Valley girls basketball roundup: Wise leads 4 in double figures with 19 in rout over Plymouth

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Girls basketball

Gaby Gonzalez Maycee Koch

Tippecanoe Valley 69, Plymouth 35 (Wednesday)

Hadley Wise scored 10 of her game-high 19 points in the third quarter as Valley rolled over host Plymouth Wednesday.

Savana Miller and Dalynne Bussard added 15 each, and Gaby Gonzalez added 10 for the Lady Vikings, who improved to 6-2.

Wise and Gonzalez combined for four 3-pointers and 16 points in the third quarter as Valley built a 56-30 lead.

Bussard, a starting forward, and Miller, a reserve guard, combined for 23 points in the first half as Valley led by 15.

The teams have split their last eight meetings.

VALLEY (69) (6-2)

Gaby Gonzalez 4 0-2 10, Hadley Wise 8 0-0 19, Hailey Stookey 2 0-0 4, Dalynne Bussard 6 3-4 15, Izzy Woodruff 0 0-0 0, Lillie Koch 1 0-0 2, Malaynie Costello 1 0-0 2, Maycee Koch 1 0-0 2, Savana Miller 4 6-7 15, Betty Shepherd 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 27 9-13 69

PLYMOUTH (35) (3-4)

Shipley 2 1-4 5, Wray 5 1-2 13, Horton 3 2-3 9, Ehlinger 0 0-2 0, Warner 2 1-2 6, Scruggs 1 0-0 2, Frank 0 0-0 0, Peacock 0 0-0 0, Feldman 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 13 5-13 35

Three-point field goals:

Valley 6 (Wise 3, Gonzalez 2, Miller),

Plymouth 4 (Wray 2, Horton, Warner)

Total fouls: Valley 15, Plymouth 13

Score by quarters

Valley 21 15 20 13 – 69

Plymouth 14 7 9 5 – 35

Tippecanoe Valley 52, LaVille 18 (Nov. 21)Dalynne Bussard scored a game-high 11 points, all in the second half, and Hadley Wise added 10 for the host Lady Vikings in an Indiana Northern State Conference home win over LaVille Nov. 21.

Valley improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Indiana Northern State Conference.

Faith Mejer scored eight for LaVille, who dropped to 1-3, 1-1.

Valley forced 26 turnovers while committing only seven themselves.

All 10 players who played for Valley scored.

“I love it,” Bussard said. “I don’t know if you saw me on the bench cheering for every single person. I love making that extra pass, so a Lillie Koch can score or do whatever. I love getting everybody involved, and it’s so cool. It makes everything so much more fun. I know it can be repetitive just sitting on the bench, but that makes them feel part of the win, which is really nice.”

LaVille hung within 12-8 on an Ava Weil 3-pointer with 3:55 left in the half, but Valley went on a 20-0 run covering the second and third quarters to bump the lead to 32-8, and LaVille did not score for over eight-and-a-half minutes.

The run started with a layup in transition off a turnover from Wise. Wise then deflected a pass in the backcourt and stole it, which led her right to the rim for a layup. Maycee Koch hit a free throw and scored on a banker on the post. Gaby Gonzalez then banked in a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the half to give Valley a 14-point lead.

In the third quarter, Bussard hit a 15-footer from the left wing, Izzy Woodruff scored on a putback, Bussard hit two free throws, Wise scored in transition, and Malaynie Costello immediately stole a pass in the backcourt and put in another layup.

Bussard started the season opener against Norwell, a 67-14 loss, and Woodruff replaced her for the next four games. This marked the first time both Bussard and Woodruff were in the starting lineup together as Costello came off the bench.

“I definitely like starting,” Bussard said. “I’m not going to say I don’t like it, but I think I’ve worked really hard in the last few games to deserve to start, but also like, it’s whoever’s hot that night. Whoever works hard in practice and whoever shows that they want to start. I think it just depends on who works hard.”

LaVille had one field goal and eight turnovers in the third quarter. Valley coach Rebekah Parker teaches her team to play a variety of defenses to force the other team to diagnose what the Lady Vikings are trying to do to stop them.

“I thought we did a good job of honing in some of their key players early,” Parker said. “And that kind of eliminated some of their easy shots. They run that open offense, and they do a good job of it, so I thought our girls did a good job of eliminating those things early on, which set the pace for us, and we were able to turn some of that stuff into offense.”

Valley went on another 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter as the lead would eventually reach 37. The final 2:19 was played with a running clock, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.

Valley had no turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Gonzalez is the point guard, but ballhandling is emphasized for all players.

“That’s a big focus in our program as a whole is being more confident and more comfortable with the basketball,” Parker said. “And I think a lot of what we do has the basketball in our hands. So hopefully, as we get further along in the season, a lot of the kids are more and more confident and comfortable, and the more pressure we see, the more experience we have in that situation is going to help us in the long run.”

Tippecanoe Valley 52, LaVille 18

LAVILLE (18) (1-3, 1-1)

Ava Weil 1 2-2 5, Faith Mejer 1 5-6 8, Madi Singleton 0 0-0 0, Cloie Davis 2 0-0 4, Denni Markin 0 1-2 1, Chesney VanTornhout 0 0-0 0, Sydney Williams 0 0-0 0, Bella Higley 0 0-0 0, Reagan Strang 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 4 8-10 18

VALLEY (52) (5-1, 2-0)

Gaby Gonzalez 3 1-2 9, Hadley Wise 5 0-0 10, Hailey Stookey 1 0-0 3, Dalynne Bussard 4 3-3 11, Izzy Woodruff 2 0-0 4, Lillie Koch 0 1-2 1, Malaynie Costello 1 2-4 4, Maycee Koch 2 1-2 5, Savana Miller 0 1-4 1, Betty Shepherd 2 0-0 4

TEAM: 20 9-17 52

Three-point field goals:

LaVille 2 (Mejer, Weil),

Valley 3 (Gonzalez 2, Stookey)

Total fouls: LaVille 18, Valley 15

Turnovers: LaVille 26, Valley 7

Score by quarters

LaVille 2 6 7 3 – 18

Valley 10 12 15 15 – 52

JV: Valley 39, LaVille 26

Valley adds game with SB Washington

The Valley girls basketball team has added a game with South Bend Washington to its schedule. Game time is 2:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at South Bend Washington.

Valley had two openings on its schedule after their Nov. 29 tournament at Alexandria was canceled due to inclement weather.