Mader sets record in blowout win over Piqua

With good health over the next two and a half years, Tipp sophomore Abbi Mader may find herself in the Tippecanoe girls basketball record books quite often. But for now, she has landed a spot among the greats with her performance over the Christmas break.

Mader broke the school record for consecutive free throws made during a season. She connected on her 22nd straight made free throw against Piqua last week as Tipp dominated the Indians 59-8 to remain unbeaten on the season. 

“We set goals early tonight and wanted to keep them under 10 (points), and when we sit down, we are really good,” Tipp coach Brett Kopp said. “We talked about how we have to take little things in possessions moving forward and go where we want to go.”

“We worked on some 2-3 zone tonight just to see how we want to do it. We are installing different things in timeouts to see how they can handle it.”

They seemed to handle it pretty well, jumping out to a 15-1 lead after the opening quarter, which started quickly when Morgan Sessions connected on a three to open the game. It was all Tipp from there. Mader reeled off six straight points in just over a minute, and Tipp began to build their lead.

Things didn’t change much in the second period as the Red Devils opened with a 23-0 run and nearly shut Piqua out in the quarter until they scored their first field goal of the game with just 26 seconds left until the half. Mader had another big quarter with nine points, Savannah Clawson added four, as did Mady Turner. 

With a running clock in the third quarter, the Red Devils only gave up one free throw while scoring 15 of their own. Clawson knocked down four points over the final two minutes to lead Tipp in the quarter, with Eve McCormick also scoring four.

“Games like this mean there isn’t as much pressure for a girl like Reese Hoover, who is still coming back from a knee injury, getting comfortable,” Kopp said. “Abbi didn’t shoot it well tonight, and we still have to play.”

“Defensively, we want to set the school record for the least amount of points given up on the season, and that is our goal.”

Tipp is now 9-0 on the season, and Kopp looks ahead to the second half of the year, knowing there are still things to clean up.

“Offensive rebounding percentage, I don’t think we are where we need to be,” he said. “Basketball may be the simplest game in the world, not to overcomplicate it, and if you do the little things trivial really well, you will have a lot of success doing it.”

Tipp also defeated Sidney 67-19, to improve to 10-0 on the season. Mader led Tipp with 30 points, Turner scored 12, with Hiser and Hoover each scoring eight.

*With the win, Tipp now stands at 988 wins for their history, 12 from the prestigious 1,000-win mark only accomplished by one other school in Ohio history. Fort Loramie had 1,003 heading into this season. Berlin Hiland sat at 998 as of this writing. They were on schedule to break it December 30 with two more wins.