Lewisburg – Tri-County North High School 2/10/06
Tri-Village was on the road for their 4th consecutive league contest and it’s never easy playing on the road. To top that off it would be an emotional night for the host team as they were celebrating senior night. On this night T-V wasn’t real sharp on offense but they played good enough defense to pull out another tough road win.

The Patriots got off to a fast start with their own three seniors scoring the first 6 points, two each by Daniel Foreman, Sam Lindamood and Taylor Brubaker and Tri-County North and at 5:08 North needed a timeout to re-group.

They responded with their first field goal of the game from senior Dan Baumbarger off a stick back. The Patriots though got 5 more points from Lindamood and 4 from Mark Wheeler to open a 15-7 first quarter lead.

North was looking for any type of offense against the Patriot match-up zone and in the second period found it in seniors Mitch Heltsley and Baumbarger. Heltsley would hit from inside and out scoring 7 points while Baumbarger would scrap his way for 5 points and North led 22-19 with 57 seconds to play in the half.

The Patriots got back-to-back lay-ups by Foreman and Lindamood to regain the lead 23-22 and some momentum at the half.

If the offense was lacking in the first two quarters the third quarter would be would be even worse as both teams struggled to score.

Two Baumbarger free throws gave TCN the lead then Logan Brubaker nailed a 15’ jumper to give it right back to the PATS. Heltsley hit one to give the lead back to North at 4:01 and again Brubaker got it back for Tri-Village with another 15’ shot.

Lindamood drained a trey at 2:45 to give the Patriots a 30-26 advantage but that would be all the scoring in the third period for either team.

The Patriots opened the 4th quarter with a set play for Mark Wheeler coming off a double screen and he nailed the three. Lindamood followed up with an old-fashioned three and the PATS held a 10 point lead 36-26.

Heltsley again stepped up for TCN scoring 6 points paired with a 3 ball by Tyler Dunham as they tried to creep back into the game trailing just 38-34 with 2:19 to play.

But the Patriots behind Logan Brubaker and Tyler Greer’s solid ball handling controlled play over the last few minutes causing the Panthers to try anything they could to scratch and claw back into the game.

T-V would go to the foul line and while only making 4-of-9 it would be their defense that would shine on this night holding the lead on their way to a 42-36 win.

After the game Coach Sagester proclaimed “Defense, Defense, Defense… it wasn’t pretty, our offense wasn’t clicking tonight but our defense did the job and that is what wins games.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of my guys, all eight of them as they all contributed in their own way tonight. Our team is like a puzzle and some nights different pieces are needed to win games but all had a part in this quality team win.”

“We got a real solid game from Logan Brubaker, he hit a couple of big shots for us in the third quarter and he handled the point real well. Derrick Chowning came in off the bench and gave us some length to match-up with Heltsley and he got a couple of key rebounds. I really thought the turning point was when we started the 4th quarter and Mark Wheeler hit the big three to get us rolling.”

“But like I said before this is a great win for our kids and they deserve the success they are getting with all the hard work they have put in. This sets us up an opportunity to play for a league title with three teams tied with one loss in the conference. Our last conference game is a home game next Friday verses Bethel and it should be special since it is senior night. But we need to come out ready to play on Saturday against Union City and Monday against Northridge. Our goal is to win 15 games and we can achieve that if we win out, added Coach Sagester.”

Leading the Patriots tonight in scoring was Sam Lindamood with 19 while pulling down 9 rebounds. Daniel Foreman led the PATS with 10 rebounds and added 7 points. Mark Wheeler and Logan Brubaker also scored 7 points each while Logan dished out 5 and Mark 4 assists each.

The win raises T-V’s record to 12-5 overall and 9-1 in conference action.

Scoring by quarters
Tri-Village.............15.........8........7.......12 – 42
Tri-County North.....7........15........4.......10 – 36

Tri-Village
T. Brubaker - 2
L. Brubaker - 7
D. Foreman - 7
S. Lindamood - 19
D. Chowning - 0
M. Wheeler - 7
D. Barger - 0
T. Greer - 0
Totals - 42

Tri-County North
T. Dunham - 3
D. Baumbarger - 8
M. Heltsley - 20
R. Haines - 2
E. Blankenship - 3
Totals - 36

Three Point Scoring:
Tri-Village – 2; Lindamood (1), Wheeler (1)
Tri-County North – 2; Dunham (1), Heltsley (1)