Emma Craig makes her way through traffic during the second half of a Three Rivers Conference win at Manchester Thursday night. (Photos by James Costello)

MANCHESTER — Last year when Manchester came to Tippecanoe Valley and beat the Lady Vikings on senior night — creating a Three Rivers Conference title split between the Squires and Northfield and spoiling Valley’s own chance of a TRC co-championship — the Vikings had to watch while the visitors cut down the nets in Akron.

On Thursday, Valley got a chance to return the favor.

With two conference losses already in the books and trailing one-loss Rochester headed into the game, Valley earned a 62-32 reprisal on senior night in Manchester. Meanwhile Thursday, Northfield did the Vikes a favor by dispatching Rochester 56-40 to guarantee Valley a share of this year’s TRC crown in a late season league shuffle.

“I was wondering if maybe we shouldn’t go down to the gym and cut down the nets,” said Kindig with a chuckle.

“Last year we had an opportunity to win the conference on the last night, and we lost on senior night. I hate to say this, but we kind of wanted to return the favor a little bit because obviously we had two seniors last year and one of them was Sophie Bussard, and it was a very disappointing night last year. The girls came to play tonight. They knew what was at stake, and they came out and performed.”

Although it was only Valley playing for TRC stakes Thursday — Manchester already owned five losses in the conference headed in — the visitors looked like the more relaxed team from tip-off. The Vikings used full-court pressure to tally six steals and 11 points off turnovers in the opening stanza, pushing their advantage out to double digits within the game’s first two minutes. The Squires stayed in it through the second frame and only trailed 29-15 at halftime, but Valley pushed its cushion out to 21 points over the third period.

“We were able to put some pressure on them, turn them over early, and that kind of got us that 15-, 16-point lead there in the first half,” recalled Kindig. “Second quarter I thought we kind of went through a little bit of a slow period there and let them kind of get back in the game. But we came out really strong in the third quarter and kind of put them away. It was a good night for us. We really needed to focus. We needed this win. I’m really happy.”

Hayley Backus goes to work against Kiera Hatfield.

Sydney Wagner had her usual stat-stuffing performance with a double-double of 21 points — including 5-for-5 conversions during the decisive third period — and 12 rebounds while passing out five assists to go with another five steals. After setting her program’s single-season three-point record in a win over Wawasee Tuesday night, Jillian Walls pushed the program mark out to 61 treys on her way to 12 points, converting a rare four-point opportunity along the way. Kaydence Mellott knocked down a pair of first-half triples of her own en route to eight points, while Hayley Backus looked strong in the low post, scoring another eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and ripping down eight rebounds. Valley’s other frontcourter Karina Young was also solid in spurts, although it didn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet as she finished with three points, three rebounds and one assist.

“Obviously Sydney had another great night and came out and did what she always does it seems like. But any time you win by 30 points, you get a lot of contributions by a lot of people,” said Kindig. “I thought our post players played well. Jillian hit some shots. Kaydence hit some shots in that first half.”

With the game already out of reach, Kindig substituted liberally in the fourth period. With 1:41 to go, there wasn’t a single Valley starter on the floor, and reserves Ashley Butler, Corinna Stiles, Lily Ault and Molly Moriarty all got valuable playing time, Stiles and Ault both scoring in the fourth.

“You don’t want to be up by 30 points and have one of your starters get hurt for the sectional. That would be horrible, and I’ve seen it happen before,” Kindig said. “It was really nice to be able to get that cushion and be able to get some players out and get some of my subs in. It was a perfect scenario for us from that standpoint.”

Karina Young goes on the attack in the first half.

Ranissa Shamberger finished with 10 points to lead the Squires, while Makenzy Meyer scored five points with six rebounds, Emma Garriott scored six points with three steals, and Morgan Parrett scored another five points with five rebounds for the Squires, who slid to 6-16 overall and 3-6 in the TRC.

Valley closed the regular season at 16-6 with its third straight 30-point victory and fourth win in the past five games. The Vikes will get a chance at another reprisal when they take on No. 5 NorthWood at the Lakeland Sectional next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“Things will be a lot tighter. It’s always that way,” said Kindig of the rematch with the Black Swish. “You get in the tournament, the pace slows down a little bit. I think the officiating gets a little tighter. Obviously there’s a lot more pressure. I’m feeling good about this team right now. I really like our chemistry. We’re not a perfect product by any means, but I really like what I’ve seen over the last three or four games here.”

Valley’s JV also won its game, 39-31. Moriarty put up 15, and Butler notched 12 in that win.