NEW MADISON – It was undefeated Preble Shawnee and Tri-Village boys basketball playing for a WOAC league championship Friday night for the fifth year in a row. The Patriots would roll in this one with efficient offense and stifling defense for a 55-20 win to claim back-to-back league titles.
The Patriots would get off to a good start behind Griffin Richards a triple and a deuce and Brecken Gray two triples as the Patriot jumped ahead 11-0. They would tack on 8 more in the opening frame with four points from Dom Black, a fielder from Noah Finkbine and two more free throws from Richards.
Preble Shawnee got on the board late in the quarter on a Braylon Dorrell one-hander in the paint, Foxbower also scored a bucket and two free throws from Caleb Blankenship but the. Patriots led after the first quarter 19-6.
“To have guys like Griffin Richards and Brecken Gray in a big environment like this knock down shots for us to start the game was big,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester said on the first quarter start.
The game plan going in for both teams was to take away the other’s top scorer.
Preble Shawnee went with Caleb Blankenship on Trey Sagester and Tri-Village countered with Noah Finkbine on Brody Morton and neither were able to score in the first quarter.
And for nearly two quarters the Arrows kept Sagester (25.4 ppg) in check until he got to the free throw line with just over two minutes to play in the first half knocking down both of them.
Sagester finally broke loose for a couple of medium range jumpers and added two more free throws for 8 points to help TV forge a 34-12 lead at the break.
The Patriots kept Morton who averages 17.5 ppg in check in the first half.
Coming into the game Trey Sagester needed nine points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer and shortly into the third quarter he connected on a 17’ jumper with two hands in his face to do just that.
It would be points 1,911 and 1912 eclipsing the mark set by 2022 graduate Layne Sarver who led the Patriots to the state championship game that season.
After a quick acknowledgement and a hug from coach and dad Josh Sagester, who would present Trey the game ball. Trey jogged into the stands to get a hug from his mom and give her the prized possession to hold onto.
The Patriots scored 14 points in the third frame with Sagester adding two more buckets and Noah Finkbine hit two three’s along with a fielder by Hayden Hunt while continuing to hold the Arrows in check with their defense for a 48-15 lead.
Preble Shawnee’s Brody Morton would pick up a block and drop two free throws in the fourth quarter to finally get on the board as the Patriots held their leading scorer to just two points on the night.
“It was a great effort by Noah Finkbine guarding Brody he’s got a motor like no other. He’s got competitive stamina, he takes on the challenge and most nights, if we put him on somebody, it’s going to be a tough night for somebody,” Sagester explained.
The Patriots used a running clock in the final frame to close out the game 55-20 to claim the league title.
“To hold a team to 20 points is pretty impressive. I thought we were on point top to bottom. Every guy guarded hard and if you hold teams to 20, you’re going to win those nights. That’s the bottom line,” Sagester concluded.
Box Scores
Score by Quarters
PS: 06 … 06 … 03 … 05 – 20
TV: 19 … 15 … 14 … 07 – 55
Team Scoring
PS: Foxbower 0-3-0/2 – 6, Morton 0-0-2/2 – 2, Blankenship 0-1-4/4 – 6, Schroeder 0-1-0/0 – 2, Dorrell 0-1-1/2 – 3, Totals 0-6-8/12 – 20
TV: Black 0-3-1/2 – 7, Sagester 0-5-4/4 – 14, Hunt 0-1-0/0 – 2, Richards 1-3-4/4 – 13, Finkbine 3-2-0/2 – 13, Gray 2-0-0/0 – 6, Totals 6-14-9/13 – 55
