National Trail – January 7, 2005
The Tri-Village Patriots entered the game tonight again National Trail in a very important league contest. With a 2-2 record and a win tonight Tri-Village stays in the hunt for a league title. But for the second time this season Tri-Village falls short after leading much of the game as a scrappy National Trail team pulled out a two point victory in overtime.

Call it hard luck, bad luck or no luck for a third time this year the Patriots have virtually outplayed their opponent only to fall short in the end. They have shown they can compete with anyone in the CCC and hopefully will use this as motivation to run the table in the league, as they are a much better team than their record of 3-7 indicates.

In the first period both teams battled defensively, Trail showed great patience on offense willing to work the ball around to find good shots. The Blazers got scoring from all 5 starters on their way to twelve first quarter points. For the Patriots Sam Lindamood dropped in the only TV three of the game and followed it up with a drive to the hole for two that gave TV a lead 8-7 at 3:53. Corey Jay would drop in two fielders in the final two minutes but TV trailed 12-11.

Both teams continued to trade baskets for the first few minutes but midway though the second quarter Tri-Village started to pull away. The Patriots played good team ball and got scoring from 5 players. Ryan Snyder came off the bench to give TV some good minutes both defensively and offensively. With 47 seconds left Jay picked up a crucial third foul that would come back to haunt the Patriots later in the game. Ryan Snyder’s steal and lay-up with 32 second left gave the Patriots a 9 point lead 30-21 but… post Player Tim Beck without Jay in the center bullied his way for two inside and NT trailed 30-23 at the half.

Many games are won based on how a team closes out a half and starts the second half. The Patriots had a great opportunity to do that, however, Trail came out and scored the first 5 points to close the gap to 30-28. At 4:37 Snyder found pay dirt inside to break the ice but it ended up being a low scoring third period with both defenses hunkering down and TV led 36-30 to finish the third.

Jay would get the PATS rolling to start the fourth quarter with a tough inside basket drawing a foul from Tim Beck and completing the three-point play. It looked like TV was on their way with a 39-30 lead. On the ensuing trip down the floor, like a flip of the switch the momentum changed, Jay was whistled for his 5th foul and Beck answered the call with his own three-point play.

With Jay out TV needed someone to step forward and lead. Sam Lindamood answered right away with a jumper springing the PATS lead to 41-33 at 6:44. Trail took advantage of Jay’s absence and dropped the ball inside to Beck but it wasn’t Beck’s shooting that hurt it was his passing. Two straight feeds from Beck to Kyle Dunn cutting through the lane led to scores including a 3 point play off a foul as Trail inched closer 41-38 with 5:55 to play.

Over the next couple of minutes Tri-Village struggled to find any offense. Ryan Snyder provided a turnaround jumper in the lane and two free throws on two trips to the line giving TV a 47-41 lead. Justin Boggs netted a throw making it 47-42 with 2:12 second to play. With a 5-point lead and 1:57 to play Coach Sagester called a timeout to prepare his team for the final minutes of the game. But out of the timeout TV committed an unforced turnover resulting in a fast break for Josh Unger who would convert a three-point play and just like that the momentum turned. The next trip down the floor a Patriot player slipped while the pass was being made and TV converted a second turnover. Unger’s two free throws tied the game 47-47. The Patriots worked the clock down to the final seconds but failed to get off a shot and turned the ball over again with 1.8 second to play. Trail was unable to get off shot before time expired and it was overtime again.

In the overtime period Cameron Quinn gave the PATS a lead with a free throw 48-47. Trail’s Beck got two inside, followed by Blevins for two and Trail was up 51-48. At 1:34 Lindamood’s jumper in the lane pulled TV to 51-50. But just as he did in the final minutes of the 4th quarter Unger stepped forward again with a bucket off a feed from Beck and NT led 53-50 with 41 seconds to play. Lindamood again drove to the hole for two with 15 seconds pulling TV to 53-52. With 5.7 seconds left Unger dropped in a free throw extending their lead to 54-52 lead. The Patriots now looking for a miracle as Sam Lindamood drove the length of the floor pulled up for a 15’ jumper with two NT players draped over him but it fell short off the front of the rim and the PATS lost another heartbreaker.

For the game National Trail was 17-23 from then free throw line while Tri-Village was 10-17. Sam Lindamood led all scorers with 17 and Tim Beck paced Trail with 13.

Box Score
Tri-Village Patriots
Fisherback – 2
Foreman – 5
Snyder – 12
Quinn – 3
T. Brubaker –2
Lindamood – 17
Jay - 11
Totals – 52

National Trail Blazers
Kerns – 2
Beck – 13
Boggs – 6
Ross – 5
Unger – 12
Dunn – 12
Blevins – 4
Totals – 54

Score by quarters:
Tri-Village………….11…30…36…47…OT..52
National Trail ………12…23…30…47…OT..54