Tipp girls suffer first loss to Flyers

Stepping outside of the Miami Valley League, the Tippecanoe girls basketball team saw their unbeaten streak come to an end last week. They fell to Marion Local 48-33 in the third game of the Versailles Prosperity Promotions Lady Tiger Classic. It was their first loss of the season as they were playing without the favorite for MVL Player of the Year Abbi Mader. This is her second game missed due to an ankle injury.

Tipp had one player score in double figures, and senior Morgan Sessions put on a good show from the perimeter. She ended the day with 16 points and was the only Tipp player to reach double figures. Sessions had four threes on the day and continued her hot hand from behind the arc. 

Nobody else scored more than four as Mady Turner and Reese Hoover each finished with four points.

Marion Local came out of the gate strong and never looked back in the first half. The Flyers led 12-7 after the opening quarter of play, then dominated the second period with a 16-4 run in the quarter to extend their lead to 28-11 at the half. 

“I was not happy at halftime, I don’t think our effort from top to bottom in the first half was any good,” Tipp coach Brett Kopp said. “We were only down five after one, and it was one of our worst quarters of basketball to date, and we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

“I don’t know what it was in the second quarter…they are big and physical, something we have not really seen. They hit some shots, and we lacked some fundamentals defensively that we are going to have to go back and refresh.”

“If we don’t let this loss become two, three or four, we will be fine.”

The Red Devils came out with a much better effort in the second half, and took it to the Flyers, winning the third quarter 12-7 and the second half 22-20. But Mya Eckstein finished with 18 points to lead everybody as the junior was tough for Tipp to handle and she led Marion Local to the win.

*Also last week, the Red Devils battled with league-foe Stebbins in a conference matchup at Pat Wampler Gymnasium, with Tipp earning a 38-34 victory over the Indians to remain undefeated in conference play. Leading the way for the Red Devils was Post with 14 points, Clawson scored nine, and Turner added eight. Aubrey Fritz led all scorers as she scored 19 for Stebbins.