Tipp survives in closing seconds to earn first win

It was a fourth quarter that saw six lead changes and a one-possession game for the entire final period of play, but when the dust had settled, it was Tippecanoe who escaped with a thrilling 46-43 girls basketball victory over Tecumseh in a non-league contest last week in New Carlisle.

“We talked about the first two games and that we needed to get that first win, so this was a really big deal to us to clinch this one,” Tipp coach Christina Pentaudi said. “We knew it was going to be a battle; it always is between Tecumseh and Tipp.”

“Laney (Cleckner) really stepped up for us offensively tonight, and down the stretch, we put Mady (Turner) on a difficult task and I thought she handled it well, along with Savannah (Clawson), who also did a great job as well.”

Cleckner had 16 to lead Tipp with Post adding 11 in the victory.

Tecumseh opened up a 6-6 tie in the final three minutes of the opening quarter with a pair of threes from Sammy Russell and four points from Colleen Kottmyer to take a five point lead into the second quarter, and held the lead through the end of the first half until the final minute. Cleckner dropped a three and had a steal and layup midway through the quarter to close the Tipp deficit to one point. Then, in the final 2:10 of the half, Emily Aselage knocked down a pair of free throws and Cleckner hit another three before Russell wrapped up the first half scoring with a layup in the final 20 seconds of the half, giving Tecumseh a 26-25 lead at the break.

Russell picked up her fourth foul in the third period before she could come out of the game, and that left Tecumseh hampered with the loss of their top player. But the Arrows held onto the lead in her absence. Tipp connected on 5 out of 8 free throws in the final 3:22 of the third quarter, but could only muster one field goal as they trailed by four heading to the fourth period.

Tipp scored the first six points of the fourth period to take the 40-38 lead with 5:26 left in the game before Russell came back into the game and it was a battle down the stretch.

Courtney Post gave Tipp a 44-43 lead with 2:26 left, and that turned out to be the final field goal of the game for either team. Down the stretch, Tipp went 2-6 at the line, and the Tipp defense held Tecumseh scoreless over the final two minutes to escape with the win.

“We fought to get the lead and continued to fight to maintain the lead,” Pentaudi said. “We ran the floor well and tried to get layups and did a good job with the opportunities.”

Tipp hopes to make this win important in another way this year as there is a good chance the Red Devils could return to this court for their sectional tournament.

“It’s a huge feeling and because of how young we are and how many people have not had the chance to play in here before tonight, it is good to get a win here, which could help us later during the tournament.”