FORT WAYNE – Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball coach Bill Patrick got his 700th career win with a 57-40 home win over Fairfield on Friday at the Winning Edge Holiday Tourney.

Patrick is 700-275 in 44 years of coaching, the last 15 at Tippecanoe Valley. He has 222 wins with the Vikings and had 478 in 29 years at Whitko. Until 2009, Patrick had never endured a losing season. “It means you’ve been doing it for a while, I guess,” Patrick said. “I’ve been fortunate healthwise to be able to coach that long and that many games.”

Tippecanoe Valley (7-1) led 16-9 after the first quarter and never looked back. Nick Kindig scored 12 points and Tanner Andrews added 11 for the Vikings.

Patrick becomes the fifth coach in state history to get at least 700 wins. Cloverdale’s Pat Rady is the only other active coach to achieve the feat. Retired coach Jack Butcher is the all-time leader at 806.