Secrest The Savior In Valley Rally
AKRON – Time and time again Friday night, Anne Secrest had the ball in her hands with an opportunity. The Tippecanoe Valley junior made most of them count, especially in the fourth quarter, as the Vikings rallied to beat Warsaw 45-42 in girls buckets.
Secrest had 11 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, had a huge block late and came up with the decisive steal in the waning seconds. Overall, Secrest had 14 rebounds, six blocks, two steals and was the catalyst in what was a six-point Warsaw lead at the half.
“We kind of expect that from her now,” said Tippecanoe Valley head coach Chris Kindig of Secrest. “I think this year she has taken another step forward. You kind of expect those performances out of her. But you have to give our team credit. I thought they did a good job in the second half of looking for her inside.
“That’s just the way she is. She plays hard and obviously is a really great basketball player for us.”
Secrest opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back and-one opportunities. After making the first three-point play, Secrest missed the second chance, but got her own offensive rebound. Secrest then found Hannah Dunn for the easy lay-in, and it was 38-32 Valley.
Warsaw would battle back and take the lead at 42-40 when Dayton Groninger hit a three. After a Meredith Brouyette free throw cut the lead to one, Secrest would get an offensive rebound and putback to reclaim the lead for Valley. Secrest would get two blocks in the final minute, the second on a driving layup by Lauren Shaffner.
With Warsaw holding the ball, down one, with 5.7 seconds to go, an inbounds pass ended up sailing into Secrest’s hands. The junior then hit the final two free throws for the final score, giving Valley its third straight win against Warsaw in the series.
“This is a big game for our girls,” Kindig said. “The girls were ready to play. I think maybe they were too hyped about it. For us, it’s a local rivalry but they aren’t in our class anymore, not in our sectional anymore. So, we are just going to enjoy this one and get ready for Tuesday night.”
Hannah Dunn had nine points and six rebounds and Brynda Krueger finished with seven points and three rebounds for the home side.
Valley, ranked No. 6 in Class 3-A, moves to 3-0 with a home date Tuesday in the Three Rivers Conference against Maconaquah.
Warsaw, on the other hand, falls to 0-3 this season. After a pair of tough road losses at Huntington North and Fort Wayne Luers, Warsaw edged closer to its first win, which was the focal point for coach Michelle Harter.
“I truly believe that we outplayed them in every aspect,” Harter said. “We just didn’t finish down the stretch when we needed to finish. Those are things with a young team, which we are, with juniors, sophomores and freshmen on the team. We talk about varsity experience and down the clutch and leading.
“We are going to continue to get better. We have made tremendous strides here in the first week. This is a completely different team that stepped on the floor Saturday night against Huntington North. That’s the nice thing with this team. They are just going to continue to get better.”
Groninger led Warsaw with 14 points, four rebounds and four steals. Kenzie Welk had a good night with eight points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds and Maddie Graham and Mariah Rivera each finished with six points.
Warsaw will open its home schedule Saturday night hosting a 5-1 Noblesville team that scored 83 points in a blowout win against Brownburg Friday night.
Warsaw dominated the JV contest in a 48-17 victory. Kenzie Martz, Maddie Ryman and Kerigan Hatfield each had 10 points for the Tigers while Taniesha Brown had 10 points for the Vikings.