VIKINGS CRUISE TO EIGHTH STRAIGHT WIN

BY PAUL JANKOWSKI
Times Correspondent
VALPARAISO | File this one under "Taking care of business."
Times No. 2 Valparaiso dominated Highland from the start Saturday night, using 12 players
on its way to a 75-41 non-conference victory at Viking Gym.
The Vikings (16-1) led 20-3 less than six minutes into the game and 23-9 after one quarter,
allowing coach Joe Otis to substitute freely the rest of the way.
Junior guard John Clymer, who struggled Friday night at Chesterton, came back with a
team-high 15 points on 5-of-7 3-point shooting. Brad Karp added 14 points and four
rebounds, while Jerrick Suiter had 10 points and six rebounds.
"We've had guys that were down in Suiter and (Derek) Kennett, and you don't want to
overwork them," said Otis, who played his starters about half the game. "We only have one
game per week from here on out, so now we can pace ourselves."
Valpo played without senior point guard Andy Martin, who suffered a concussion and had to
get a couple stitches on the top of his head after the Chesterton game. Martin took an
inadvertent elbow from 6-foot-10 Mitch McGary, but said he'll be ready to play in the
Vikings' next game Thursday at Lake Central.
Senior Mark Hofferth started in Martin's place, and had a solid game with eight points and
two steals. The Vikings made 10-of-24 3-pointers, as even reserve Jay Doane got into the
act by hitting 2 of 3 from the arc.
Valpo stretched its lead to 50-20 midway through the third quarter on a Clymer 3-pointer,
and doubled the Trojans at 66-33 late in the fourth on a Hofferth jumper.
"Clymer was just on fire," Otis said. "I could have played him more minutes but that would
have been cruel because (Highland) was already deep in the hole."
The Trojans, who suffered a tough double-overtime loss to Bishop Noll on Friday, were led
by Jordan Minch with a game-high 16 points including 10 in the fourth quarter. Keith Mahler
added nine points and Brandon Reyes came off the bench to score eight.
"I've never been 16-1 before," Otis said. "All of my LaPorte teams had at least four
losses. This is a good way to finish the week."