Bailey leads Tipp past Stebbins stays unbeaten

Tippecanoe CJ Bailey scored a game high 26 points. This included four threes to help lead the Tippecanoe boys basketball to s 69-39 victory over Stebbins last Friday night on the road in Riverside.

With the win, the Red Devils improve to 4-0 overall with all four wins coming in the Miami Valley League.

Tipp had a slow start as Stebbins took the early lead thanks to some early success from behind the arc. A pair of threes by the Indians allowed them to take an 8-2 lead just two minutes into the game.

“It was not a great start defensively, we just missed assignments, and we are allowing things to happen that we shouldn’t let happen,” Tippecanoe coach Brock Moon said. “Once we settled in and locked in a little bit, we had a good run. I told the guys afterward that we can’t have a lapse like that. It wasn’t anything when it was 8-2 that I felt super worried, but we need to get locked into where we were and make sure we understand what the assignment was.”

Tipp understood the assignment, as Larkin Thomas, CJ Bailey, and David Alvarez all hit consecutive threes over a span of three minutes. Tipp quickly turned things around and took an 11-8 lead. Tipp ran off those nine consecutive points and bounced back and ran off five from Bailey. This included a “Caitlin Clark” range three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter, giving Tipp a 16-10 lead.

Things continued to stay hot for the Red Devils, as they scored the first five points of the second period and 9 of the first 11 to push their lead to 25-12. Thomas was the major culprit with six of those points and a three from Preston Zumwalt.

As the first half came to a close, both teams were scoreless in the final two minutes of the half as Tipp headed into the half with a 29-14 lead.

Bailey put together a solid third quarter as Tipp maintained and added to their lead. The Tipp junior scored eight points in the period. The Red Devils used a 17-11 advantage to put the game out of reach heading to the fourth where Tipp finished off the Indians.

In addition to Bailey’s 26 points, Thomas added 14 and Zumwalt eight.

“I thought CJ had a great game. He scored buckets for us when we needed them to extend some runs and hold off some of their runs,” Moon said. “He also played well defensively and grabbed some rebounds.”