TROY – The Tri-Village boys basketball team built up a 19-point lead against Cincinnati Country Day and then fought off a furious ‘no-holds-bar’ comeback effort by the Nighthawks to earn their 5th straight District Championship in a 62-57 win.
“We were up 13 at the half, 19 in the third quarter and sometimes in those situations, kids let down a little bit, lose some focus a little bit, and then the other team, what they do is they play in desperation mode. And I felt like that’s the mode where Country Day began to play their best basketball,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester commented.
The Patriots got on the board first on an ally-oop to Noah Finkbine but then saw the Nighthawks run off seven straight points to go up 7-2 then 9-4 and coach Sagester saw enough calling a timeout at the five-minute mark.
It seemed to wake up Tri-Village going on a 18-0 run while holding Country Day scoreless the remainder of the opening quarter for a 22-9 lead.
Trey Sagester caught fire on three triples and a fielder for 11 points, Dom Black had 4, Kasyn Hollinger a three, Hayden Hunt and Noah Finkbine two points each.
The two teams would play to a draw in the 2nd quarter 16-16 with Tri-Village taking a 38-25 halftime lead.
Bryce Snell and Eli Guttman came alive for the Nighthawks. Snell had 11 and Guttman 9 at the break and Patriots were led by Sagester with 17 and Black with 7 points.
In the third quarter Tri-Village center Dom Black picked up his 3rd foul which would open up the middle on defense and take away a block threat and Country Day began to clamp down on Trey Sagester.
Sagester scored just two points both free throws at the two-minute mark of the quarter that gave the Patriots their largest lead in the game of 19 … but things were about to get crazy over the last part of the period and into the final frame.
The 47-28 lead evaporated to 47-38 by the end of the third quarter as Snell and Guttman both connected from distance and a technical foul on the PATS helped the cause.
It also sparked tempers to the degree of which Country Day was allowed to hold, then flop when there was no contact and draw fouls and led to chippy play the rest of the way.
“I felt like we played pretty good for almost three quarters, but you know, Dom got in foul trouble – they had no answer to that and we’re going continue to go there. He picked up a defensive rebounding foul early in the third and then it got physical. You know, my complaint is when you had guys that were grabbing, holding and standing in front it’s real tough for your offense when you struggle at times with freedom of movement,” Sagester explained.
With that ‘No-Holds-Barr’ mentality Country Day was going for broke in the fourth quarter as well, playing with nothing to lose and it didn’t hurt that Bryce Snell was red hot firing in a couple of three balls from long range as they closed the gap to 48-41, trailing by just seven with six minutes to play.
Trey Sagester stopped the bleeding with a left-handed lay-up and a triple to push the lead back out to 53-43 at 4:50.
Kasyn Hollinger came up with a couple of big rebounds and stick back for a 56-44 lead … but the Knighthawks continue to battle hard.
Patriot turnovers (18) in the game gave Country extra opportunities a Snell took advantage as he erupted for 24 points in the second half, 14 in the final frame and 35 for the game.
Snell’s drive to the basket cut the lead back down to 7, 58-51 with 1:44 to go.
Three free throws from Noah Finkbine made it 61-52 with .58 seconds … Day quickly scored again. Sagester added charity toss … but Snell still had something to say with a final triple –his 5th matching Sagester with 5, bringing the game to its end with the Patriots surviving the furious rally 62-57 to win the District Championship.
“Even though we led by 19, I knew this game was far from over, give them (Country Day) credit for continuing to fight, continue to make plays, we didn’t seal deal, in my opinion, like we have in the past,” Sagester state after the game.
“Anytime you play in a game of this magnitude, there’s going to be some adversity, and it’s the way that we respond. We didn’t necessarily respond very good early in the fourth and, quite frankly, late, with uncharacteristic turnovers and, of course, the technical that … but at the end of the day, we found a way to win and make enough plays to move on to Tuesday to play in the Regional Semi-Finals,” Sagester concluded.
The Patriots shot 43% for the game 19-of-44 and 64% from the line 18-of-28.
The Nighthawks shot 33% 18-of-54 and 69% from the line 11-of-16.
Tri-Village outrebounded Country Day 37-22 … but had 18 turnovers to their 10.
Up next for the Patriots is the Anna Rockets with the game being played at Vandalia Butler High School on Tuesday March 4th at 8pm.
Box Score:
Score by Quarters:
TV …. 22 … 16 … 09 … 15 – 62
CD … 09 … 16 … 13 … 19 – 67
Team Scoring:
TV – Black 0-5-0/0 – 11, Sagester 5-2-8/13 – 27, Hunt 0-2-0/2 – 4, Richards 0-1-1/2 – 3
Gray 0-0-2/2 – 2, Bedinghaus 0-1-1/2 – 3, Hollinger 1-1-0/0 – 5, Totals 6-13-18/29 – 62
CD – Guido 1-0-0/0 – 3, Guttman 0-1-2/2 – 4, Robinson 1-0-0/0 – 3, Guttman 3-1-1/3 – 12,
Snell 5-6-8/11 – 35, Totals 10-8-11/16 – 57
Tri-Village moves on to Regional Semi-Finals to play Anna. (Dale Barger photo)
