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Tri-Village
senior Tyler Cook had a big game Friday at Bethel. Cook
dropped in 25 points to
lead the Patriots to a 62-40 victory over
Bethel in a Cross County Conference clash. The
Patriots remain perfect
with a 16-0 record and are ranked third in the
state in D-IV. CNO file
photo
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Tri-Village
exterminates Bees in The Hive
Pats closer to conference title
By George Starks
TIPP CITY- Led by senior Tyler Cook’s 25-point performance Friday, the
Tri-Village Patriots got one step closer to clinching a Cross County
Conference crown.
The Patriots, ranked third in D-IV, marched through the Bee Hive and
came out untouched, blasting Bethel 62-40 in Cross County Conference
action.
The three keys to beating the (7-1 CCC record) Bees were very simple.
Rebounding, playing solid defense and hitting a good percentage from
the field.
The Patriots did all three and it started with defense.
The mission was to stop, or at least slow down, the two big Bethel guns
in junior Patrick Bain and senior Gus Schweiterman.
With Matt Werner on Bain and Kyle Pipenger on Schweiterman, the Bees
deadly duo was held to a combined 12 points and was scoreless in the
first half.
“We held two good players down,” said Patriots coach Josh Sagester.
“When you hold those two guys to 12 points, you’re going to win
basketball games. “
The Tri-Village defense held the Bees to only 16 second half points,
four in the fourth frame.
Trailing 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, the Patriots offense
took control.
With eight lead changes and two ties in the first half, the Patriots
led 29-24 at the break but Tri-Village got a big boost when Werner hit
a shot at the buzzer, giving the Patriots a big boost of momentum going
into the locker room in a see-saw first half.
“That was a big shot for us,” said Sagester. “We’d get a layup and
they’d get it back then we’d get it back. Give Bethel credit, they
played hard. The Bozarth kid (Aaron) came up big for them in the first
half. He hit four three’s in the first half. He stepped up in a big
atmosphere and hit some perimeter shots. I thought our kids were
resilient. I thought one thing we showed was very good composure. It
was good game experience and we had good leadership. I was proud of our
kids tonight.”
With the focus of the Bethel defense spotted on Pipenger as Bethel
played zone, man and a diamond and one on the senior, it was Cook that
made hay in the opening 16 minutes.
The senior post player made good use of the left side of the block,
scoring 12 of his 25 in the first half, including the first eight
points for the Patriots cause.
“He is a horse down there,” said Sagester. “They (Bethel) came out in a
man-to-man and we did a really good job of executing our set. They went
into a little diamond and one on Kyle and the kids did a good job of
finding Tyler. He played a really phenomenal game for us.”
Pipenger was held to four first quarter points but finished with 16,
the other dozen all in the fourth quarter.
When the Bees were concentrating on Cook and Pipenger, it was Shade
Brubaker that found the bottom of the net from three point range.
Bottom line; there weren’t enough Bees to cover the hive on this night.
From the charity stripe, the Patriots hit 17 of 18 shots while the Bees
were a dismal 4 of 14 on the night.
In addition, the Patriots saw Brubaker scoring 13 in support of Cook
and Pipenger.
Tri-Village, 16-0, will travel to Twin Valley South on Tuesday in
another big CCC game.
The Patriots will have two more conference games remaining after
Tuesday, starting with Ansonia on Friday and Newton to round out the
conference portion of their schedule.
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