VERSAILLES – The Tri-Village Lady Patriots overcame a sluggish start Wednesday night in OHSAA Division VI tournament play before finding their rhythm and pulling away for a 45-27 win over the Houston Lady Wildcats.
Early fouls mounted, open looks from beyond the arc refused to fall, and easy finishes at the rim didn’t drop as the Lady Patriots struggled to establish their preferred tempo.
“We created a monster for ourselves tonight just by not being engaged early,” said veteran Tri-Village coach Brad Gray. “We came to play defensively tonight, and as a result, offensively you don’t look good because you’re not creating the tempo that you want to play with, you’re not getting easy ones off transition.”
Houston capitalized early, building an 8-4 first-quarter lead with 2:57 remaining. A Sydnee DeLong 3-pointer from the right elbow cut the deficit to 8-7, and that would stand as the score at the end of the opening period as the Lady Patriots’ defense kept them within striking distance.
The Lady Wildcats struck first in the second quarter, pushing their lead to 10-7 at the 6:23 mark. Senior Adalynn Hines answered with a strong drive to the basket to make it 10-9, igniting a key stretch for Tri-Village.
Sophomore Tatum Gray buried two second-quarter 3-pointers to fuel an 11-6 run, sending the Lady Patriots into the halftime break with a narrow 20-16 advantage.
“Adalynn Hines doesn’t play much in the first half, and we don’t start her in the second half,” Gray noted. “We were down when she went out in the first half with foul trouble, and we were only up four at half. We had some kids come into the game and gave us some big minutes — big defensive minutes.”
Gray led Tri-Village with seven second-quarter points, while Hines added four in the period and Kaley Brandon chipped in a bucket. Despite struggling from deep as a team, Gray’s two triples came in rhythm.
“They were the right shots,” Coach Gray said of his daughter’s 3-pointers. “Some of the threes we were taking weren’t the right threes. The defense sets the tone for us, and it wasn’t there, but the two that she hit, those were off-design sets to get her those looks. Fortunately, she is able to make 22-footers, but she struggles to make 2-footers, which dad’s not real happy about.”
Tri-Village took control in the third quarter, outscoring Houston 18-8 to open up a commanding 38-24 lead entering the final frame. Tai Mize scored eight third-quarter points, DeLong added five, including her second triple of the night, Hines knocked down a 3-pointer, and Gray added a basket.
DeLong, the Lady Patriots’ tallest player at 5-foot-8, was a force on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds while also defending Houston’s leading scorer.
“Syd was big on the glass for us,” Gray said. “She was also guarding their best player, their leading scorer, and did, for the most part, a pretty good job on her. I would like to have seen Syd be a little bit more aggressive offensively at the midrange. I thought she passed up a few. For us moving forward, we need her to be assertive from there. It doesn’t mean she has to launch 15, 16, 17 shots a night, but she has to be assertive. She has to be a playmaker.”
Tri-Village closed out the game by winning the low-scoring fourth quarter 7-3, paced by four Hines points, sealing the 18-point victory and punching its ticket to the district championship game.
“We have to be a lot better if we want to win Saturday,” Gray stated.
Hines led all scorers with a game-high 15 points.
The No. 1 seed Lady Patriots will return to the hardwood Saturday, February 28 at Monroe High School to face fellow No. 1 seed Fayetteville-Perry in the Division VI District Championship game. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
“Hopefully our fans will show up for our high school,” Gray said. “We need our fans to show up. These kids deserve it — they’ve worked their tails off.”
Fayetteville-Perry advanced with convincing wins over Sabina East Clinton (55-15) and Cincinnati Country Day (55-21). Tri-Village reached the title game with tournament wins over Dayton Christian (77-20), Franklin Monroe (87-14), and Houston (45-27).
Saturday’s matchup will feature two top seeds with district hardware on the line.
BOX SCORE:
TRI-VILLAGE 45, HOUSTON 27
TRI-VILLAGE – A. Hines 15, T. Mize 10, T. Gray 9, S. DeLong 8, B. Kaley 2, K. Wilcox 1 – TOTALS 13 4-6 5 45
HOUSTON – O. Maier 10, O. Burns 7, L. Crim 5, B. Breeze 5 – TOTALS 6 12-15 1 27
3-POINTERS
Tri-Village 5 (S. DeLong 2, T. Gray 2, A. Hines 1)
Houston 1 (O. Maier 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
07-13-18-07 45 Tri-Village
08-08-08-03 27 Houston
