ROCHESTER — It was a senior moment, just not in the traditional sense.

In Saturday’s highly anticipated rematch of the 2015 Class 3A Girls Semi-state Championship between Three Rivers Conference rivals Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester anything was bound to happen. A handful of players on both teams were expected to make the difference, but nobody expected that player to be the one.

In front of a capacity crowd of more than 2,320, in the biggest game of the year, it was the smallest player on Valley’s roster, 5’3″ Karis Tucker, that made the difference. Tucker came off the bench to score 19 points in her team’s 61-51 victory over Class 2A No. 1 Rochester.

“The way Karis Tucker came off the bench and played tonight was unbelievable, just unbelievable,” remarked Valley head coach Chris Kindig.

Tucker injured her knee in the offseason and has been getting acclimated back into the rotation over the past few weeks. Her relentless determination and all-around scrappy play has always been appreciated, but the senior’s performance Saturday night was another level of grit.

“That’s a senior gutting out a rivalry game,” complimented Rochester head coach Tony Stesiak. “Tucker just made senior, tough plays that rivalry games sometimes come down to. Credit that kid, I know that knee is not right yet. She made us pay every time we lost her.”

The Zebras did lose her, far too often and at key times. But Tucker knows she has flown under the radar this year by being injured.

“I was thinking all week about how I’ve missed out on so much of the season,” a relieved Tucker shared. “I wanted to go out and prove myself to everyone and work as hard as I could because it’s my senior year and I don’t have much time left.”

With her team trailing 19-18 with 1:50 in the first half Tucker hit two free throws to give the Lady Vikings a one-point lead that would prove to be the final lead change of the evening. The senior scored the next four points for her team as part of an 8-0 Valley scoring run to end the first half.

Sophie Bussard, another member of Valley’s bench mob, capped that run by hitting two free throws of her own after drawing a shooting foul with just seven-tenths of a second to play. The freshman hit a huge three earlier in the quarter to tie things up at 17 and finished her night with seven points.

Valley, which entered the game ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, had completely stolen all momentum built up by Rochester following an excellent first quarter performance which left the Zebras with a 12-7 lead.

“The start was exactly what we wanted, I think pressuring Valley is the way to go,” said Stesiak. “We had it, the first quarter was there. Both teams got in foul trouble but Valley could absorb it better than we could. Hannah Dunn and Karis Tucker were the X-factors.”

Rochester lost Keaton Stesiak to a foot injury a few weeks ago and lost Emma Dalquist in game due to illness. Valley was able to utilize its deep bench in the close contest.

“This is a team with a lot of experience,” said Kindig. “We made a tournament run last year and we’re 17 games into this season. Even though we’re a fairly young team we still have a lot of experience and I think that helped us tonight.”

A critical third quarter for both teams was highlighted by Dunn and Tucker, who scored 12 of Valley’s 14 points in the frame. Tucker took away Rochester’s chance at final shot with a steal and would give her team a 40-32 lead following a put-back bucket off her own rebound at the buzzer.

Dunn would score all 11 of her points in the second half and stepped up for her team when Secrest sat out much of the fourth quarter in foul trouble. Dunn was able to score all five of her fourth quarter points in the absence of Secrest, including a huge “and one” opportunity to put her team up 12.

Despite Rochester’s numerous attempts to close the gap, Valley never faltered.

With 3:48 remaining Tucker made arguably her best play of the game. The senior ripped a rebound away from Rochester’s 6’2″ center, Kennedy Musselman, under Valley’s basket and turned it into two points. The effort was met with a large roar from the visitors section and left the Zebras trailing 51-38 in front of a now very quiet and defeated home crowd.

While Valley’s win was highlighted by a career night from Tucker, who averaged just five points per game last season, it was a fantastic team effort from every angle.

Six players scored for the Lady Vikings. In addition to Tucker and Dunn’s double-digit efforts, Secrest scored 12 and led the team with nine boards. Brynda Krueger contributed eight points to go along with eight rebounds. Meredith Brouyette added four points. Valley was 20-25 from the line and had 11 team assists, Dunn led the way with four.

Becky Malchow and Alexa Holland respectively led Rochester’s scoring efforts with 15 and 11 points. Musselman led all players with 12 rebounds.

The win snaps a 25-game home winning streak for Rochester (16-1, 5-1) and extends Valley’s road winning streak to 19 games, dating back a Jan. 18, 2014 loss at Rochester.

Valley (16-1, 6-0) travels to Peru Tuesday night.

Valley won the JV contest 39-14 led by Sarah Tucker’s 12 points and Kilee Slone’s 11. Rochester was led by Siera Weathers’ five points.