Oregon-Davis’ Gavin Sibo tosses in a layup through the Tippecanoe Valley defense during a 49-41 win Wednesday night. InkFreeNews photos by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

AKRON – It was becoming evident early on Wednesday night that Oregon-Davis was playing on a different level. That extra mustard was enough to push the Bobcats to a 49-41 victory over Tippecanoe Valley on Rita Price Simpson Court.

“They weren’t as tall as us, they just plain played more physical than us,” said Tippecanoe Valley head coach Chad Patrick. “I had to yell and scream to get foul calls, not because I thought we deserved them, but they just played harder and more physical. And most of our team didn’t respond to any of it.”

Outsized and each of its five players not looking much different than the other in build, O-D was facing matchup problems with a much bigger Valley roster. But those concerns were addressed in the cliché ‘hustle and desire’ column that coaches love to offer. But it worked, literally, in helping O-D run out to a 20-6 lead to open the game.

After Dylan Murphy nailed the three to give the Bobcats the 14-point cushion, Patrick began to make his voice heard on the sideline. And not necessarily in his trademark riding of the officials, although he did do some of that. But pulling several of his starters in lieu of bodies from the end of the bench, the Vikings actually responded.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Nolan Cumberland rises for a shot attempt.

A Nolan Cumberland layup with three seconds left in the half pulled Valley within five at 22-17.

It looked as if the Dragons might foul themselves into serious trouble as the second half went on as the aggressive play it instilled in the first half was catching up to them. The trio of Braden Swanson, Gavin Sibo and Conner Danford all fouled out for O-D, but that hustle and grit from the visitor’s bench came back into play late.

The Vikings opened the fourth on an 8-0 run, getting the Bobcat lead down to seven at 41-34 after Cumberland hit a jumper. But Cumberland’s own foul trouble caught up to him, as he picked up his fifth on the next trip down the court, and Valley was now without its primary scorer with 5:56 to go in the game.

“When Nolan fouled out we were in trouble because we didn’t have any scoring left,” Patrick said. “It showed down the stretch and we also missed a boatload of free throws.”

From the point of Cumberland’s dismissal from the game, O-D would close out by hitting 8-12 free throws the remainder of the way.

Sibo, who was instrumental in the Bobcat run early in the contest with 10 points, led the way with 19 total points. Murphy, who was assigned to cover Dawson Perkins inside, stepped out to hit five three-pointers and ended with 15 points. The Bobcats (4-0) hit seven triples overall.

Perkins did have a big night for Valley with 22 points and nine rebounds. Cumberland settled with 11 points, but Patrick noted several of his go-to players didn’t hit the mark, and the Vikings as a whole struggled from the free throw line, going 15-27 overall. In a three-possession game, those moments mattered.

“We knew they could shoot it, the kids knew that, but we have kids who think we should just run up and down the court and score 80 points every night,” Patrick said. “You have to play defense. Defense leads to offense. If you don’t stop the other team, you can’t run a fast break, you can’t do anything. When you get down to the end of the bench, those kids get it and they’re hungry to show something.

“No surprise the scoreboard flipped a little when we brought it the kids who wanted to play defense. We played the top six or seven guys and we scored 18 points. We played the others and we get to 41. It’s just frustrating to lose this way.”

The Valley JV remained undefeated at 5-0 after a 52-24 win over the Bobcats in the night’s opener. Stats were not provided from the contest.

Valley is scheduled to play again next Tuesday at home against Fort Wayne Luers.