Secrest, Vikings Roll In Opener
AKRON – Anne Secrest made her high school basketball debut one to remember Thursday night.
The Tippecanoe Valley freshman poured in a game-high 23 points as the Vikings bested Bremen 68-42 in the season opener for both teams at Valley.
Secrest, a 6-0 center, led the way as the Vikings rolled to their third straight win over the Lions. Valley opened the season by beating Bremen 64-47 last year. Secrest finished with a double-double in her first prep game, also grabbing 10 rebounds in the win.
The Vikings, coming off a 7-13 season, took the game over with a big third quarter Thursday night. The experienced hosts, who return their top three scorers from last season, outscored Bremen 23-3 in the pivotal period.
Valley led 18-8 after the opening period and had a 38-27 lead at intermission before the huge third stanza made it 61-30.
Junior Caylie Teel, who was the second leading scorer for the Vikings a year ago, had 17 points for the winners.
Senior Cara Hoffman also had a strong game for the Vikings. The standout guard, who earned All-TRC honors last year as the top scorer for coach Chris Kindig’s team, had 13 points in the win.
Senior Kelsey Ball and sophomore Karis Tucker each added five points for Valley in the victory.
Rachael Czarnecki scored 11 points and Jasmine Schafer had nine to pace Bremen, which finished 5-17 last season.
The Vikings are currently without two key players in senior Sara Alexander and junior Taylor Trippiedi. Both players, who were potential starters, are out with knee injuries. Kindig hopes to have both back in about 2-3 weeks.
Valley returns to action by hosting Warsaw on Nov. 22. Bremen hosts Goshen Saturday night.