If the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings were riding high off their 70-30 takedown of the Rochester Zebras last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Tippecanoe Valley fell just short of Muncie Central by a score of 55-53.
Tippecanoe Valley's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Riley Shepherd, who scored 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Stephen Akase, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Leading Muncie Central to victory were Lj Strange and DeMarkis Cole. Strange scored 15 points, while Cole scored 16 points. That makes it six consecutive games in which Cole has scored at least 25% of Muncie Central's points. Another player making a difference was Xaviya Cook, who scored eight points along with three steals.
Tippecanoe Valley's loss dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Muncie Central, their win bumped their record up to 3-4.
Tippecanoe Valley and Fort Wayne South Side will round out the year against one another at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday at. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Indiana (Fort Wayne South Side is ranked 159th, while Tippecanoe Valley is ranked 139th). Muncie Central will be staying on the road on Wednesday to face off against Northeastern at 6:30 p.m. on December 27th. Hopefully Northeastern focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 24 on Wednesday.
