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Kyle
Pipenger drives to the bucket against Emmanuel Christian Saturday
in the opening
round of the boys sectional tournament in Troy. The
Patriots rolled to an 83-48 victory over the
Lions. Pipenger netted 19
on the night. CNO Photos by Dylan Knoop
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Lions no match
for Patriots
By George Starks
TROY- First game sectional jitters for any team aren’t unusual. Even
for the best of teams.
Saturday, it was no different for Tri-Village in its opening game
against Emmanuel Christian at Troy. Getting off to a slow start in the
first quarter, Tri-Village held a slim 22-12 after one frame.
That 10 point advantage bloomed into an 83-48 victory over the Lions.
Led by Shade Brubaker, 23 points, Tyler Cook, 20 points and Kyle
Pipenger, 19 points, it was the lack of intensity that had Patriots
head Coach Josh Sagester’s attention.
“We were a bit sluggish and not a lot of intensity on the ball,” said
Sagester after the victory. “The last couple of minutes in the first
half I thought we picked it up and obviously the first three minutes of
the third quarter. I thought we did a nice job of sharing the
basketball and getting everybody involved. They (EC) came out with the
little run and jump and I thought we defended it well.”
Going into the locker room with a commanding 42-24 lead, the Patriots
blew it open in the third quarter, leading 68-37 before posting the 35
point win.
“I don’t think this was by any chance our best performance,” Sagester
said. “You take games like this just to get the jitters out and be
ready to play on Wednesday. “
The ability to protect the ball was the biggest difference on this
night when Emmanuel Christian dropped nine three pointers to the seven.
In the turnover department, the Patriots only committed nine on the
night, three in the second half. On the flip side, the Lions had 20
miscues.
“Overall, I thought we handled the ball well,” Sagester admitted. “Our
guards did a nice job distributing and the post guys were pretty good.
Shade Brubaker was good taking perimeter shots and spreading their
defense.”
On the offensive boards the Patriots were well in control pulling down
14 and converting on seven of those.
“We talked in the locker room about our size advantage and the fact we
had to take advantage of that,” Sagester stated. “Teams that get the
easiest baskets usually get the most tournament wins and that’s what I
thought we did at times.”
Next up for Tri-Village will be the 6-14 Yellow Springs Bulldogs
Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
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Tri-Village’s
Shade Brubaker squares up for one of his triples Saturday
in sectional action.
Brubaker knocked down five three pointers and led
all scorers with 23 points.
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