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Tri-Village
coach Josh Sagester stands with his team as the last
winning team in
Ohio in D-IV basketball. CNO Photos by Dylan Knoop
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A day to
remember
By George Starks
COLUMBUS- Thursday before the start of the Patriots semi-final game
with Tuscawaras Central Catholic, I asked some of the other writers in
the media workroom, "if Tri-Village wins today, what are the chances
they will beat Harvest Prep?"
The response was plain and simple.
"They should beat them. It's their game to lose."
As I sat in my chair watching it all unfold, there was a point when I
thought they were right in what they said.
At halftime, the Patriots were making it look too easy, leading by 10
at the break, 25-15.
Then to start the third quarter, Colton Linkous hit the first bucket of
the game and the undefeated Patriots were up 27-15 and it looked like
it was going to be a wash-out.
That is when the second half of the statement 'it's their game to
lose', came into play.
Harvest Prep went on a 9-0 run and had closed the gap to 27-24.
At that point, a feeling of uneasiness came into play.
There was a churning in the pit of my stomach and all I could see was
that undefeated record going by the wayside.
It was the same feeling I had in 1991 when the Patriots were in the
same situation with St. Henry.
The undefeated, top ranked Patriots fell to the Redskins, losing the
game in the fourth quarter, bringing home the silver.
This looked like deja vue all over again.
Harvest Prep forced three ties in the fourth quarter but never took the
lead.
I had heard Josh Sagester say many times during the season that this
team found ways to win.
My thought with 54.6 seconds remaining that the Patriots luck was about
to run out.
Sitting next to two former Patriot players (David Barger and Mark
Wheelor) I leaned over to Mark and said, "if this game goes to
overtime, we're in trouble."
He agreed with that as Tri-Village had very little help on a not so
deep bench.
Then, the miracle of the game rose up.
With 1.6 seconds on the clock, Linkous hit the biggest shot of the game
and that feeling had subsided just a little.
Harvest Prep called time and still had 1.2 seconds to pull it out.
With the ball being inbounded to the left side, I watched David Dennis
Jr. launched a desperation trey.
As the ball sailed toward the goal, 65 feet away, it was online and
that sick feeling was back.
At that point, all I could see was another silver trophy in the trophy
case at my alma mater.
It looked good to me and from where I was sitting.
It looked perfect.
When the ball hit the rim, I knew it was over as it bounced high off
the board and fell to the floor.
At that point, the sick feeling was gone and my heart started to pound
again.
I'm not going to say I was the proudest alum in the house but I was
right there with the rest of them in attendance.
Now with history being made, the Patriots will lose three key seniors
in Colton Linkous, Damien Cook and Mason McCabe.
Next season will now rest on the shoulders of Tyler VanWinkle, Gavin
Richards, Knox Morris and Brett Boyter with a hoist of others.
I may never see Tri-Village win another state title but I can always
say that I was there to see the first one.
Congrats boys!
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Josh Sagester cuts down the nets for the final time in 2015.
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