AKRON — Tuesday night’s girls hoops contest between Wawasee and Tippecanoe Valley provided a preview for next week’s sectional opener between the two county foes. The first meeting was supposed to be an opportunity for both teams to feel each other out but Wawasee would end up feeling numb following a 72-38 dismantling at the hands of the No. 4 ranked Lady Vikings.

Valley wasted no time in showing the Lady Warriors what it was capable of. Meredith Brouyette swished a three to start things off, then repeated that same shot from the same spot just two possessions later. It was 8-0 before Wawasee could even catch its breath and 14-0 in the blink of an eye following a quick timeout. The Lady Warriors did not get their first basket until around the four-minute mark and by that point Valley had already asserted its dominance and set the tone. After one quarter it was a 26-8 Viking advantage.

“We really had not played well the last few games, particularly in the first quarter,” said Valley head coach Chris Kindig. “One of our goals tonight was to come out and establish our game and play the way that we know we’re capable of playing.”

That point became even more clear in the second quarter as Valley opened up a 39-9 lead midway through the frame. The Lady Warriors looked lost and without answers as they continued to run straight at this Lady Viking buzz saw.

By the time the half had rolled around Valley had built a 50-16 lead, highlighted by Anne Secrest’s 21 points. The polarizing junior reeled it in, offensively, after the break and would finish with a game-high 23 points. Wawasee had not given itself a chance to compete with the Lady Vikes as it was shooting just 30-percent and had committed 16 turnovers in the first two quarters.

“This is a big week for us in that we’re trying to build momentum heading into the sectional,” Kindig stated. “We still have a big conference game Thursday so our theme was to play well tonight in order to carry that into Thursday’s game.”

Valley’s offense was able to get easy shots inside all night, but where the Lady Vikings really impressed was defensively. Valley was absolutely dominant with its defensive play as Wawasee struggled to get the ball inside the perimeter at times, let alone the paint. While these two teams will meet again in just seven days in what will surely be a different game all around, Kindig felt he got the looks he wanted Tuesday night.

“One goal that I had tonight was to throw a lot at Wawasee,” Kindig shared. “We switched our defenses quite a bit just to try and get it on film and see how they react. We wanted to get more familiar with their personnel and I think we were really able to do that tonight and still win a basketball game on top of that.”

Valley won the rebound battle 35-24 with Secrest leading all players with nine boards. Addy Miller scored 12 points for the home squad with Meredith Brouyette adding another 10. Hannah Dunn was reliable, yet again, for eight of ehr own points. Sophie Bussard came off the bench to score nine while Olivia Trippiedi and Morgan Brazo also provided solid minutes off the bench to show the strong depth of the Lady Vikings.

Wawasee was led offensively by Aubrey Schmeltz’s 10 points. Hannah Haines and Kylee Rostochak added nine and eight points, respectively. Hannah-Marie Lamle provided a spark off the bench, scoring the team’s first points and finishing her night with a team-high four rebounds as well as adding seven points.

Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman was not reached for comments.

Wawasee (7-14) will travel to Concord Thursday night. Valley (20-1) will look to clinch an outright TRC title at Manchester.

Valley won the JV game 45-32. Kilee Slone led all players with 13 points for Valley. Wawasee was led by Sara Pritchard’s 10 points.