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Tri-Village
senior Colton Linkous hold the regional trophy high as he's
surrounded by his team after defeating
Mation Local 47-39 Thursday at
Kettering Fairmont. Tri-Village will face New Philadelphia Tuscarawas
Central Catholic Thursday in the state semi-finals in Columbus. CNO
Photos by Dylan Knoop
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Patriots
heading to Columbus one more time
T-V tops Marion Local in regional rematch
By George Starks
KETTERING- It was a year ago when Tri-Village and MAC power Marion
Local went head to head in the regional finals in Kettering.
On that night, the Patriots were able to prevail, only to fall in the
state semi-final the following week.
Thursday, the undefeated Patriots (27-0) went heads to head with Marion
Local once again.
Once again, it was the Patriots that would stand tall, posting a 47-39
win and punching their ticket to Columbus and another final four
appearance.
As it was a year ago, the Patriots were staring at some trees.
Trees with the names of 6-10 Luke Knapke and 6-7 Ryan Bruns.
It was also a night when Tri-Village and Coach Josh Sagester would see
something very rare.
A deficit!
Trailing 9-6 after one and 22-16 at the break, things were not looking
good for the local boys.
Being held to only 16 points in the first half, a six point deficit
wasn’t a Mount Kilimanjaro of mountains and the Patriots weren’t
shaking in their shoes.
It was defense that kept things in check throught the first 16 minutes.
“We were really good defensively in the first half, except for a
20-second span where we had two missed defensive assignments and
Rethman (Dustin) hit a three, and then another to go up 22-16, said
Sagester. “To only give up 22 points, I thought defensively we were
good. We gave up some second-chance points and took our chances with
them outside and they hit four threes the first half.”
Even with the solid defensive effort in the first half, the Patriots
offense was stymied by the height of the Flyers.
“Offensively their length really bothered us around the rim and we knew
we had to make some perimeter shots and didn’t really make any in the
first half,” said Sagester.
Tri-Village came out after the break, looking like a new team.
Holding only one lead in the first quarter, 2-0 off a shot in the paint
by junior Tyler VanWinkle, the Pats offense went on a downhill slide
into the break.
Then, someone flipped on the light switch and the Patriots started
playing the game.
Constantly staying close, Tri-Village took the lead with 1:16 left in
the third when senior Mason McCabe drilled a three, giving the Patriots
a 27-24 lead.
Local came right back with a three from Cole Griesdorn with 42.8
seconds left in the quarter.
At the 21.6 mark on the clock, it was a deuce from VanWinkle in the
paint coming off the baseline that gave the Patriots their final lead
of the night at 29-27 and eight minutes left in the game.
In the third eight minutes, it was all about one word…DEFENSE!
The Patriots gave up only five points in the third stanza.
“They made a lot of shots in the first half and we knew we had to come
out and defend like we never defended before,” said point guard Tyler
VanWinkle.
“We were focused on the backside and digging down when their bigs
touched it, making it really difficult for them to get anything easy
inside,” said sophomore guard Gavin Richards.
“We had to lock them down … they made perimeter shots in the first half
and even though we were focused on the big’s inside, we knew we had to
close out and get a hand in the face of the perimeter shooters,” said
the senior McCabe.
“Coach told us we had to be “junk yard dogs” so our whole mindset was
to get after it on defense, we know we are going to score, but we
wanted to make sure we locked down their bigs inside,” said senior
Colton Linkous.
“Coach challenged me to play defense like I never played before, Colton
and I were to keep their two bigs under twenty points tonight,” said
Damion Cook, a senior.
All Sagester wanted was to keep it close, giving his kids a chance.
“I thought if we can keep this thing nip and tuck in the second half
there will be a time when we will have a run where we make shots,” said
Sagester. “When we got that little run to get us to 22 all, than 24
all, and then the lead, I looked at dad (assistant coach Mick Sagester)
and said, ‘we are going to shorten this thing up a little bit’, because
I knew we are going to have trouble scoring a great deal of points with
their length … so spreading them out a little bit created avenues for
our players. “The size and the heart of some of these kids is
immeasurable, we were giving up height all over, we battled hard …
their effort particularly in the 3rd quarter was huge.
All season, Sagester had said his kids always found a way to win and
Thursday was no different,
After sending Bruns to the bench with five fouls at the 4:03 mark, the
Pats held a 32-27 lead.
From that point, the Patriots started to make hay by stopping Knapke
and putting the defense into high gear, holding the Flyers to 11 points
the rest of the way.
“Our kids did a good job in the fourth quarter, in fact there were a
couple of times I wanted to call a set or two, our kids were saying no,
wanting to keep dribbling. We have pretty skilled basketball
players who make good decisions and they know they are good free throw
shooters, so they were content to make them come after them,” said
Sagester.
Damion Cook led Tri-Village with 17-points while McCabe added 10 and
VanWinkle 9,
Tri-Village will face New Philadelphia Tuscarawas Central Catholic who
upset last years state runner-up St. Thomas Aquinas 51-48.
They will tip off at 2pm on Thursday March 26th at the Schottenstein
Center in Columbus.
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Patriot senior Damien Cook lays in two of his team high 17 points.
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The Patriot faithful react as their Patriots will be heading to state
for the second time in as many years.
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