Vikings Pick Up Another Conference Win
AKRON – The Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team took another step towards a conference championship Thursday night.
Anne Secrest, the star of the Vikings, also picked up a career milestone along the way too.
The Vikings used a big second half performance to handle Northfield 66-38 in Three Rivers Conference play.
Valley, which went undefeated to win the TRC title a year ago, improved to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in league action with the win.
The Vikings, who are ranked No. 6 in Class 3-A, won their 10th straight game.
Valley led 18-11 after the first quarter and 36-27 at halftime of the conference contest. The Vikings then outscored their guests 12-3 in the third period to take control. Valley closed the game by outscoring Northfield 18-8 in the fourth quarter.
Junior star Secrest led the way for the winners with 28 points. The Youngstown State recruit, who shot a perfect 11-of-11 from the field, also had nine rebounds.
Secrest also set a milestone in the win. The junior went over 1,000 points in her outstanding prep career. Secrest now has 1,015 career points. She becomes just the fifth girls player in school history to score 1,000 points, joining Rebekah Parker (1,420), Staci Groom (1,136), Hannah Krueger (1,036) and Kara Kramer (1,006).
Secrest is also just the 11th player in the history of TVHS to score 1,000 career points. The boys side includes six players to hit the milestone mark in Trey Eaton (1,682), Ron Dittman (1,461), Scott Johnson (1,352), Tanner Andrews (1,256), Nick Kindig (1,254) and Brandon Eaton (1,072).
Sophomore Addy Miller had a big night for the Vikings with 20 points. Junior Meredith Brouyette added 12 points for Valley. Miller drained six 3-pointers in the victory and Brouyette hit four from distance.
The Vikings, who finished 25-3 a year ago en route to a Class 3-A state runner-up finish, now face a big week with two huge games. Valley plays at NorthWood (11-6) Tuesday night. The Panthers were one of just two teams to defeat Valley during the regular season a year ago, posting a 61-55 win. Valley then plays at Rochester on Jan. 16 in a huge TRC game. The Zebras are ranked No. 1 in Class 2-A and are currently 15-0 overall and 4-0 in the TRC on the season. Rochester, which lost 52-40 during the regular season and 60-45 in the semistate to Valley last season, plays at Whitko Saturday night in a key conference clash.
Northfield, now 7-9 overall and 4-2 in the TRC, plays at Eastern Tuesday night.