Taylor Trippiedi will try to help No. 9 Tippecanoe Valley win a sectional title at Wawasee starting Tuesday night (File photo by Mike Deak)

The Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team has put together one of the best seasons in program history.

The Vikings, in order to extend their season, will now have to be at their best in postseason play.

The IHSAA definitely did not do Valley any favors with the sectional draw. The Vikings will have to beat three quality teams in order to win their first sectional championship since 2007.

Valley, sitting at 19-2 and ranked No. 9 in Class 3-A, opens sectional play versus Fairfield Tuesday night in the first game of the seven-team Class 3-A Wawasee Sectional field.

“The draw is what it is and I really haven’t given it a second thought,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig. “It does not matter who we play we have to play well. Fairfield is a quality team. I really believe if we play the way we have all year that we will be fine.”

Valley did not face Fairfield (15-8) during the regular season. If the Vikings beat the Falcons, they will meet No. 11 and three-time defending sectional NorthWood (19-5) in a semifinal showdown. The Panthers beat the Vikings 61-55 in Akron on Jan. 13. Valley then won its final six games of the season.

“We have to keep our turnovers to a minimum and have balanced scoring,” Kindig said. “Our No. 1 goal this year was to win the Three Rivers Conference and we did that. It’s important for us to play well in the postseason now. We will be disappointed if we do not play well in the sectional.”

The Vikings do own wins over all four teams they could meet in the final if they beat Fairfield and NorthWood. Valley’s only other loss this year was a three-overtime decision to Plymouth.

Sophomore star Anne Secrest leads the Valley charge. The 6-0 center averages 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. Meredith Brouyette, a sophomore guard, averages 9.4 ppg. Senior Caylie Teel is at 7.8 and Taylor Trippiedi at 6.8 for the Vikings.

Kylee Rostochak has had a sensational season for Wawasee (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

Wawasee not only will be at home for the sectional, but got a great draw. The Warriors (6-16) face Lakeland (9-13) in a semifinal game Friday. Wawasee beat Lakeland 43-34 back on Nov. 18. The Warriors also won two of their final three regular-season games.

“It will be a great draw if we win it all or it will be a terrible draw if we lose,” said veteran Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. “The thing is every one starts over and that first game is always the toughest. We have the worst record in the sectional so we have nothing to lose.

“We have very little room for error. Our down times need to be limited and not last a whole quarter. Really we are our worst enemy when it comes to over coming adversity.  So if we have learned anything it is how to deal with adversity in a shorter period of time. We have finally got a little momentum going into sectional week. We have been playing better in longer stretches.”

Star Kylee Rostochak leads Wawasee at 14.3 points-per-game.

Whitko will face West Noble in a semifinal game Friday. The Wildcats lost 42-40 to the Chargers in Ligonier back on Nov. 18.

“Our sectional is pretty well-balanced and tough to win one game, let alone three in a row,” said Whitko coach Brandon Bradley. “West Noble is an opponent we are very familiar with, and we always seem to have tough games with them. My first year we beat them at home by 14, but it was a very physical, tough game. Two years ago we lost at their place in overtime. Last year we beat them at home on a last second shot during the regular season, and we beat them in overtime in the sectional.

“This year we lost by two at their place, and I thought at times we had very poor energy.  We trailed by double-figures early in the 4th before we kicked it into gear, and we put ourselves in a position where we had both a game-winning shot attempt, and a game-tying shot attempt, in the last 10 seconds.”

The Wildcats, who have won six of their last seven games, are led by the outstanding duo of Aly Reiff (16.7) and Brianna Cumberland (14.9). Hanna Yohe (5.3) and Jennifer Reiff (4.6) are also key for Whitko.

“Everyone will look at Tippecanoe Valley, NorthWood, and Fairfield in the other half of the bracket and say that’s a great draw for us, and yes, it will be fun to watch those teams go at it,” remarked Bradley. “But West Noble, Wawasee, and Lakeland are well-coached teams, they play physical, and they play with a great deal of intensity.  There are no easy games in this sectional. The sectional field is very balanced, despite what records may indicate. Everyone plays with great energy all the time, and there are some good coaches in this sectional who prepare extremely well. There are no easy games at all, and I think anyone has a chance to win on any given night.”

NorthWood is on a hot streak coming into the postseason. The Panthers have won nine in a row and finished undefeated to win the Northern Lakes Conference championship. Coach Adam Yoder’s team is led by star senior Jordyn Frantz. The Indiana All-Star candidate and Saint Louis University recruit can do it all on the hardwood.