The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 6, Milford, Kosciusko County, 22 February 1984 — Page 20

Team approach sparks Vikings' success

By TOM CHARLES The emphasis is on team play at Tippecanoe Valley High School this season. And first-year head coach Bob Dußois realizes it is going to take solid performances from the entire squad for his team to fare well in the sectional. “For us to do well, we are going to need a total team effort,” Dußois noted. “We will have to sustain our effort for the entire game, and get good performances from four to six players.” Balance, both on the floor and in Dußois’ appraoch to the game, has enabled Tippecanoe Valley to string together a series of im-

Tippecanoe Valley 1983-84 Season Record TVHS OPP Argos 0 79 60 Rochester 68 59 Triton 66 62 North Miami 80 67 Whitko 72 98 North Wood 75 74 Northfield 95 63 Warsaw 75 79 Southwood 77 73 Wawasee 58 73 Eastern 64 78 Maconaquah 79 66 Manchester 61 80 Lewis Cass 69 78 Culver 78 64 Bremen 56 57 LaVille 68 64

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BUSY BEHIND THE SCENES — The Tippecanoe Valley High School managers put in long hours making sure that the basketball

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pressive wins. The Vikings stood at 10-7 heading into the third weekend of February, up from 6-10 at the same time last year. “We try and go with a balance of good offense and good defense,” said Dußois, whose team does not stand out at one end of the floor. “We work on every phase of the game, but I don’t think we specialize.” “We’ve had our hills and valleys this season,’’ Dußois continued. “But we have learned from them, and I think that we are progessing nicely. We are getting better as a team and the players are maturing as men.” The Vikes started off the season with a bang, winning

seven of their first nine contests. The only losses in that string were a 98-72 loss at Whitko and a 79-75 trimming at the hands of Warsaw. Since that time, the record has not been as impressive. The Vikings are 3-5 in the later portion of their schedule. One of those five losses was a 73-58 defeat at Wawasee. One area of the game which has been impressive the entire season is Valley’s rebounding. Behind the rebounding power of 6’7” senior Jeff Gordon, 6’3” senior Dan Boyer and 6’4” junior Kenny Johnson, the Vikes have enjoyed a rebounding edge in nearly all their contests. Gordon averages 8.4 boards per contest, Boyer averages 7.8 and Johnson grabs 6.6 per game. “Without a doubt, rebounding has been one of our strong points,” Dußois said. Key Perfomers Shad McConkey is the team’s leading scorer with a 15.2 average. The 5’11” senior is also a slick passer and distributes an average of 5.9 assists per contest. He had 12 assists in the Vikings’ win over LaVille. Boyer, in additition to his rebounding skills, has the ability to light up the scoreboard. His 12.8 average is the second highest on the team. The third Viking who aveiages in double figures is senior Greg VanDeWater. He averages 12.6 points and 3.8 assists per contest, but has hit 25 points on three ocassions this season. In last year’s sectional loss, he rustled the nets for 17 tallies. The big man in the middle is 67” Jeff Gordon. His re-

equipment is in working order. Pictured above are managers Troy Hoffman, Rob Yochum, Mark Hughes and Tom Heltzel.

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bounding and ability to work hard on defense have made him an asset to the Vikings. “He fits well into our team concept,” commented Dußois. “He has done a lot of good things for us. He helps out well on defense and works hard on the boards.” The Sectional “Right now I would say that we are pretty much where we had hoped to be at the begiining of the year,” Dußois said. “We could have won some more games if we had been lucky. But then again we could have lost more if we would have been unlucky.” “For us to have a chance

0 ... ■ y In j 1 WfW* AMU 1 X 1 KMuL W V vIB A A, ■lb ® ! AT THE HELM — Pictured above is the coaching staff at Tippecanoe Valley High School. On the left is assistant coach Mike Miller, in the center is head coach Bob Dußois and on the right is assistant coach David Mussche.

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in the sectional we will have to get good play out of four or five of our starters,” he continued. “That is something we haven’t been able to put together yet. We’ll get good nights out of one or two players, but we haven’t'all put it together at the same time.” The Vikings own a 2-2 record against sectional competition. They downed Triton, 66-62, and Rochester, 68-59, early in the campaign. Their two losses came at the hands of Warsaw and Wawasee. “Warsaw has improved a lot since we played them (and lost by four),” Dußois

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remarked. “When you have a trio like Lehmann, Randels and Grose, you have to be considered one of the top ten teams in the state. Wawasee also has an awfully good team.” “Basketball in this area is as good as I’ve seen it,” he concluded. “We have faced a lot of good teams this year.” The Vikings are sinking 44.3 percent of their field goal attempts. That percentage has fluctuated between a low of 36 percent against Wawasee and a high of 52 percent against Northfield. The Vikings are shooting 65.9 percent from the charity stripe.