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Tri-Village
senior Colton Linkous hits in the paint for two of his game
high 29 points Tuesday against
Russia in the regional semi-final played
at Trent Arena in Kettering. The Patriots moved into the Elite 8 with
a
hard fought 59-50 win over the Raiders. CNO Photos by George Starks
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Patriots
advance to Elite 8 in tough battle
By George Starks
KETTERING- When Tri-Village and Russia hooked up in the Flyin to the
Hoop showcase in January, it was the Patriots winning by seven at Trent
Arena in Kettering, 56-49.
Tuesday, the two team met for the second time in the same venue and the
results were almost identical.
Tri-Village, looking to make its second straight run to Columbus, went
to 27-0 after posting a 59-50 victory over Russia in the regional
semi-finals.
Up 37-29 with eight minutes left to play, the Patriots were forced to
make their living from the free throw line as Russia was not about to
let the Pats offense take control.
What the Raiders were not ready to see was Tri-Village hitting 20 of 22
free throws for the 5:52 mark of the game to the end.
“Our kids stepped up at the foul line,” said Patriots coach Josh
Sagester. “I thought they (Russia) started to foul a little early but
they were trying to get themselves more possessions. I know Paul
(Bremigan, Russia coach) probably knows we’re going to try to take care
of the ball late but fortunately, our kids stepped up and made some
free throws and showed their experience.”
Defensively, it was another solid performance by the Patriots.
Holding the high powered Russia offense in check through the first half
(18 points) and 11 in the third, the Patriots never let thing get away
from them, despite trailing 8-6 after one and falling behind by as much
as three in the second half before going into the locker room at the
break up, 21-18.
The biggest stat saw Russia hitting only four treys on the night.
“Our game plan coming in was to give up the two’s and eliminate the
three’s,” said Sagester. “In all the films we seen and games we
watched, when Gariety (Jordon) hit his threes, (none on this night)
they were a successful basketball team. I thought we did a pretty good
job elimination three point shots but we didn’t help out low. Francis
(Nolan) hit a couple threes late but up to that point, we’d given up
only two three point shots. So we were content to give up a few twos
and stay away from those big threes.”
In the beginning, Russia threw a 2-3 zone at the Pats, giving the
number one team in the state some problems.
In the process, the Raiders jumped out to a 6-0 advantage early before
Linkous started to connect.
The Patriots senior drained two triples with the first coming at the
3:09 mark of the opening quarter.
At the 2:41 mark, Linkous tied it up with another long distance call
and the senior had the ATT affect going as he was reaching out and
touching the Russia zone from downtown.
“They’re long in the zone and we were forced to hit a couple of
perimeter shots,” said Sagester. “I thought we were doing pretty good
at being a little bit methodical but as the game progressed, points
become at a premium a little bit but this team has a lot of winners.
They are used to winning and finding ways to win in a lot of ways.
Tonight was a little bit different than it was during the season but
we’ll take it.”
Going 27 of 31 on the night from the line, it was Linkous that touched
on the importance of free throw shooting.
“Free throws are big especially in big games,” Linkous pointed out.
“When it comes down to it in a close game and they start fouling you,
you’ve got to knock them down and play some defense.”
With round one going to the Patriots in a January dogfight, Linkous
said Sagester’s pregame was simple.”
“He told us to come out and play our game,” the Patriots senior stated.
“He said we had to rebound and play some defense and we’ll come out on
top. He told us we’ll find ways to score and we did. Coach puts us in
great positions to win and we always come out on top.”
The Patriots will look to gain their second straight regional title
Friday against Marion Local.
That game will be Friday night starting at 7 p.m.
If you’re unable to make it to the game, Alex Mikos will have the call
on WTGR, 97.5 FM and on wtgr.com.
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Junior Tyler VanWinkle goes after a loose ball during first quarter
action against Russia.
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Patriot senior Damien Cook battles for a rebound with Russia senior
David York Tuesday.
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