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Tri-Village
junior Tyler Cook shoots over Northeastern’s Andy Scripture
(24) Saturday at
Northeastern. Cook netted 17 points and had 13
rebounds as the Patriots got a tough 71-62
overtime win. CNO Photos by
Dale Barger, tvpatriots.com
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Patriots pushed to
their limit in Indiana
Northeastern proves tough opponent
By George Starks
Sports Editor
FOUNTAIN CITY, IN.- Tri-Village improved to 10-3 on the season Saturday
night but getting there wasn’t easy. The Patriots needed overtime
before posting a 71-62 victory over the Northeastern Wayne (In.)
Knights.
The Patriots used a stellar offense in the extra four minutes,
outscoring Northeastern 13-4 to drop the loss on the Knights.
“We didn’t play our best tonight,” said Patriots coach Josh Sagester.
“This is Indiana basketball and I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
They played hard and made some shots and they battled.”
Tri-Village jumped out to a 20-12 first quarter lead over the Knights
and looked to blow the host team right out of their own gym.
Northeastern wasn’t about to allow that to happen.
“I thought we were pretty close to taking them out early in the game,”
Sagester said. “They would hit a three, bank one in and were hanging
around and they played very hard.”
Northeastern started chipping away at the Patriots lead in the second
quarter, closing the gap to a 34-30 count at the break. Two points
seemed to be the theme for the Knights. Outscoring the Patriots by two
in the third. Northeastern trailed by a 50-48 score and had it tied
58-58 at the end of regulation.
In what is considered to be a rough physical battle, it’s the kind of
play the Pats don’t see in Ohio but in the Hoosier State, it’s common
and Northeastern pushed the Patriots to the edge before allowing the
visitors from across the line to pull away.
“I really thought our kids found a way to win tonight,” Sagester
admitted. “I didn’t think we played exceptionally well. We turned the
ball over twice with 40 some seconds and then we get to the overtime
and I thought we stepped it up and made the big plays.”
Led by Kyle Pipenger with 24 points, Tyler Cook netted 17 with 13
boards while Shade Brubaker added 12 in support. The Pats also got
eight points each from senior Evan Barger and point guard Matt Werner.
“We had great contributions across the board,” Sagester said of his
team. “I thought our big play of the game was when we went to the 1-3-1
and brought Andrew Wilcox out front. He picked up a foul and caused
some havoc but he was a key player for us tonight. He created a tempo
because they were up four with about four minutes to go and they looked
to put it in the freezer quicker than I thought and we had to do
something to stir it up”
In the overtime, it was Werner who got it going with a three, opening
up a 63-58 lead. Before the Knights knew what had happened, Tri-Village
had put some distance between them and Northeastern.
“That three by Werner was huge in the OT,” said Sagester. “Tyler was
huge for us also. He was out there cleaning the glass. We turned Wilcox
loose and he kind of plays with reckless abandon but he’s a big player
for us.”
On defense, the Patriots shutdown the Knights big gun, Andy Scripture.
The Northeastern junior averages 19 points per game, on this night, he
was held to just six.
“I thought we did a really good job on Scripture tonight,” Sagester
said. “If you would have told me they were going to get 62 tonight and
he was only going to get six, I don’t know if I would have believed it.”
Tri-Village went 16 of 26 from the charity stripe but was a perfect six
of six from the line in the overtime.
Tri-Village will host Covington Tuesday night in a rescheduled game
from the Friday weather cancellation.
The Patriots also won the junior varsity game, 47-45.
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Tri-Village
junior Kyle Pipenger drives to the bucket for two of his game high 24
points against Northeastern Saturday.
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