VANDALIA – Tri-Village put together a solid performance on offense scoring 62 points and even more impressive on defense holding Troy Christian to just 31 points to win the OHSAA DVI Butler Regional Semifinal game.
The now 26-0 Patriots will put their unbeaten record on the line against #1 Marion Local who upended Ft. Recovery 69-45 in the second game of the double-header at Butler High School.
The two teams will play again at Butler on Saturday at 7:30pm with the winner to advance to the State Final Four.
Tri-Village has proved all year long that they can score the basketball in a variety of ways … but the offense goes as the defense goes and the further you get in the tournament the more you rely on it.
“We were really good defensively tonight. And to win regional games, you have to be good defensively. I thought we did a really good job of running them off the three point line and frankly not let them shoot as many as they have during the season. If you look at numbers, numbers don’t lie. They’ve taken approximately 650 threes, so the majority of their offense is outside the arc. So, we felt like we needed to make them make some tough twos today, and if we could do that, we thought we’d be able to score enough points to give ourselves a chance. And I think that kind of proved its worth,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester said after the game.
Troy Christian would connect on two three’s one each from Austin Stangel and Noah Fecher, but the Patriots held a 16-10 lead after the first quarter with Trey Sagester scoring 8 and both Dom Black and Noah Finkbine had 4 points.
The Eagles attempted to defensively make it tough on Trey Sagester in a box and one and they were able to get Dom Black to pick up two early fouls, and he would sit the second quarter.
Kasyn Hollinger filled that time nicely in the 2nd quarter and immediately connected on a three-pointer and grabbed 3 tough offensive rebounds converting on one and going to the free throw line on another and scored six points in the frame.
TV’s defense clamped down on Troy Christian who scored just 4 points in the period while Sagester added 4 and Finkbine 3 to go with Hollinger’s 6 points to lead 29-14 at the break.
“I thought Trey did a good job getting us off to a good start in 1st half,” Sagester said.
“He commands a lot of attention and did a good job of facilitating our other guys that obviously made plays, and they’re capable of doing that. We had a 15-point lead without the man (Dom) in the middle and knew when we got him in the second half, he was going to be a load, so we tried to make a conscious effort to get him the ball in the paint,” Sagester explained.
Dom would deliver as coach expected with 6 points in the paint in the 3rd quarter and he would end the game with 13.
Noah Finkbine continued to be effective and had a quiet 14 points including 5 in the 3rd quarter taking what the defense gave him. Griffin Richards and Brecken Gray each had a bucket as well as the PATS opened up a 44-22 lead.
The rematch between Tri-Village and Troy Christian for the Patriots coaching staff and fans who can harken back to 2013 was a nightmare. TV defeated the Eagles by 21 in the regular season and entered the regional semifinal game 26-0 vs Troy Christian at 24-2. The Eagles won that game in overtime, then won the regional and advanced to the state final four.
From the start, the Patriots’ defense set the tone and was never in danger of that repeat performance of 2013. They were efficient on offense, and the bench was able to get playing time as well in the final frame as they went on to win the game 62-31 to advance to the Elite Eight.
“We were good tonight, this team has guys who can compete. I thought Kasyn Hollinger played extremely well for us. I couldn’t be prouder of our kids who continue to hang with us and take advantage of their opportunities. He’s a senior and some of the plays he made in the second quarter, obviously, some baskets that he scored, but more importantly, the offensive rebounds he got for us because he’s athletic. So proud of him to have a great night for us,” Sagester praised.
Hollinger would end the game with 9 points. The Patriots were led by Sagester with 17, Finkbine 14, Black 13, Gray 5, Richards 2, Levi Johnsman and Carson Bedinghaus 1 each.
Tri-Village will now set its sights on Marion Local, a 69-45 winner over Ft. Recovery.
Early in the year, everything pointed to this probable match-up and it’s now here.
Marion Local is the MaxPreps #1 Top-Ranked RPI team in DVI with a 30.30 rating. Tri-Village is the underdog with a rating of 22.00.
Tri-Village’s last state final four appearance came in 2022; the Patriots have fallen in the regional semifinals the last three years.
“We’re excited as a team; we haven’t been to regional finals in a while. Our kids were comfortable and confident in this game … but we’ll have to go back and put a plan together to put in a position to be competitive against a very good team,” Sagester concluded.
From Sagester’s steady hand to Finkbine’s efficiency, to Hollinger’s spark off the bench, Tri-Village showed the depth and composure of a team built for March.
The Patriots have cleared one hurdle in convincing fashion; now they turn their full attention to Marion Local and a chance to punch their ticket back to the State Final Four.
Riding the confidence of a 31-point regional victory and a perfect 26-0 mark, Tri-Village heads into Saturday knowing that its best basketball still needs to be in front of them.
