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Tri-Village
senior Krystal Falknor will be a huge part of the Lady
Patriot success in 2014.
Tri-Village lost over 2,000 points in scroring
from a year ago to graduation and Falknor will look to lead the
Patriots back down the road to success. CNO file photo
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Lady Patriots
gearing up for another title run
Miami East still the team to beat
By George Starks
NEW MADISON - With the start on the 2014 basketball season quickly
approaching, the Tri-Village Lady Patriots are getting themselves
primed for another shot at a Cross County Conference run.
Standing in the way are the Beasts from the East… Miami East.
“Miami East will always be the team to beat,” said Patriots coach Brad
Grey. “Until someone can step up and knock them off, they are the team
with the target on their backs.”
In the past two years, Tri-Village has lost 4,000 points to graduation.
Two years ago, it was Kayla Linkous. A year ago, Patriot nation lost
Shea Thomas and Teha Richards, both thousand point scorers.
With the return of Crystal Falknor, Echo Brown, Lexi Bruner and Reah
Mikesell, a lot of things seem to remain up in the air at Tri-Village.
“We’re not sure what we’ve got right now,” said Grey. “We’ve had some
ups and downs after losing the two guards we lost last season. The big
thing we have to look at is, how does the loss of those two affect the
team this year? We are still trying to figure out our identity a little
bit. I’ve been very encouraged by what I’ve seen in scrimmages up to
this point. We still got some kids that are very competitive and that’s
a good thing to have. They know they have to put the time and effort in
rather than just showing up with their jerseys on that says Tri-Village
and thinking they are going to roll over and play dead. It’s not going
to happen. I like the intensity the kids are playing with right now.”
With the loss of Thomas and Richards, it will be Falknor that the team
will fall back on. Playing the post, Falknor can and should dominate
most of her competition.
“At six foot in height, she is a presence in the middle,” said Grey.
“She can shoot the ball extremely well. She is versatile and that plays
in our favor. When you have a six footer, you usually put her on the
block but because of her versatility, we can move her around a little
bit and other teams can’t sag off of her. I’m assuming most teams will
guard her with their big and when we can bring her out on the perimeter
and that will bring their big defender out and will open up the lane
for us. That will allow others to penetrate the lane. From 15 feet,
Crystal doesn’t miss very often. I expect her to be a thousand point
scorer when it’s all said and done.”
Along with the threat of Falknor from outside, Bruner will look to be a
deadly force for the Patriots. With Echo Brown, the Pats are going to
be tough to handle.
“Lexi can spot up and shoot the ball,” Grey stated. “Echo is going to
surprise people this year. She’s going to be a kid the either
defensively or offensively is going to be a tone setter for us. Last
year she was flying under the radar playing with Thomas and Richards as
well as Falknor.”
As with any successful basketball team, it all starts with the point
guard and that will be the job put on Mikesell’s shoulders.
“She is a junior but has lettered at the varsity level her freshman and
sophomore years,” said Grey. “This year, she will be in a starting role
and she’s going to be the piece that will determine if we’re going to
have a successful season or not. If she can run the point successfully,
she has a lot of weapons around her. Her outside shot has improved
tremendously. She can create in the paint so we will be depending a lot
on her.”
In the past, Grey’s light spot has been his bench as he’s dressed no
more than nine during regular season games, leaving four on the bench.
This season, he may have a little more depth.
“Right now, I’m happy with my players all the way through the
eight and nine players,” Grey admitted. I have a couple of freshman
I’ll be dressing as well and they are good enough to give me some big
minutes as well. I can see us dressing as many as eleven on varsity
this year. The two freshmen will be the first two kids off the bench.
They have proven themselves since day one and they are Allie Downing
and Danica Mann. I have a third freshmen, Rachel Miller who could get
some playing time as well. All three are good, solid players. I really
like my freshman class.”
If one thing can be said, the Patriots have set the bar and now, the
torch is being passed.
Can the 2014 Patriots take the torch and run with it?
“That’s a loaded question,” said Grey. “I hope so but I don’t want to
put that kind of pressure on them. I can say I really like this team.”
Tri-Village will open with Ansonia on the 22nd in the Bill Burkett.
Arcanum-FM is scheduled to begin at 6:30 that night or right after the
junior varsity games are completed.
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