Senior Robby Groom led Valley with 16 points in their 54-52 win over Warsaw Wednesday night (Photos by Scott Davidson)

AKRON – Ben Shriver hustled his way into the hero’s role for the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team Wednesday night.

Shriver’s putback bucket at the final horn lifted the host Vikings to a thrilling 54-52 victory over county rival Warsaw in the season lid lifter for both squads.

Shriver’s terrific rebound hoop, his lone basket of the contest, came off a miss on a drive by teammate Tanner Andrews.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Shriver, one of five seniors for the Vikings. “Honestly, we do a lot of rebounding drills in practice where we work on that. It’s definitely a cool experience to win a game like that.”

The game winning shot capped a crazy contest that featured a little bit of everything, including a pair of technical fouls.

Valley, which had lost its last six meetings versus Warsaw, outscored the Tigers 21-15 in the fourth quarter to claim the win. Warsaw still leads the all-time series by a commanding 29-6 count. The Vikings last beat the Tigers 63-59 during the 2006-07 season.

Jordan Stookey tossed in a game-high 24 points for the Tigers.

The win, coupled with a 57-50 victory by the girls team last Friday night at home, gives Valley wins over Warsaw by both of its basketball programs in the same year for the first time ever.

Shriver’s tremendous play came after Warsaw’s Nate Pearl  hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to tie the game at 52-52. Shriver had hit two free throws with 44.1 seconds to play to give his team a 50-46 lead before Peyton Long  hit a trey for Warsaw with 30 seconds left.

“Most kids would have stood back there and watched, but Ben hustled his rear end off to make that basket,” said Valley coach Bill Patrick. “That was nothing but a hustle play.”

Senior guard Robby Groom led Valley with 16 points, including seven in the final period. The Vikings, who lost 72-64 at Warsaw last season, hit 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.

The free throw line was huge for the hosts. Valley, which finished 20-4 last year and won a Class 3-A sectional title, hit 16-22 from the line in the win. Warsaw, which was 13-11 and won a Class 4-A sectional championship last season, was just 6-8 from the line.

Warsaw was whistled for 23 fouls with starters Paul Marandet and Jake Mangas both fouling out of the somewhat physical affair. The Vikings picked up 12 fouls in the contest.

Senior Jordan Stookey canned a game-high 24 points to lead Warsaw.

“That was a heck of a hustle play by Shriver,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “That last play was broken from the beginning.  We had bad defense from everyone on that play.

Rashaan Jackson talks to teammate Jordan Stookey.

“I thought that Valley was better than us. They were more solid. We were courageous in hitting those threes by Peyton and Nate to get back in it. Jordan did a good job offensively and that was a positive. Nate’s play was a positive too.”

Warsaw used a 13-1 run to take a 13-4 lead after the opening period. The Tigers were up just 25-21 at halftime due in large part to 11 turnovers in the opening half.

“We should have been up more than four at halftime,” Ogle said. “We had too many squandered opportunities in the first half.  Valley’s interior offense was better than our interior defense in the second half.”

Warsaw still led 37-33 after three quarters. Stookey, the most experienced player back for the Tigers, scored 18 of his team’s 24 points in the second and third periods of play.

Valley coach Bill Patrick shares his opinion with official Steve Chamness.

“We took bad shots early and we told our kids at halftime that they can’t play worse than they did and we were only down four,” Patrick said. “We played better in the second half. This is a game that I thought we should have won easier. We have more experience and talent than Warsaw does. They played well.”

Junior Chainey Zolman scored 14 points and Andrews and senior Logan Britton 10 each for the Vikings.

Pearl netted 13  points for the Tigers. Rashaan Jackson and Long each added six.

Warsaw won the junior varsity contest 43-18. Lucas Cone scored 12 points and Luke Wilson eight for the Tigers. Alec Craig led Valley with six points.

Warsaw plays at Columbia City Saturday night. Valley travels to Argos Tuesday. Columbia City won at Whitko 49-31 and Argos posted a 49-46 victory at Bremen in openers Wednesday night.

Warsaw’s Darren Walcott walks off the court as Valley celebrates in the background Wednesday night.