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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team blanked and blanketed Manchester point guard Ethan Hendrix for nearly two full quarters in their game at Rita Price Simpson Court Tuesday.
But then Hendrix got loose for a 3-point play in a moment Valley coach Joe Luce later called “the number one key play of the whole game,” and he finished with a team-high 15 points as the Class 2A, No. 11 Squires pulled away to win 54-42.
The game’s subplot was the matchup between Manchester’s 6-6 forward Gavin Betten, a Grace College recruit, and Valley’s 6-6 junior big man Stephen Akase.
Akase led Valley with 15 points and nine rebounds. Betten, who came into his senior season with over 1,400 career points, was held to 14 points and seven rebounds. Betten came in averaging 27 points and 11 rebounds per game.
But after cutting what had been a 20-8 deficit down to 32-30, Hendrix’s 3-point play expanded the lead to five.
“So that play was a very, very key point to the game,” Luce said. “We had held him scoreless. We had been able to, I think, take him out of his rhythm. We had gotten to the point where we were back in striking distance. The momentum was ours. And we missed a defensive assignment on a ball screen hedge. We didn’t step out. We let him to the rim, and from there, that play, I thought, escalated the entire game and changed the whole game from there.”
Valley hung within 37-34 thanks to an Akase putback of his own miss and two Owen Omondi free throws, but Manchester went on another 11-0 run covering the third and fourth quarters to extend the lead to 48-34.
Part of the run was two technical free throws from Hendrix with 5:46 left after Luce was hit with a technical.
Manchester made just 48% of their free throws, but they made more free throws (13) than Valley attempted (12).
They also held Ian Cooksey to eight points and without a 3-pointer. Cooksey came in averaging 17 points per game. The eight points were a season low. Cooksey had hit 11 treys in Valley’s first four games prior to this game.
Manchester coach Eli Henson credited Hendrix’s defense for holding down Cooksey.
“Don’t let him shoot it,” Henson said of the game plan on Cooksey. “Don’t let him touch it. Ethan wanted him. Ethan told me, ‘Don’t take me off him,’ which I had to a little bit just to give him a little bit of a breather. But Ethan is a dog. He is going to make sure you don’t get free. He just did a good job of face-guarding him and making him work.”
Manchester made seven 3-pointers while Valley’s only 3-pointer came from reserve William Mellott three minutes into the game.
Luce was asked if Valley needs to shoot more 3-pointers.
“We need to shoot better 3s,” Luce said. “We need to take better outside shots that come up in the offense. Ian Cooksey’s going to make shots. He was guarded very well tonight. They did an excellent job. He’s just going to have to be able to be more patient, and I think with patience, he’ll get more production. He just wants to so badly put us on his shoulders and make things happen, and a lot of his shots were rushed tonight. We’ll get better looks for him, but to be honest with you, defensively, they made us drive the ball, and they drove us off the 3-point line, so we didn’t get as many looks either.”
Manchester scored the first five points and never trailed. They hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, including two from Hendrix, and took a 14-8 lead after one quarter.
Kaleb Kline hit a 3-pointer, and Betten went coast to coast with a nifty lefty layin for a 3-point play as the lead reached 12.
Valley point guard Davis Cowan, entrenched in his matchup with Hendrix, went to coast to coast for his own 3-point play, and Blain Sheetz scored on a putback.
When Akase scored on a post turnaround and Cooksey hit a smooth midrange turnaround over a tight defender, the lead was down to 22-17.
A DeOndre Hamilton pullup in the lane and an off-balance driving banker from Sheetz got Valley with 25-21.
Manchester expanded the lead back to 31-23 in the third quarter on a Torpy 3-pointer and a Betten free throw, but Akase hit two free throws and then finished a lob from Cowan with a layup.
Betten split a pair of free throws to make it 32-27, but after making a back door cut to get open, Cooksey had the defense flock to him. So he dropped a pass off to Akase at the rim, who scored and was fouled and hit the free throw for a 3-point play.
The lead was down to two.
As good as Akase was against Betten – his night also included a dunk on a press breaker in the first quarter – Luce wants him to be even more assertive.
“I still just think Stephen has more to give,” Luce said. “Not effort, not heart. Everything inside of Stephen comes into every game. He gives it his all. I just don’t think he realizes how good he can be. Those numbers are fantastic. He could have honestly had 30 (points) and 18 (rebounds) if he would’ve just, you know, attacked the rim with a different edge. He’s too good of a teammate sometimes. He’s too unselfish sometimes. When he gets to the point where he selfishly can put us on his back a little bit more, I think you’re going to see a different team, and I think you’re going to see a different group of players because it will open up the outside for Cooksey, it will open up driving lanes for some of our other guards. He’ll continue to grow. He had a great game. I just know that he can even do more.”
Manchester also won the JV game 44-24.
Manchester 54, Tippecanoe Valley 42
MANCHESTER (54) (3-1)
Ethan Hendrix 4 5-9 15, Aaron Reid 0 2-2 2, Tallon Torpy 2 1-4 7, Dallas Martin 2 1-2 5, Gavin Betten 5 4-10 14, Carson Heath 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Kline 2 0-0 6, Carter Wagoner 2 0-0 5
TEAM: 17 13-27 54
VALLEY (42) (2-3)
Davis Cowan 1 1-1 3, Ian Cooksey 3 2-2 8, DeOndre Hamilton 2 1-2 5, Blain Sheetz 2 0-0 4, Stephen Akase 6 3-5 15, Tristyn Ragon 0 0-0 0, Owen Omondi 1 2-2 4, William Mellott 1 0-0 3
TEAM: 16 9-12 42
Three-point field goals:
Manchester 7 (Torpy 2, Kline 2, Hendrix 2, Wagoner),
Valley 1 (Mellott)
Total fouls: Manchester 13, Valley 19
Fouled out: Sheetz (TV), 2:49, fourth
Technical foul: Valley bench, 5:46, fourth
Turnovers: Manchester 9, Valley 12
Score by quarters
Manchester 14 13 14 13 – 54
Valley 8 13 13 8 – 42
JV: Manchester 44, Valley 24
