Anne Secrest

AKRON – Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Chris Kindig saw his team put in a lot of time and work in the offseason.

He now hopes that his committed players reap the rewards for their dedication.

“We had the best offseason since I’ve been the coach,” said Kindig as he readies for his fifth season at TVHS. “The girls did everything we asked of them and put in a lot of time.

“I think there is a lot of potential here this year. They all love basketball and it’s important to them and that’s what you want.

“I think that if we continue to grow and improve that we can be pretty good by the end of the season. I think the sky’s the limit for this team. They have invested the time and they deserve a good year.”

Valley returns three of its top scorers from a year ago when the Vikings went 13-7 overall and 5-2 in the Three Rivers Conference.

Sophomore standout Anne Secrest leads the group back for Kindig. The 6-0 center had an outstanding freshman season in which she averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game.

“Anne had a really good summer and worked on her game a lot,” Kindig said. “She’s more patient and has developed her left hand. She just has a great attitude and we will rely on her quite a bit.”

The Vikings, who have just two seniors this season, also return senior Caylie Teel and sophomore Meredith Brouyette.   The incredibly athletic Teel averaged 10 points a year ago, while Brouyette averaged eight points per outing. Junior Karis Tucker returns after being the starting point guard last season.

“We really have about seven players who could start for us,” said Kindig. “They are pretty even. We have a young team and a good sophomore class.”

The Valley roster also features senior Taylor Trippiedi, juniors Brynda Krueger and Morgan Brazo, sophomore Hannah Dunn and freshmen Olivia Trippiedi and Addy Miller.

“I think we are going to be fine on offense,” remarked Kindig. “We want to play at a championship level and in order to do that we have to get better defensively. That’s been our emphasis in the preseason.”

The Vikings averaged 54 points-per-game last season, while allowing 49 per contest.

Valley opens its season at Bremen Thursday night. The Vikings then play at Warsaw Nov. 21 before hosting its own Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 29.