that is very important. If you can have people come in and give you those positive minutes that aren’t on the scouting report, I think that’s definitely to your advantage.”

Valley scored the first seven points and never trailed. Wise hit a 15-footer from the left baseline, Hayden put back her own air ball after it glanced off the backboard, and Stookey hit a 3-pointer.

Valley continued to diagnose the Lady Charger 2-3 zone and went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter. Hayden found Dalynne Bussard with a drop-down pass from the paint for two, and Hayden then scored on a post banker. Stookey then hit Snyder for a post banker, and Costello hit a 15-foot pullup to make it 17-4.

Mast hit a 3, but Stookey dropped in an off-balance floater with one second left in the half to increase the lead to 19-7.

“I think it’s important to have a big bench, and we all can go in, and we’re very supportive,” Stookey said. “We’re all pretty good friends, and I think we just encourage each other and everything like that.”

Columbia City 51, NorthWood 29

Butler University recruit Addison Baxter scored 24 points, and Torah Holler hit three 3-pointers and added 13 as the No. 5 Lady Eagles eliminated No. 10 NorthWood in Tuesday’s second quarterfinal at Fairfield.

Columbia City won their sixth straight game and improved to 20-4. They will play Wawasee, who received a bye, in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Ellyn Branham scored 10 points, and Claire Payne added eight for NorthWood, who finished 17-7. Historical records for girls basketball are incomplete, but this is NorthWood’s biggest margin of defeat in a postseason game in at least 25 years.

Columbia City held NorthWood without a field goal in the first quarter in building an 11-3 lead. They went on another 13-0 run covering the second and third quarters to get the lead to 35-12, and NorthWood never got closer than 19 the rest of the way.

Valley 40, West Noble 19

WEST NOBLE (19) (3-20)

Addyson Burns 0 0-0 0, Marley Mast 2 0-0 5, Allison Recendiz 0 2-4 2, Elyse Mead 2 0-0 5, Ava DeLong 0 5-6 5, Leah Pruitt 1 0-0 2, Cloie Ulrey 0 0-0 0, Stella Venturi 0 0-0 0, Ella Limerick 0 0-0 0, Kayle Jordan 0 0-0 0, Madilyn Sitts 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 5 7-10 19

VALLEY (40) (13-10)

Hadley Wise 1 0-0 2, Gaby Gonzalez 2 0-0 4, Carlee Snyder 1 1-6 3, Dalynne Bussard 2 0-0 4, Lucy Hayden 4 1-1 9, Malaynie Costello 2 0-0 5, Lydia Craig 0 0-0 0, Maycee Koch 2 2-4 6, Hailey Stookey 2 0-0 5, Betty Shepherd 1 0-0 2, Izabella Woodruff 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 17 4-11 40

Three-point field goals:

West Noble 2 (Mast, Mead),

Valley 2 (Stookey, Costello)

Total fouls: West Noble 10, Valley 8

Turnovers: West Noble 16, Valley 16

Score by quarters

West Noble 2 5 10 2 – 19

Valley 7 12 11 10 – 40

Columbia City 51, NorthWood 29

COLUMBIA CITY (51) (20-4)

Alivia Kidd 0 2-2 2, Anisa Tonkel 2 1-2 5, Laney Ziliak 0 0-0 0, Addison Baxter 7 10-14 24, Torah Holler 5 0-0 13, Claudia Strack 0 0-0 0, Isabel Miller 0 0-0 0, Leah Hertel 0 0-0 0, Isabelle Knitter 3 1-2 7, Grace Nelson 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 17 14-20 51

NORTHWOOD (29) (17-7)

Kinzee Hartman 0 0-0 0, Haylee Heflin 1 1-2 3, Megan Yoder 0 2-2 2, Brooke Johnson 0 3-4 3, Claire Payne 3 2-3 8, Addison Davis 0 0-2 0, Tessa Branham 0 0-0 0, Emily Miller 1 0-0 3, Ella Balasa 0 0-0 0, Ellyn Branham 3 4-5 10

TEAM: 8 12-18 29

Three-point field goals:

Columbia City 3 (Holler 3),

NorthWood 1 (Miller)

Total fouls: Columbia City 20, NorthWood 23

Turnovers: Columbia City 12, NorthWood 20

Score by quarters

Columbia City 11 18 13 9 – 51

NorthWood 3 9 6 11 – 29