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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
AKRON — Tippecanoe Valley first-year coach Rebekah Parker envisions winning, but that first win did not happen against visiting Norwell at Rita Price Simpson Court Tuesday.
Vanenna Rosswurm scored a game-high 27 points, and Ryland Graft came off the bench to add 14 as the Class 3A, No. 3 Lady Knights beat Valley 72-40 Tuesday.
Lucy Hayden scored 13 points to lead Valley. Carlee Snyder, Hadley Wise and Gaby Gonzalez had seven each, and Dalynne Bussard had six.
Norwell, who graduated seven seniors from last year’s state runner-up team, committed 10 turnovers while Valley had 27. Norwell also made eight 3-pointers compared to Valley’s one.
Already leading 38-26, Norwell closed the third quarter on an 18-1 run to extend the lead to 29. Graft started the run with a 3-pointer, and Rosswurm scored on a putback. Jada Dale nailed a trey, Rosswurm put in a layup off a Graft steal, and Rosswurm made a tough turnaround over the taller Hayden.
Norwell also made six of eight free throws in the quarter.
They led by as many as 33 in the fourth quarter.
“Winning,” Parker said when asked about what excited her most moving forward. “This team is capable of winning. We have a lot to learn, and I think tonight was a good test, and our schedule is going to be a good test and a good challenge for us, especially in postseason play. Hopefully, we learn something from tonight that helps us in the end.”
Rosswurm also played on top of Norwell’s 1-3-1 halfcourt trap. Gonzalez would often split Rosswurm and a helping defender, but when she would pass to the sidelines or the corner, the passes back to the middle would often lead to turnovers.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Norwell,” Parker said. “They do the things that they do very, very, very well. Even with a big change in their roster, they still do things very well. So you’ve got to give credit to them. I think turnover-wise, I think some of it was them, but I think a lot of it was us. We just got stuck into the same thing of putting the ball over our head and getting the ball tipped and turning the ball over. So hopefully, going forward, we can fix those things.”
Valley never led, but they did cut a nine-point deficit down to 22-16 in the second quarter thanks to a sharp pass from Gonzalez to Snyder for a layup and a 3-pointer from Wise.
Norwell coach Eric Thornton complimented said Gonzalez was able to defeat the traps out of the 1-3-1 with her quickness.
“It’s a 1-3-1, and I thought we got better as the game went on,” Thornton said. “I thought Tippy Valley just did a great job with the ball in the first half. Number 10 (Gonzalez) split the traps up top and moved it. We really had a hard time there early on. We went a little softer on her as the game went on, so she couldn’t split and then just got to what we normally do. … And obviously, it helps us score points at the other end.”
But Rosswurm canned two free throws, Ashley Waldman hit a 3, and Macie Saalfrank split a pair of free throws to make it 28-16. Hayden scored in the post, but Graft hit a pair of 3-pointers to cap the 12-2 run and make it 34-18.
“Defensively, we had some good moments,” Parker said. “I spoke about this earlier, but a lot of stuff we seemed a little bit hesitant on. It’s probably my fault. I changed defenses up probably too much on them where they weren’t sure what they were doing. But they’ll recognize that they have more of a sense of urgency of what we are doing and the changes we make. So that was a learning curve tonight for them.”
The opener marked the debut of Parker, a 2004 grad and one of Valley’s most accomplished players, on the sidelines. She is just Valley’s third coach in the last 25 years.
The lights went out, and Miracle of Sound’s “Valhalla Calling” played as the starting lineups were introduced. They included Gonzalez, a returning starter from last year along with new starters Wise, Snyder, Hayden and Lydia Craig.
Bussard was the first player off the bench, and Karley Hallstrom, Hailey Stookey, Lillie Koch, Maycee Koch and Betty Shepherd also saw time.
Thornton is in his 28th season at Norwell. His team lost to Valley 49-32 in the 2004 sectional semifinals when Parker was a Valley player. He said he had “a lot of admiration and respect” for Parker and said “the program’s in great hands.”
“Valley’s a scrappy team,” Thornton said. “They’re going to continue to get better. I just thought it was a great start for us, and we did a lot of things well.”
Norwell also won the JV game 59-9.
Norwell 72, Valley 40
NORWELL (72) (1-0)
Addison Norris 2 0-0 6, Ashley Waldman 2 0-0 5, Macie Saalfrank 2 1-2 6, Vanessa Rosswurm 9 9-10 27, Alivia Green 0 0-0 0, Ryland Graft 5 1-2 14, Larkin Smith 0 2-2 2, Haley Williamson 0 3-4 3, Mykenzi Beck 1 0-0 2, Jada Dale 1 4-6 7, Isabella Swineford 0 0-0 0, Chloe Comer 0 0-0 0, Brielle Foss 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 22 20-26 72
VALLEY (40) (0-1)
Gaby Gonzalez 3 1-4 7, Hadley Wise 2 2-2 7, Lydia Craig 0 0-0 0, Carlee Snyder 3 1-2 7, Lucy Hayden 5 3-4 13, Karley Hallstrom 0 0-0 0, Hailey Stookey 0 0-0 0, Lillie Koch 0 0-0 0, Maycee Koch 0 0-0 0, Dalynne Bussard 3 0-0 6, Betty Shepherd 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 16 7-12 40
Three-point field goals:
Norwell 8 (Graft 3, Norris 2, Waldman, Saalfrank, Dale),
Valley 1 (Wise)
Total fouls: Norwell 16, Valley 20
Fouled out: Wise (TV), 4:19, fourth
Turnovers: Norwell 10, Valley 27
Score by quarters
Norwell 20 16 20 16 – 72
Valley 11 13 3 13 – 40
JV: Norwell 59, Valley 9
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