By Baylen Hite
News Now Warsaw
DENVER — Seven of the nine Tippecanoe Valley wins this season have been by 15 points or more. On Friday night, North Miami (4-4) made sure they wouldn’t be the next team on that list as Tippecanoe Valley hung on to secure a 58-47 victory against the Lady Warriors.
How it Happened
Throughout the night, North Miami challenged Valley’s defensive capability. The Lady Warriors posted 20 points in the first half alone. That mark was just 10 points shy of what Valley (10-1) was allowing to teams throughout an entire game.
The Vikings found ways to stay ahead and Kelsey Cox was a big reason for that. The senior forward had a career-high 16 points 12 of which came in the 1st half.
“Kelsey (Cox) was great for us all night, she was able to rebound and score consistently,” said coach Chris Kindig after the win.
In the 2nd half though the Vikings turned to Ava Egolf who finished with a team best 18 points.
She was needed in the fourth quarter after North Miami opened the quarter on a 11-2 run to cut the Valley lead to just 47-45. Egolf stepped up and nailed a three-pointer to give the Vikings a much needed cushion with just 3:35 left in the game.
Tippecanoe Valley closed out the final 3 minutes on a 11-2 run to close out their former TRC foe.
North Miami’s Kaiden Hanley scored 25 points, which marks the most an individual had scored against Tippecanoe Valley all season. Those 47 points is also the most the Lady Vikings have given up in one game this season.
“We found a way to win, I wasn’t as happy with our defense but this was a tough environment and we found a way to get it done,” Kindig said.
Valley Scoring
Ava Egolf – 18 points | Kelsey Cox – 16 points (Career High) | Ava Smith – 8 points | Chesnee Miller – 7 points | Carlee Snyder – 5 points | Dalynne Bussard – 4 points
Next Matchup
The Lady Vikings get a few days off before visiting an improved Winamac squad on Thursday. You can listen to that game on 107.3 WRSW with the legendary Rita Price.
