Tri-Village opened the 2006-07 season against neighbor and conference foe the Arcanum Trojans. When these two teams play you know it’s going to be a physical ball game.

The first half turned into a defensive struggle with both teams trying to find there way offensively. Tyler Greer got the Patriots on the board first with a drive down the lane. Tyler Morrison answered to tie it at 4:35.

Over the next 2:30 Tri-Village would get baskets from Greer, David Barger and back-to-back stick backs from Derrick Chowning to go up 10-2.

Arcanum in jeopardy of letting the game get away would get a short baseline jumper from Clint Hale to close out the first quarter down 10-4.

Caleb Means opened the second quarter with a drive for two. Ryan Buck sank a free throw for the PATS to go up 11-6. But the Trojans would score the next 6 points on a Derek Abner goal and 4 points from Nathan Greve to take the lead for the first time 12-11 at 4:45 to play.

The Patriots regained the lead on another dribble penetration goal by Tyler Greer. Kendall Stutz would make a free throw and David Barger would follow with a15-footer and the PATS went up 16-12 at the 2:30 mark.

Arcanum shut out the Patriots for the rest of the half. During the stretch senior Nathan Greve put the Trojan team on his back scoring 5 points to give Arcanum a 17-16-halftime lead.

In the early part of the third period the lead went back and forth and was deadlocked 22-22 at 4:47.

Then senior Darren Printz stepped up scoring 7 points on 3 possessions propelling Arcanum to their largest lead of the game 29-22.

The Patriots Mark Wheeler held scoreless in the first half scored two off a lay-up but a Clint Hale basket would maintain Arcanum’s 7 point lead at the end of 3 quarters 31-24.

In the final stanza the Patriots came out firing when Ryan Buck put a goal in from the paint and then Barger pulled up for a 15’ shot that was true while drawing the foul. The conversion was good and now the Patriots were within two 31-29 with less than a minute gone in the 4th period.

Tyler Morrison dialed in an inside basket but… senior Mark Wheeler answered the call with a trey to make it 33-32.

Caleb Means scored a lay-up for the Trojans but… the Patriots would get another goal inside from Buck followed by a second trey from Wheeler and the PATS regained the lead they lost back in the second quarter to go up 37-35.

Once Tri-Village got the lead it became apparent the aggressive Trojans were going to ratchet up the “D”. They would instead send Tri-Village to the free throw line for the remainder of the game.

The PATS would get timely free throw shooting down the stretch as David Barger hit 4-of-4 and Mark Wheeler would hit 7-for-11. A last second 3-point shot by Clint Hale drew the Trojans within a point but it wasn’t enough and Tri-Village held on for a 50-49 win.

Afterwards I spoke to Coach Sagester who was breathing a heavy sigh. “Whew what a game. We got the job done tonight. We started off well but when our shots didn’t fall late in the first half we let them in the game,”

“Our kids got down in the third quarter and trailed seven going into the final period but… we battled back. I thought David Barger and Mark Wheeler really stepped up for us after I challenged them to get it going.”

“We got contributions from everyone, in the first half it was Tyler Greer who really got us going. Then at the end of the quarter Derrick Chowning asserted himself on the offensive boards with some key put-backs.

“Our kids played through the first game jitters and in the end the end they gutted it out and found a way to finish. It’s a great start we are 1-0 and now can look to tomorrow night to take on National Trail.”

For the game Mark Wheeler led Tri-Village with 17 points while David Barger netted 15.

The JV contest also was a one-point game with Arcanum coming out on top 37-36. Tyler Fisherback led the way with 16 points for Tri-Village.

Scoring By Quarters:
Tri-Village 10 16 24 50
Arcanum 4 17 31 49

Tri-Village
Barger 15
Buck 5
Chowning 6
Greer 6
Stutz 1
Wheeler 17
Totals 50

Arcanum
Abner 2
Greve 9
Hale 9
Lambert 3
Means 4
Morrison 11
Printz 11
Totals 49

3 Point Scoring
Tri-Village (2) Wheeler - 2
Arcanum (3) Hale – 1, Lambert – 1, Printz –1