TROY – Tri-Village took care of business in the opening round of the OHSAA DVI Boys Basketball Tournament with a 78-33 win over an outmanned No. 13 Houston team.
The game would serve to be a good tune-up for Tri-Village, as coach Josh Sagester prefers to play a first-round game to get the team acclimated to the floor.
“It’s nice to get on the floor, get some shots up, and get going and get your nerves in check because in tournament basketball it’s one and done,” Sagester stated.
The nerves seemed to quell quickly for Tri-Village as their defense overwhelmed Houston and even before their sneakers were warmed up, the Patriots jumped to a 14-0 lead before the Wildcats got on the board with a triple at the four-minute mark.
Noah Finkbine spearheaded the quick attack, scoring 12 first-quarter points. Brecken Gray hit back-to-back triples, Dom Black had six points in the paint for the PATS, who lead 29-8 after one quarter of play.
Black would score seven points in the second quarter and at one point fancied himself to be a point guard attacking the basket and making a behind-the-back pass that was picked off by Houston which drew disapproval from Sagester.
“When playing these type of games, it’s tough to stay focused, and we did a good job for the most part … but Dom going around the back is more like going around the globe,” Sagester joked. “You know, I love him like a son, and he’s really good for us, but I reminded him at the half we don’t need that,” Sagester stated.
Tri-Village scoring pace slowed in the second period, but still held a 45-19 lead. Black led the way at the half with 13, Finkbine 12, and Sagester 9 points.
TV would set the tone quickly after the break as Sagester, who a little cool for him in the first half was scored on three consecutive triples along with a few lay-ups, and before Houston could blink, the score ballooned to 73-26.
Sagester and teammates took early exits midway of the third quarter with Trey finishing with 24-points. Noah Finkbine had 20, Black 15, and Brecken Gray had 9 for the PATS.
Plenty of playing time for other players throughout the game went quickly in the fourth quarter that saw reserve players get in the books for the 78-33 win.
Coach Sagester was pleased overall with the team in the opening round game.
“Our defense was pretty good. I’ll be honest, I thought our second shot wasn’t great at times. As far as defensive rebounding, we need to have more guys in the mix on the glass. We’ve got two guys that kind of carry us on the glass, and I’d like to see some other guys get some out-of-area rebounds,”
“We did share it really well (26 assists), I thought we passed it well early, got a lot of nice, easy looks in the paint with Noah and Dom doing a good job there,” Sagester added.
After finishing the season at 22-0 and one of just a handful of teams in Ohio undefeated, the Patriots move on to 23-0, with games getting tougher as they go along.
“We just need to take it one game at a time and keep getting better each time out,” Sagester concluded.
Tri-Village will play No. 14 Miami Valley on Monday, March 2nd, at Troy High School at 6 p.m.
Box Scores
Score by Quarters
29 … 16 … 23 … 05 – 78 Tri-Village (23-0) Record
08 … 11 … 07 … 07 – 33 Houston
Team Scoring
TV – Black 0-7-1/1 – 15, Sagester 3-5-5/8 – 24, Hunt 0-0-1/2 – 1, Finkbine 0-9-2/2 – 20, Gray 4-0-0/0 – 9, Bedinghaus 0-1-0/2 – 2, Clevenger 0-1-0/0 – 2, Hollinger 0-0-2/2 – 2,
Totals 7-23-11/17 – 78
HOU – Sheye 1-1-0/0 5, Heitsman 0-1-0/0 – 2, Crim 3-2-0/0 – 13, Waggoner 0-1-1/4 – 3, Mohler 0-1-4/5 – 6, Michael 0-1-0/0 – 2, Leist 0-1-0/0 – 2, Totals 3-8-5/9 – 33
