Tippecanoe Valley senior Cara Hoffman eyes a free throw Friday night. The stellar guard had 12 points in a 57-50 home win over Warsaw (Photos by Scott Davidson)

AKRON – Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Chris Kindig knows his talented team still has plenty of improvement to make.

The post game smile on his face Friday night though told the tale that the Vikings had just taken a big step in the right direction.

A complete team effort featuring big-time contributions from a pair of fine freshmen carried host Valley past county rival Warsaw 57-50 Friday night.

The Vikings, who had lost six in a row to the Tigers, started strong and never trailed in beating Warsaw for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Fab freshman Anne Secrest, a 6-0 tower of power, led the way for the hosts. Secrest hit 7-10 shots from the field in scoring a game-high 19 points as Valley improved to 2-0 on the young season.

Senior standout Cara Hoffman had 12 points, sharpshooting freshman Meredith Brouyette 11 and athletic junior Caylie Teel 10 for Valley. Senior Kelsey Ball had 11 rebounds for the Vikings.

Nikki Grose of Warsaw boxes out Anne Secrest Friday night. Freshman Secrest scored a game-high 19 points to lead her Valley team to victory.

Valley is playing shorthanded right now as 6-3 senior Sara Alexander and junior Taylor Trippiedi are both sidelined due to knee injuries.

Warsaw, which drops to 0-3 to start a season for the first time in the 39-year history of girls basketball, got 12 points each from Jodie Carlson and Eryn Leek.  Freshman Kilee Slone had eight points and senior Nikki Grose eight points and 10 rebounds.

“Our girls came in confident tonight and it showed,” said Kindig. “They had a good week preparing. This is one step in the process. We have to continue to play at this level. We have to play at a higher level even than this. With a young team, we should keep getting better and I think we will.

“Anne is a difference maker. We did a good job getting the ball to her in the fourth quarter when we needed some baskets. But, this was a great team effort. Our effort was good for 32 minutes. I like this group. We have some girls who play beyond their years.”

The Vikings, who lost 39-26 at Warsaw last year and went on to finish 7-13, were the superior team from the get go.  Valley led 16-7 at the end of the first quarter thanks to the outstanding start ignited by Hoffman. The 5-5 guard, one of four seniors, scored her team’s first seven points of the contest. Warsaw struggled with seven of its 15 turnovers in the opening stanza.

“We got that cushion in the first quarter with our defense,” Kindig said. “Cara played really well for us at both ends of the floor tonight. Caylie (Teel) did a lot of things that you have to to win.”

Senior guard Eryn Leek had 12 points for Warsaw Friday night.

The Tigers, who graduated three starters from last year’s 24-2 team, got within 26-20 late in the opening half on back-to-back treys by Leek. Valley led 28-20 at halftime as Hoffman and Secrest each scored nine points and Teel eight.

Warsaw got no closer than six points in the final half.  Brouyette calmly drained three huge 3-pointers as she scored all 11 of her points in the second half. Secrest also had six clutch points in the fourth quarter.

“Those were some big threes by Meredith,” said Kindig. “That’s not a surprise. She’s a shooter and capable of that. Our motto is to focus on the game in front of us and that means Portage now.”

The Vikings shot 21-40 from the field, while Warsaw was 20-62. The Tigers, who were 3-23 in their first two games on 3-pointers, went 7-28 from distance Friday night.

“The big difference tonight again was the first quarter,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. “That’s been our Achilles Heel so far. We have to find a way to come out focused from the start. We dug a hole tonight and that’s just tough to get out of.

Valley’s Caylie Teel looks for a teammate. Teel scored 10 points in the win.

“We need to have some upperclassmen step up and lead us. That starts with working hard on every possession. To win, we have to play 32 minutes of solid basketball. We have to put more effort into our defense. Defense is work. You have to play defense with heart and pride.

“We’re not communicating on defense and that makes it tough. We are allowing teams to attack us and break us down and tonight we did not find people in transition.”

The Warsaw junior varsity team improved to 3-0 with a 30-17 win. Tahya Bruce scored 13 points and Dayton Groninger 10 for the JV Tigers. Hanna Dalrymple netted six points and Hannah Dunn four for Valley.

Warsaw hosts Whitko (3-1) next Friday in its home opener. Valley plays Portage on Nov. 30 at 10:30 a.m. in the first game of its own Thanksgiving Classic. Noblesville then plays Munster in the second game with the consolation contest at 6:15 p.m., followed by the championship game.

Casey Dunn (left) congratulates Caylie Teel following Valley’s 57-50 win over Warsaw Friday night at Valley.