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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
AKRON — Tippecanoe Valley sophomore forward Stephen Akase’s game against LaVille began with a tone-setting lob dunk, and the rest was pretty good too as the Vikings earned another home win.
Akase scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Ian Cooksey added 12 as the Vikings pulled away in the second half to beat the Lancers 56-45.
Davis Cowan added nine, all in the second half. Kyler Johnson had eight points and eight rebounds.
Cowan hit a 3-pointer to cap an 8-2 run to start the third quarter as Valley got the lead to double digits for the first time at 26-16.
LaVille would get the lead down to six on two Collin Czarnecki free throws with nine seconds left in the third quarter, but an air ball putback from Akase at the buzzer and a trey from Cowan pushed the lead to 11.
Valley (8-5), who never trailed, led by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter. They made 13 of 23 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Valley has won back-to-back home games against Plymouth and LaVille after going 1-2 at the Delta Holiday Invitational on Dec. 27-28. Valley coach Joe Luce called the two recent wins a “gut check” after a loss to Columbia City at Delta that Luce called “disheartening” and a “tough pill to swallow.”
Michael Good had 18 points to lead LaVille (4-5), but Valley held Czarnecki, who came in averaging 16 points and six rebounds per game to exactly half that – eight points, three rebounds.
It marked only the second time this season Czarnecki had been held to single-digit scoring.
Cooksey had the primary defensive responsibility on Czarnecki, but DeOndre Hamilton also helped when Cooksey was getting a breather, according to Luce.
LaVille sets a maze of screens to free scorers like Czarnecki and Lucas Plummer.
“It was excellent, but let’s make sure we don’t forget DeOndre Hamilton,” Luce said. “Because DeOndre split that time with Ian, and both of them did an excellent job. For the kid to get eight points and for us, I thought, to do a great job defensively, it was huge for the win. The other thing was, I thought, (Riley) Shepherd and Johnson did a great job of helping. We set them off them. We set them in the paint, and then when he came off curls and when he came off different screens, we stepped up. It was a team defensive effort, but Cooksey and Hamilton did an excellent job.”
But it all started with an alley-oop from Cooksey to Akase, who read a back screen, leaped and dunked.
“Woo, I got excited,” a smiling Akase said afterwards, noting that he also dunked against LaVille last year.
Running that play was discussed before the game started.
“We just want to get a basket at the rim, and it was about time that Akase figures out what kind of athlete he is,” Luce said. “He’s capable of doing that all the time. But it was a very good start, much better than when we tipped it out of bounds last game (against Plymouth).”
Ahead 18-14 at halftime, Akase scored on a driving lefty banker. At the 5:52 mark, Akase grabbed an offensive rebound off a Riley Shepherd missed 3, tipped it to himself, spun in the lane and somehow put down an off-balance banker as he was sandwiched between LaVille defenders. The normally mild-mannered Akase yelled and momentarily flexed before Cooksey gave him a playful shove.
He made the free throw to complete the 3-point play.
“So I got an offensive board, and I looked across, and it was so packed and jammed, and I just knew I could get him on the spin move, so in my head, I just wanted to go as fast as I could, and so when I turned as fast as I could, I knew if I pump-faked, he would fall for it because I went as fast as I could. He would think I’m just going to go just in one motion just to try and make it. So then I pump-faked, he fell for it, and I just tried to bank it. I’m glad it all played out good.”
Akase said he is benefitting from having a healthy Riley Shepherd back. Shepherd, a Huntington University recruit, played his first game against Rochester on Dec. 22 after recovering from foot surgery. With sharpshooters like Shepherd and Cooksey on the floor, teams cannot help off them, and that leads to more open looks for the 6-6 Akase in the post.
“He’s making things easier for me,” Akase said. “Before he came back, everything was just a double (team) in the post. I couldn’t get a spot to get my feet and try to score, but since he came back, everything now is a double or give up a shot because he’s back. If I get doubled, he just gets a shot … and then if they don’t, I just try to go do my thing and help as much as I can.”
LaVille coach Michael Edison noted a rash of turnovers to start the third quarter as crucial. He also noted Akase’s impact.
“It’s really tough,” Edison said. “They’ve got an inside-outside punch, and Akase, he just plays so hard. If I’m not coaching against him, I love watching him play because he just wants that ball. He posts hard. He goes after it. He’s a fun one.”
Valley 56, LaVille 45
LAVILLE (45) (4-5)
Lucas Plummer 4 1-1 9, Cody Allen 0 0-0 0, Collin Czarnecki 3 2-2 8, Braedyn Foster 2 0-0 4, Michael Good 6 6-8 18, Lance Edison 2 1-2 6, Andre Gonzales 0 0-0 0, Avery Garrett 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 17 10-13 45
VALLEY (56) (8-5)
Davis Cowan 2 3-4 9, Ian Cooksey 4 3-6 12, Riley Shepherd 0 3-6 3, Stephen Akase 8 4-5 20, Kyler Johnson 3 2-3 8, Blain Sheetz 1 1-1 3, Wes Parker 0 0-0 0, DeOndre Hamilton 0 1-2 1, Aidan Shepherd 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 18 17-27 56
Three-point field goals:
LaVille 1 (Edison),
Valley 3 (Cowan 2, Cooksey)
Total fouls: LaVille 19, Valley 14
Fouled out: Foster (LV), 2:52, fourth
Turnovers: LaVille 16, Valley 17
Score by quarters
LaVille 6 8 12 19 – 45
Valley 11 7 16 22 – 56
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