NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village Patriots high octane up-tempo offensive and defensive game was working on all cylinders Saturday night as the home-standing Patriots rolled to a 30-point 76-46 non-conference win over the taller Ponitz Career Tech Golden Panthers.
“Pretty good effort against a pretty athletic team as well as basketball team tonight,” said Tri-Village coach, Josh Sagester. “Our chemistry is good, our kids enjoy one another.”
Trey Sagester had the Patriots’ hot hand opening the night’s scoring with a 3-pointer and nailed a trey from the top of the key at 3:24 pushing the Tri-Village lead to 11-4. Back-to-back 2-2 Sagester trips to the free throw line upped the Patriots lead to 15-4 with 1:49 on the first quarter board.
A Braden Keating triple from the top of the key game Tri-Village a double-digit 19-9 advantage before the visitors closed out the first quarter scoring with a three for a 19-12 Patriots lead after one complete. Sagester scored 15 of the Patriots first-quarter points knocking down three 3-pointers, a 2-point basket, and 4-4 at the charity stripe.
“Trey shot it well,” Coach Sagester said. “He’s been facing some defensive schemes, he got face-guarded last night. Tonight they left him early and as a shooter and scorer if a couple of balls go in early it’s got a chance for a big night. Our guys did a real good job of finding him at opportune times and I thought he played pretty well for us tonight.”
Period No. 2 went to the Patriots by an 18-7 score. Kaysn Hollinger twisted for a bucket at the rim giving Tri-Village a 21-13 advantage, a Tanner Printz baseline drive to the basket made it 23-13, and a Keating 3-pointer gave the Patriots a 26-13 advantage bringing a timeout from the Golden Panthers bench. Ponitz answered with five consecutive points for a 26-18 score.
A Printz strong drive to the bucket had Tri-Village leading 30-18 followed by a Reed Wehr layup for a 32-18 score and a Sagester triple giving the Patriots a 35-18 lead. The teams went to the halftime break with Tri-Village owning a 37-19 advantage.
The visitors took the third quarter of play by a 13-12 score sending the teams to the final period of play with the Patriots up 49-32.
Tri-Village took a 20-point 66-46 lead at 2:57 in the fourth bringing the starter’s night’s work to a close. A Noah Finkbine steal and full-court slam dunk layup gave the Patriots a 73-46 advantage before closing the night with a 30-point win over Dayton’s visiting Golden Panthers.
“Trey got hot in the first half and Braden made some big ones in the second half,” said Coach Sagester. “That is the makings of a really good basketball team – we’re not the biggest team. I don’t know if this is one of the most talented teams I’ve had here but it’s one of the toughest teams I’ve had. I would go to war with these guys any day of the week. They have been rising to the occasion.”
“Braden Keeting played well, he made some big shots for us, especially that second half. Tanner Printz is kind of the straw that stirs the drink and can handle the pressure they gave especially the second half. He had very few turnovers and Reed Wehr brings so many things to the table with his effort and his toughness. He finishes around the rim with offensive rebounds. A really good effort across the board from every one of my guys.”
“Our big guys, our guards did a good job with the plan and that was to contain the dribble out front and we did a good job on the backboards,” Sagester added. “Jayden Hollinger did a good job on the backboards, Dom Black came in and gave us good minutes and Kaysn Hollinger came in and gave us really good minutes as well. Noah Finkbine got his big dunk so we have four athletic kids and they all bring something different to the table depending on who we’re playing and what opponent but all four of them did a good job on No. 22, he’s big, strong, about 6’6’-6’7” kid and we don’t see that often – they did a good job.”
Trey Sagester led Tri-Village and all scorers with a game-high 33 points including four 3-pointers and 4-4 at the line.
With the win Tri-Village stands at 19-1 on the season and 10-0 in WOAC play.
BOXSCORE:
TRI-VILLAGE – T. Sagester 33, B. Keating 12, N. Finkbine 9. T. Printz 8, R. Wehr 7, K. Hollinger 4, T. Homan 2, D. Black 1 – TOTALS 18 13-15 9 76
PONITZ – C. Warner 11, D. McCombs 10, R. Patterson 10, F. Metcalf 6, J. Smith 6, M. Sledge 2, D. Sampson 1 – TOTALS 8 9-12 7 46
3-POINTERS
Tri-Village 9 (T. Sagester 4, B. Keating 4, N. Finkbine 1)
Ponitz 7 (Metcalf 2, Patterson 2, Smith 2, McCombs 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
19-18-12-28 76 Tri-Village
12-07-13-14 46 Ponitz
