Karis Tucker has been one of the many crucial parts of Valley’s run to state. (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

AKRON – It takes a lot for a team to find success in the postseason. It usually takes a bit of luck, some skill, an unbelievable amount of hard work and a strong team bond certainly does not hurt.

The Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team has defied odds all season to get to the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals for class 3A. There was some definite luck, skill and hard work that got the Lady Vikings to this point and the bond has remained just as strong throughout.

The bond is so strong that the girls begin to sound like a broken record when asked about what it is that makes their team so special. In the past two weeks the Lady Vikings have had their gym invaded twice by reporters from all corners of the Michiana area, all asking relatively the same questions. Those similar questions all got similar responses explaining that this team’s success is attributed to uncanny level of trust and understanding between the girls.

“These girls are, well, I just couldn’t ask for a better team to be on,” said Meredith Brouyette. “People say that all the time, but I honestly mean it. Every one of these girls brings something so important to the team. If we were without one of them, we wouldn’t have gotten to this point.”

Brouyette’s point may seem far-fetched, but the sophomore knows what she is talking about. The Lady Vikings have been able to fight through adversity several times this postseason due to the depth and chemistry of the team.

While Anne Secrest has been the engine that drives Valley, the sophomore found herself in foul trouble against NorthWood in the sectional, fouled out in overtime against Muncie Central at the regional and again got into trouble with fouls against Rochester at last week’s semi-state. With their go-to player on the bench in each of those games, Valley had an easy excuse to fold and call it a season. But in each instance, the opposite occurred.

Support for the Lady Vikings has not been hard to find this postseason. (Photo by Nick Goralczyk)

“I’m totally confident in my team to have my back,” Secrest said. “When I come out, it doesn’t rattle them. They have my back and they go out and play even harder when I have to sit and that really means a lot to me.”

Secrest also talked about the joy of celebrating with her team, which basically involves putting the windows down on the bus rides home and dancing. That tidbit of information leads to perhaps the most intriguing question of them all: Who is the team’s best dancer?

That question became the ultimate ending to every interview. Oddly enough, there was no competition as the consensus was a tie between senior manager Jordan Fraser and junior Morgan Brazo.

The only vote that strayed from those two was when Asia O’Connor was described as “the most dramatic dancer” on the team by Taylor Trippiedi, but the senior could not explain what she meant by “dramatic dancer” when asked.

A dance-off would have settled this Brazo-Fraser debate, but only Brazo was present and she kept it modest in her interview.

“I don’t know if I’m the best,” Brazo said. “Jordan and I are definitely the only ones that go crazy on the bus rides home. But, if we had a dance-off, I think Jordan would win.”

Next to Brazo’s dancing ability, she also has a knack for giving blunt, yet effective postgame speeches, as can be seen in the video below.

The support that the girls give to one another on and off the court (and on the dance floor) seems to be a rare thing for high school teams in today’s world. But coming from the small, close-knit Valley community, support seems to be something that just come natural for these girls.

Since the Lady Vikings began this historic postseason run, the support from the Valley community has been amazing. The pinnacle of that support came last Saturday as Valley fans created a sea of green in the Tiger Den at Warsaw Community High School for semi-state.

“That was one of the most amazing feelings that I have ever felt,” said Trippiedi of seeing Valley’s fans at semi-state. “We came out for the Wabash-Canterbury game and the stands were full of our fans.”

“To come out and have that crowd stand up and start cheering for us, it was,” Trippiedi paused to find the words, “I’m going to remember that moment for the rest of my life.”

Valley fans filled the Tiger Den with pride last Saturday. Expect more of the same at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse this weekend. (Photo by Mike Deak)

Winning the program’s first sectional title since 2007 and first-ever regional title would have been enough for the Valley community. The girls could have mailed it in at that point, but they took it a step further and won the semi-state.

Now, the girls face the same situation, they can mail it in and nobody would think otherwise. But the Lady Vikings are not just going to Indy for the thrill of the trip, they want something more.

“The first thing I did at our practice after winning the sectional was ask these girls if we were done,” Valley head coach Chris Kindig stated. “They told me that we weren’t done and that they wanted more. I did the same thing after regional and semi-state, they aren’t done. They aren’t satisfied.”

“We’ve made it this far, why would we turn the switch off now? We’re going into this game wanting to win,” Brouyette stated with confidence.

“At this point, you better just give it your all. Why would you do anything less?” Remarked junior guard Karis Tucker.

“This is the last game, there’s nothing after this,” Trippiedi stated. “Knowing that, we should be putting it all out there. That’s what I’m going to be doing, I’m going to pour everything into that game because I want it to be a win.”