Wright State – February 24, 2005
The challenge and goal of winning 3 games in 4 nights was just too much for Tri-Village. They were successful for 2 1/2 games but they would find themselves drained in the final half as Cedarville would go on to win their 4 district championship in the last 5 years. “The effort was there tonight, not making excuses, but I think adrenaline kept us rolling. But we sat down at half and came out flat in the third quarter.”

In the first period both teams strapped on their defensive gear and went to battle. Cedarville employed an in your face pressure man defense, while TV played their 1-3-1 match-up zone. The Patriots won the quarter 6-3 behind Corey Jay with 4 points inside and Daniel Foreman connected for two off the baseline.

The PATS continued to stifle Cedarville on defense as they rolled out to a 13-5 lead on a Sam Lindamood jumper at 4:49. Cedarville unable to score inside became very patient working the ball around till they could get a good look from behind the arch. A couple of treys later along with a deuce and they narrowed the deficit to 13-10. Josh Fisherback connected on two free throws and Sam Lindamood put in an offensive rebound to give TV a 17-13 lead. Jay got another inside score but… Cedarville drained another trey trailing at the half 19-16.

To start the third TV went back to the post with Jay scoring 4 points early on but that’s when Cedarville made adjustments. “I told the boys we needed to make sure Jay couldn’t catch the ball,” said Coach Bertemes. The strategy was successful as they limited his touches the rest of the quarter. Coach Bertemes also instructed his players to be very patient and take the best three point shot they could get. Cedarville was successful on 5 straight attempts on their way to a 36-25 lead to end the third period.

“I thought we did a nice job defensively in the first half locating guys. But in the third quarter we got lost. Give Bertemes credit for his adjustments and his guys for hitting shots. They hit shots they normally don’t make. I mean Harner was the only guy who hit any threes the last two games and then Rost and Chisolm step up and make them as well,” said Coach Sagester.

In the final stanza the patient ball controlling Cedarville team had Tri-Village in their crosshairs. “Once we were down 10 points, I thought, Oh Well! I knew it was not what we wanted to do, we haven’t played man all year and we are not very good at it,” commented Coach Sagester.

Cedarville took advantage taking only sure lay-ups and when TV was forced to foul Cedarville they didn’t miss their free throws as they rolled on to the districts with a 51-34 victory.

“It was a tough night for us, but we were happy to be in this situation. I told our kids that it’s not often you get here so lets enjoy it. They’re down right now, but… we had a few positives this year, as they were a bunch of overachievers. We asked some guys over the year to play positions they weren’t used to being in and they improved week by week. They are great bunch of kids and that is what makes it fun and I’ll miss the seniors,” added Coach Sagester.

Tri-Village found it rough going offensively as Jay scored 17 and Lindamood added 10. The Patriots end the season 11-12.

Scoring:
Box Score
Tri-Village – 3-Pointers - 0
Pipenger – 0
Fisherback – 2
Foreman – 3
Snyder – 2
Quinn – 0
Lindamood – 10
Jay – 17
Totals – 34

Cedarville – 3-Pointers 9 (J. Rost 4, Chisholm 3, E. Rost, Harner)
Cunningham – 6
J. Rost – 14
Chisholm – 12
E. Rost – 3
Harner – 9
DeLange – 5
Hutchinson – 2
Totals – 51

Tri-Village…6…19…25…34
Cedarville….3…16…36…51