Tipp earns huge MVL win over Trojans

A 9-0 run early in the second quarter opened up a close Miami Valley League rivalry matchup last week. That run propelled Tippecanoe to a 56-42 victory over Troy as the Red Devils stay within one game of the division lead.

CJ Bailey led the Red Devils with 23 points, including five long range three-point shots. Preston Zumwalt, who has picked up his scoring lately, added 13, and Jackson Davis added eight.

“I thought we answered the call tonight physically,” Tipp coach Brock Moon said. “They have two big athletic kids. We are undersized but did a tremendous job on the boards.”

Both teams battled in the opening period with five leads changes. It was never more than a two point game until the final 30 seconds when Bailey hit a pair of free throws following Larkin Thomas’ three. That pushed the Red Devils lead to 13-9 after the opening period.

Troy scored early in the second before Tipp reeled off nine consecutive points with four from Bailey and a big three from Davis to push their lead to 22-11 with 3:52 left in the half.

The Trojans cut into the deficit with a quick run of five points, and with 2:27 left, they trailed by six. But the Tipp defense held the Trojans scoreless for the rest of the half, and threes from Bailey and Zumwalt took the Tipp lead out to 28-16 at the half.

“From Preston’s second half at Butler with 11 points, then he scored 17 and 13 before scoring 14 tonight, he is the Robin to our Batman that we need,” Moon said. “He is huge for us and gives us another threat from the outside, and you can’t key just on CJ.”

The Red Devils maintained their double-figure lead in the third quarter even when Troy looked like they wanted to get back in the game. Bailey hit a three to put Tipp back in front 34-19, then following a pair of threes from Troy to cut their deficit to nine points, it was back-to-back threes from Zumwalt and AJ Jergens to give Tipp their cushion.

*Tipp also defeated Xenia last week 67-46 as Turner led three players in double figures with 17 points, Bailey added 16 and Thomas added 14.