Meredith Brouyette gave Valley a late 54-51 lead with this three against Concordia in Saturday’s regional semi-final. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

COLUMBIA CITY — Leave it to a hall of fame personality to hit the nail on the head in describing the second semi-final of the Columbia City Girls Basketball Regional.

Local legend Rita Price dubbed Tippecanoe Valley’s performance as “the great escape” in her post game interview with Viking head coach Chris Kindig. The No. 5 ranked Lady Vikings certainly did escape a tough Concordia Lutheran team, narrowly avoiding a trip to overtime in what would finish as a 56-53 triumph for the defending regional champions.

“Give Concordia a lot of credit, they just kept coming at us,” Kindig stated.

Concordia put Valley in several tough spots but could never get the lead throughout the entire game, forcing just one tie. Despite some pockets of sloppy play, the Cadets fought Valley to the very end. The very end.

Anne Secrest went to the line, her team holding a 56-53 lead, with just half a second remaining in the game. Secrest missed both shots, giving Concordia a chance for a miracle and its prayers were almost answered.

Shania Kelly grabbed the rebound from Secrest’s second shot and quickly launched the ball down the court, roughly 70 feet, and right into the hoop. It was the type of play you only see on SportsCenter done by tiny colleges you’ve never heard of. But this happened.

It was epic. It was jaw-dropping. It was waved off.

Kelly’s release did not beat the buzzer, leaving Concordia with serious heartbreak.

“It was one of those things that you just can’t believe happened,” Kindig said of the shot. “We’re lucky there wasn’t even just a few more tenths of a second on the clock because overtime would’ve been tough. But, that’s why we have to hit our free throws.”

Valley held a lead a large as 13 in the first half and would go into the locker room up 31-19 following a buzzer-beating bucket by Secrest. It was a lead the Lady Vikings fought to build but one that could have been bigger if not for some mistakes along the way, free throws included.

For the game the Vikings shot 18-30 from the line, an oddity for a usually sound free throw shooting team. But that seemed to be the story for Valley throughout the game. Players were taking good shots, especially from deep, but nothing was falling, at least not in the way that Valley has grown accustomed to. Without “more of the same” working in Valley’s favor individuals needed to step up and nobody on the team was afraid of that challenge.

Brynda Krueger played the type of game that you expect to see from a senior fighting to continue her career. Krueger led Valley with 12 points and had three steals that were later converted into points for her team. She was exactly what the Vikings needed in this game.

“She played with a sense of urgency,” remarked Kindig of his senior. “She put a lot of time in over the summer and really dedicated herself to being a major contributor for this team. She did everything she needed to do to get to that point. She’s almost like what Caylie Teel was for us last year. She does a little bit of everything for us.”

The pressure really flipped back on to girls like Krueger, Karis Tucker, Addy Miler and Sophie Bussard. Valley is used to the production of Secrest, Hannah Dunn and Meredith Brouyette but all three were struggling offensively. Secrest got into foul trouble, Dunn left the game with a bloody nose and Brouyette’s shots simply weren’t falling.

Secrest still ended up with nine points and led the team with eight rebounds. Brouyette finished with six points but managed to find her shot at the exact right time.

The junior found the corner and swished a three to put her team up 54-51 with 32 seconds left to play, sending a crowd of yellow-clad Valley fans into a frenzy.

Valley has benefited from its depth all season and put that on display with those performances along with a great defensive performance from Karis Tucker. Addy Miller came off the bench to score 11 points for Valley while Sophie Bussard played big minutes and showed why she is only a freshman by class, not maturity or talent.

“She’s a Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball player,” Kindig said of Bussard. “What I meant by that is that she’s very good in the classroom, very personable and works her tail off in practice. She’s very well deserving of the success she’s had this year. She’s fit in with the team since the summer and she’s going to be a start for this program. She played like a veteran today and her best days are ahead of her.”

Kelly led all scorers with 20 rebounds and had seven rebounds to boot. Carissa Garcia added 13 points for the Cadets.

Valley (25-1) moves on to face No. 2 Heritage Christian (23-4) in the regional title which will tip at 8 p.m. at Columbia City High School. Heritage advanced over No. 5 Norwell 60-42 in the morning game.