Val T.

4 days ago7 min read

Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball preview: Akase, Cooksey among Valley’s top returnees

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

AKRON — The anticipation over possibly winning a sectional title on its home floor turned into agony for the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team last March.

John Glenn scored the first eight points of the sectional final, led 15-7 at halftime, extended the lead to 22-9 and held off a Valley fourth quarter rally to win 35-30. The win avenged a regular season loss and marked the second straight year John Glenn knocked the Vikings out of the sectional.

Third-year coach Joe Luce keeps a notepad handy, whether it is near his bed or at his desk at school.

He said the loss motivated him to come up with ideas that will make him a better coach, and it motivated top three returning scorers Stephen Akase, Ian Cooksey and Davis Cowan to get better too.

“It’s motivated me,” Luce said. “I know that. I mean, the coaching staff and I have put in a lot of extra work on some things we felt that we came up short with that we felt we could have helped our kids with even more during that game. The first half, we scored seven points. We didn’t attack. We were really stagnant against the zone. We spent a lot of time hopefully getting some better looks and some better action against teams that will play zone against us. When you host your own sectional championship, when you come off what I thought was a good motivating win against Knox, it showed that we have a lot of work to do. And I think it’s motivating for our kids.

“I know for at least the three that were really a big part of that, which was Stephen, Davis and Ian, they have that in the back of their mind. … We talk about it a lot. Anytime it comes up that we’re stagnant offensively in practice early as we were this summer sometimes, we talked about the fact that we just can’t go into lulls where we don’t score.”

Valley lost sharpshooting wing Riley Shepherd – he’s currently on the JV team at Huntington University – and power forward and team leader Kyler Johnson to graduation from a team that went 16-9, but they do return their top scorer and rebounder in 6-6 junior big man Akase (13.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and their second leading returning scorer in 6-5 senior guard Cooksey (13.1 ppg).

Another returning starter is 5-10 junior point guard Cowan.

Akase is still a relative newcomer to organized basketball, according to Luce. Luce was asked to weigh Akase’s physical development with his continuing understanding of the game.

“He had not had game experience,” Luce said. “He’s developed game experience, but he’s had to grow both mentally and physically. As far as a physically developed kid, he has a great body. He has really some outstanding strength; he’s just had to learn how to use that. His positioning still is questionable. He doesn’t get himself in the greatest spots, and he has to work so hard for all of his baskets. Even though that he does finish around the rim fairly well, his hands have gotten better. Mentally, he’s developed a much more understanding of the game. I think you’re going to see a more diverse player. He can step out and make 3s. He’s worked really hard on his perimeter shooting, so teams have to come and guard him, and he’s not just a back-to-the-basket player, but he can drive, and he can get to the rim off one or two bounces. But he’s a kid that we have to have score around the rim, we have to have a post presence with, but as far as physically, I think he’s learning to use his body more, and mentally, he’s getting a better understanding of the game.”

Cooksey hit 69 3-pointers last year; the rest of the team made 73 treys combined.

Cooksey had an appendectomy a week before the sectional final loss, according to Luce. He did not miss any games.

Luce wants him to expand his game even further.

“I thought he was in many ways consistent last year,” Luce said. “He was just really non-multidimensional. He shot the ball. Defensively, he wasn’t as outstanding as he needed to be. He didn’t get himself to the block, which I think he can do this year. He didn’t drive as much. He was an outstanding shooter. He set the school record for 3s in a season. In the offseason, he’s one of our, if not the most, active workers as far as getting himself better. He’s in the gym. If we’re not practicing in the gym early, he puts in a lot of time. And he’s worked on handling the basketball, driving to the hoop, putting himself in the block from time to time, scoring in the post. … His numbers were good last year. I don’t know that he tops those numbers, but he’s going to have a lot more attention.”

Cowan averaged 4 points per game and also led the team in assists (3.8 apg) and steals (1.4 spg).

“Davis has the unfortunate role of handling the ball 90% of the time,” Luce said. “He has the ball in his hands all the time. … Davis continues to improve. He had never played point guard before. Davis had been a kid that played off the ball until last year. We put the ball in his hands all the time. I thought he grew during the season. Offensively, he’s really had a good offseason. He’s shot the ball a lot more.”

In addition to Cooksey, other seniors on the roster include Blain Sheetz, Tristyn Ragon, DeOndre Hamilton and Noah Rutherford.

Luce raved about Sheetz when asked about his development.

“I don’t know anybody that’s developed more,” Luce said. “He’s really put himself in a position to have a really solid senior year. Last year, he probably could have played more at the varsity level, but we needed him to continue to develop. He got lots of great minutes both ways. Late he played as much or more than anybody that was on our roster. In the offseason, he’s really developed into a kid that can finish around the basket, can make a 3 in transition. Defensively, he’s always solid. He probably has as much, if not the most, basketball knowledge and feel for the game as any of them.”

The 6-3 Ragon has returned after not playing last year, and Luce said he is a “nice surprise” who has “added a toughness to us.”

Luce also said that Hamilton (2.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg) will play a vital role.

“I think DeOndre is the key to our whole season,” Luce said. “He is the one kid that is an unknown that can add baskets from inside and out. I think that he can at times guard the best player on the other team when we have him chase. We do that a lot where we try to take a player out of the game. I think he can do that. He needs to make sure he’s now fouling because he can get himself into a position where he fouls a little bit. But I think you’re going to see him offensively, especially rebounding the basketball and getting to the basket with some pullups, be a huge addition to our team from the JV.”

Besides Akase and Cowan, other juniors include Jude Kammerer and William Mellott. Mellott will provide depth to the backcourt, and Luce described him as a “secondary ballhandler” who can also play shooting guard.

Owen Omondi, a 6-1 sophomore, could provide further depth.

“Owen is going to have a basketball season that would have been different if he hadn’t have had a coming-out football season,” Luce said. “He was outstanding in football. He was special in football, and he brings a lot of that to the basketball floor. He’s going to be a big help for us.”

Another sophomore is Hunter Stage. Freshmen on the varsity include Liam Newcomer, Mason Miller, Ethan Drudge, J.J. Kammerer and Colter Blackburn.

Valley already played all of its opponents in the new Indiana Northern State Conference. The last time Valley played in a conference, they won the Three Rivers Conference in 2022-23.

“Last year, we mythically claimed the conference championship,” Luce said. “We were able to defeat all the teams in our conference in the regular season and felt like we made a presence with those opponents that we need to carry into this season. Now I would say everybody in our conference has improved.

“As I feel like we are now in our third year as a group with our coaching staff and our players that hopefully we have too. So looking forward to that and looking forward to the kids having definitely a trophy to play for and honors for their production on the floor.”

However, they overhauled the nonconference schedule, starting with tonight’s season opener at Homestead. They also added games against Manchester, Culver Academy, Indianapolis Herron, Garrett and Huntington North, and they also added a holiday tournament at Switzerland County on Dec. 27-28.

Meanwhile, they dropped Mishawaka, Morgan Township, Wheeler, Anderson, Lebanon and the Delta holiday tournament.

They will play only nine home games, and they will travel to NorthWood for the sectional, which begins March 4.

Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball schedule

Nov. 27 – at Homestead, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 30 – at Rochester, 2:30 p.m.

Dec. 3 – at Fort Wayne South Side, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 6 – at Knox, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 – vs. Manchester, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 14 – vs. Bremen, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 20 – vs. Peru, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 27-28 – at Switzerland County Tournament (field includes Trinity Lutheran, Cascade, Switzerland County, East Central, Hauser, Hamilton Heights and Paoli)

Jan. 3 – at Plymouth, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 10 – at John Glenn, 6 p.m.

Jan. 18 – vs. Culver Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 25 – at Indianapolis Herron, 12:30 p.m.

Jan. 31 – vs. LaVille, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 6 – vs. Western, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11 – at North Miami, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14 – vs. Jimtown, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 15 – vs. Garrett, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 21 – vs. Huntington North, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 22 – vs. Kokomo, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 25 – at Warsaw, 7:45 p.m.