Tipp falls to Carroll for only second loss of season

With only four non-conference games on their schedule, Tipp girls basketball coach Brett Kopp wants to play the best competition available. That was accomplished when Dayton Carroll came to town last week.

The Red Devils only trailed the Patriots by two at the half after a defensive-minded first 16 minutes by both teams. In the second half, Carroll went to another gear and ended up with an impressive 53-30 victory over the Red Devils, sending them to their second loss of the season.

“They were relentless defensively, they are like sharks, they smelled blood,” Kopp said of the pressure defense that held Tipp to only 11 points in the second half. “They turn one turnover into two or three, and it doesn’t hurt that they have a 6-foot D1 basketball player and a couple of soccer players.”

“It is the best team we have seen all year, and it’s not even close.”

Tipp did celebrate the return of sophomore Abbi Mader, the league’s leading scorer, who missed several games due to injury. Even though she was held to one free throw, her presence forced Carroll to defend her as she worked to get her timing and game face back.

“It was her first game back in two weeks,” Kopp said. “She is still a stud, come back in tournament time, I bet she makes those shots. There is no worry when it comes to her. It was rust, and she felt good. She just had a tough night. Those are shots she makes.”

After three ties, Carroll took a 9-7 lead into the second quarter as Liv Hiser had four points and Mady Turner bombed in a three to keep the Red Devils in the game. Early in the second, Tipp took a four-point lead, which at that point was the largest of the game. Savannah Clawson hit a three to open the period. Later Sam Osenko connected on a trey before Eva Snyder, who scored her 1,000th career point in the game, brought Carroll back.

The Patriots took a 21-19 lead at the half, then slowly pulled away in the third period. It was the Eastern Kentucky recruit Healy who took over in the third with eight points in the quarter.

Carroll controlled the second half and pulled away for the win. 

Playing Carroll was very important for Kopp, a team ranked in the top four in the region in Division Three. 

“This was huge,” he said. “We want the four most competitive non-league games we can get. In a couple of years we will have eight (non-league) games and if we are 15-7 (in that format) but we are playing like this, I can live with that.”