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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Lydia Craig Carlee Snyder
AKRON — Tippecanoe Valley sophomore basketball player Hadley Wise said that Lydia Craig is like a team mom.
She wanted Craig and fellow senior Carlee Snyder to go out on a win on senior night, and she made it happen, scoring six of her team-high 11 points during an 8-0 third quarter run to lead the Lady Vikings to a 39-33 win over Elkhart at Rita Price Simpson Court Wednesday.
Valley won their third straight game and finished the regular season 12-10. They will next play West Noble in a Class 3A, Sectional 20 quarterfinal at Fairfield at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The three-game winning streak ties a season-high.
A previous three-game winning streak in December came against Triton, Jimtown and Western, who all have losing records and have 12 wins combined. The current streak of Kokomo, Wawasee and Elkhart are all teams that have winning records and have 41 wins combined.
“I guess we’ve really showed some resiliency,” Valley first-year coach Rebekah Parker said. “We’ve not had anything easy all season long, and I think we’re just starting to figure out how to win games. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Obviously, you know we struggled sometimes on the offensive end, but I thought kids came up big with some shots that they hit, and defensively, I thought we were able to turn them over a little bit, which gave us more possessions, so I’m thankful for the win tonight.”
Wise outscored the entire Elkhart team 6-5 in the third quarter, and she also played atop a 1-3-1 zone defense that Valley showcased.
Also crucial was Hailey Stookey, who hit two crucial jumpers in the fourth quarter – the first was a long 2-pointer with her foot on the line and the second was a 3 from almost the same spot on the court – after not scoring in the first three quarters.
But the biggest basket might have been Craig’s 3-point play with 2:37 left that put Valley up 36-31.
After the defense held Elkhart without a field goal for the final 2:45, Parker took a timeout with four seconds left and the game in hand to take out Craig and Snyder for a round of applause.
Craig’s last home game might have been the end of an era. Lydia’s brother Alec, a 2017 Valley grad, and sister Emma, a 2020 Valley grad, were in attendance, and they are former Valley basketball players. At least one Craig has played basketball at Valley in 11 of the last 12 years.
Jordynn Johnson hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 12 points for Elkhart, who dropped to 12-10. Shaniyah Stout added nine.
Elkhart led 21-18 on a Danica Barnes 3-pointer with 5:04 left in the third quarter when Valley went on their run.
Snyder hit two two free throws to cut the Lady Lion lead to one. Wise hit a 15-footer to give Valley the lead for good. Wise then turned down a high ball screen and burst to the hoop off the dribble for a layup and a three-point lead.
Then, after Wise deflected a pass from the top of the 1-3-1, Gaby Gonzalez sped to the right side of the frontcourt and skipped a pass to an open Wise, who swished an 18-footer from the left wing to make it 26-21.
Wise said there is a link between her offense and her defense.
“I think my defense is what feeds my offense,” Wise said. “Defense gets me really excited, and then I think I create my offense through that.”
Elkhart had more turnovers (seven) than points (five) in the third quarter against the 1-3-1, which also featured Gonzalez patrolling the back line.
“Hadley’s always good defensively,” Parker said. “We’ve dabbled in the 1-3-1 a little bit here and there. It’s been in our system for awhile. We’re just trying to hone in on what’s best there down the stretch, and we knew like getting the ball in the middle, and they like their wing shots, so it made sense.”
But alas, all the effort was for the seniors. While Snyder is a dedicated player who will play collegiately at Olivet Nazarene, Craig returned to the team after not playing last year.
“I think if we would have lost, I wouldn’t have come to school tomorrow,” Wise said. “They both mean a lot to me. I love Carlee and Lydia. Lydia, she hasn’t played in awhile, but coming back, she’s been great, and she’s like the nicest person ever, and she’s like a mom on the court. And Carlee, I’ve played with her for a really long time, and we’ve been really good friends through track and through basketball, and she comes to watch me at all my stuff, and it means a lot to me.”
Valley also rolled to a 50-11 win in the JV game. Kinley Crabb led with 13 points.
Lady Viking notes
West Noble is 3-18. Their regular season finale is against Fairfield Friday. Coincidentally, the West Noble-Valley winner Tuesday will play Fairfield in the sectional semifinals on Feb. 7. It’s believed that all five West Noble starters are freshmen and sophomores. No West Noble player averages more than six points per game.
“They’re young, but they’re dangerous,” Parker said. “I know that they’ve had success in the past, and I think we have to take one game at a time and make sure our sole focus is West Noble. We’re not in a position to look past anybody.”
In addition to Craig and Snyder, four-year team manager Brittany Gregory also was honored in pregame ceremonies. The whole team was available for photos and autographs after the game.
Parker praised Stookey after the game. Stookey also had two baskets to help put away Kokomo in a 45-38 win on Saturday.
“She did a great job, and these last three games, she’s kind of been an X factor coming off the bench for us,” Parker said. “So I’m so happy for her, and I’m happy to see that confidence kinda coming back in her.”
Tippecanoe Valley 39, Elkhart 33
ELKHART (33) (12-10)
Jordynn Johnson 4 0-0 12, Aaniyah Bonner 0 0-0 0, Danica Barnes 3 0-0 7, Taylor Higgins 1 0-0 3, Shaniyah Stout 3 2-2 9, Elizabeth Higgins 0 2-3 2, Brendayah Dale 0 0-0 0, Christa Porter 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 11 4-5 33
VALLEY (39) (12-10)
Gaby Gonzalez 3 0-0 6, Hadley Wise 5 0-1 11, Lydia Craig 2 1-1 5, Dalynne Bussard 0 2-4 2, Carlee Snyder 1 3-4 5, Malaynie Costello 0 0-0 0, Hailey Stookey 2 0-0 5, Lucy Hayden 2 1-2 5
TEAM: 15 7-12 39
Three-point field goals:
Elkhart 7 (Johnson 4, Stout, Barnes, T. Higgins),
Valley 2 (Wise, Stookey)
Total fouls: Elkhart 12, Valley 7
Turnovers: Elkhart 19, Valley 18
Score by quarters
Elkhart 11 7 5 10 – 33
Valley 10 4 12 13 – 39
JV: Valley 50, Elkhart 11
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