BOONE GROVE | Valparaiso may be marching with a different drummer, but the beat hasn't changed.
It's just gotten a little faster.
The Times No. 1 Vikings welcomed new coach Joe Otis by dominating Boone Grove 89-52 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
"It's certainly exciting to be back in it," said Otis, a 1970 Valpo grad who hasn't coached since leaving LaPorte in 2002. "I still got game as a coach.
"I have a great coaching staff -- Ben Lieske, Matt Thomas and Brent Kimmel - that covered this team through the summer until the school year. I'm just the caretaker."
The cupboard certainly wasn't bare when Chris Benedict returned to Columbia City after just two seasons guiding the Vikings. Otis inherited a team that lost just two players, Hayden Humes and Kyle Jacques, from last year's 20-4 squad.
The Vikings (1-0) got out to a fast start, breaking out to a 28-10 lead after one quarter. The 89 points is the most since Valpo scored 91 in the 2003-04 season opener, also at Boone.
"We haven't changed much," Otis said. "I've played my share of deliberate basketball when I've had to. We're just doing things faster."
Senior forward Brad Karp led five players in double figures with 18 points.
Jerrick Suiter, back in action after undergoing hernia surgery during football season, added 15 points. Rick Freeman came off the bench to score 14 on 6-of-7 shooting, while Derek Kennett scored 11 and Adam Butterfield 10. Junior John Clymer added nine off the bench on three 3-pointers.
"Freeman and Clymer really burned them," Otis said. "Freeman just had two really solid halves."
The Vikings shot 62.5 percent (35 of 56) and outrebounded Boone 34-23 while holding the Wolves to 19 of 47 shooting (40.4 percent). The 28-10 lead ballooned to 46-22 at the half.
For Boone, Michael Eleftheri scored 13 points, but had only five in the first half.
"The worst possible thing that could happen, happened," Boone coach Matt McKay said of the early deficit. "It was 18-12 and 19-14 in the middle two quarters, and that's playing with them. But we just got too far down early."
BOYS BASKETBALL
No. 1 Valparaiso 89, Boone Grove 52
Brad Karp had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Vikings.
