Falcons stun Vikings, move on to sectional semis
KNOX — Glenn’s boys basketball team came into Tuesday night’s game against Tippecanoe Valley as a huge underdog, but this is the postseason now and anything can happen.
And what happened during the Class 3A Sectional 18 opener at Knox HS was the Falcons clamped down on TV’S leading scorer, had four players in double figures themselves - including 11 from reserve Carson Krueger - and made a game’s worth of free throws in the fourth quarter to stun the 11th-ranked Vikings, 68-55, at Weinberg Gymnasium to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
“That was a great team win for us,” said Glenn head coach Travis Hannah. “We rebounded well and we got off to a quick start. That was a big thing.”
TV won by 12 in the regular season meeting, but the Falcons quickly showed the rematch would end differently. Glenn was, by far, the more locked in team during the first quarter and used a 12-0 run to take an early 14-4 lead. The Vikings’ man defense chose to sag off Joey Shoue and Krueger when he came in, and the pair responded with half of the team’s points in that initial period.
Krueger would end up hitting a triple in each of the first three quarters and finished with 11 points for the game.
“Carson stepped up and played a heck of a game,” added Hannah. “We need that. We knew they were going to sag off him and Joey. Carson knew he would have to be that guy and he stepped up and played that role (as a scorer).”
Playing mostly zone in the opening period, Glenn held the Vikings to just one field goal. If not for a 5-for6 effort from the foul line for TV, the gap would have been more than 14-8 heading to the second frame.
The Vikings got back in the game with a 10-1 run in the second stanza and lead 18-17. The lead changed hands three times after that and also had three ties, the last being 24-all by halftime.
Glenn took control for good in the third period, using a 6-0 spurt, then another 10-0 flurry as part of a 20-point quarter and led by 13 heading to the final frame. Brycen Hannah scored eight of his teamhigh 22 points in the period and Krueger had five.
TV pressed the entire fourth quarter, but the Falcons handled it well for the most part. The gap never got below 10 and reached as high as 17. In the final five minutes, Glenn hit 14 free throws out of 20 attempts to seal the victory.
“Against a team like that, that shoots the ball so well from the outside, you never feel like you are too far ahead,” Hannah said. “We handled the press, made our free throws and that was it.”
Besides Krueger and Hannah, Noah Dreibelbeis and Chase Miller were also in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively. When playing man defense,
Dreibelbeis was assigned to Nolan Cumberland (18 ppg). TV’S leading scorer finished with just eight points, none coming in the second and third quarters.
“If they need a bucket (Cumberland) is who they go to,” Hannah said. “They shoot the ball from the perimeter well normally. We gave up a couple wide open shots that we shouldn’t have, but for the most part we rebounded well and that is a key for us, not giving them extra opportunities.”
Valley’s Tayde Kiser went off for 25 points, but no other Viking hit double digits. TV had more 3s than Glenn (7-3) and also made 14-of-18 from the charity stripe. The Falcons ended up with 21 makes on 31 attempts from the foul line though, hitting 15 of 23 in the fourth quarter alone.
Glenn will now be in the heavy-favorite role when it faces Bremen (2-20) in the second semi Friday tipping off around 8 p.m. (ET). Culver Academy takes on Knox in the first game at 6:30.
• GLENN 68, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 55
Class 3A Sectional 18
At Knox
GLENN: Chase Miller 3 5-6 11, Noah Dreibelbeis 5 4-7 14, Joe Chrapliwy 1 3-5 5, Ty Larkin 0 1-2 1, Brycen Hannah 7 7-8 21, Joey Shoue 2 1-3 5, Carson Krueger 4 0-0 11. TOTALS: 22 21-31 68. TIPPECANOE VALLEY: Cooper Walls 1 0-0 3, Tayde Kiser 8 6-6 25, Riley Shepherd 3 1-2 9, Nolan Cumberland 3 1-2 8, Stephen Akase 1 3-4 5, Dylan Neese 0 2-2 2, Kyler Johnson 1 1-2 3, Ian Cooksey 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 14-18 55.
Score by quarters
Glenn 14 24 44 68
Valley 8 24 31 55 3-pointers: Glenn 3 (Krueger 3), Tippecanoe Valley 7 (Kiser 3,
Shepherd 2, Cumberland, Walls). Fouls (fouled out): Glenn 15 (none), Tippecanoe Valley 23 (none) Records: Glenn 14-10, Tippecanoe Valley 18-6 (final)