The Valparaiso Vikings (9-2, 2-0) faced some tough opposition from the visiting Lake Central Indians in a boys’ varsity conference game Friday night at Valparaiso High School.
Both teams showed strong defense, with Valpo jumping ahead of the Indians 10-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Vikings managed to hold on to that lead through the rest of the game, despite a strong fourth-quarter push from their Duneland Athletic Conference rivals.
It was a close matchup of fierce rivals that saw the gap narrow to as little as one point, before #33 Mason Jones caught a foul and hit both free throws to help his team pull away from the Indians in the ending moments of the game.
Those were just some of Jones’ outstanding moments in the evening’s game, in addition to connecting on 5 of 7 field goal attempts for a total of 11 points in the game. Close on his heels was #5, Clay Maclagan, who put up 10 points of his own to help propel the Vikings ahead of Lake Central (9-5, 2-1).
Despite going home winless, the Indians put up a very strong showing in the matchup, with an aggressive offense in the last quarter, which added 17 points to their side of the scoreboard, thanks largely to #24, Kyle Ross, with his own string of 2-point field goals in the fourth quarter, just part of his stunning 15 points total for the game.
Next up, the Vikings will host Merrillville (4-7, 1-2) January 29 at 7 p.m. for a conference game. Lake Central faces yet another uphill battle against a Region powerhouse when they make the trip up to Chesterton to play the Trojans (11-1, 2-0), in another conference matchup this Friday.
