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| Ryan Buck turned in a second straight double digit game with 12 points. |
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Vandalia, Ohio – February 27, 2007
The Tri-Village boy’s basketball team took on a familiar foe for the third time this year the Franklin Monroe Jets. Both games went to the wire and this one would be the rubber match with the losing team going home.
One only has to remember back to last year when Franklin Monroe sent the Patriots home in the tournament after TV beat them twice in the regular season.
In the first period both teams appeared to be content running a very deliberate and patient offense. In fact both teams were knotted at 5 points each after 8:00 minutes of play.
The second period was almost a repeat of the first as both teams continued to battle with T-V opening up a slight lead pounding the ball inside taking advantage of their size with Derrick Chowning and Ryan Buck doing most of the damage. But it would be a three-ball from the outside by Logan Brubaker that would open up a 12-7 lead for the PATS with 3:42 to play.
With a five-point lead and time dwindling down it looked like TV was in complete control… but a few missed shots combined with a couple of turnovers turned into two straight baskets by Grant Shellabarger and Lane Lucas making it 12-11. Mark Wheeler completed the scoring by netting a free throw with a few seconds to play before the half and the PATS held a 13-11 advantage.
A few reporters commented at this pace the first team to 30 would win. Evidently Coach Dane French must have thought the same thing as the Franklin Monroe Jets came out running in the third frame. “We tried to get out in transition to get some easy baskets in the third period,” said French. “We knew they would continue to pound away at us inside.”
They were successful early on as the Jets got a couple of Bill Taylor break-away-goals and a Shellabarger basket at 2:21 gave FM the lead by the score of 20-16.
Ryan Buck would give the Patriots much needed offense from inside in the third frame with 6 points. None bigger than a three point play at the end when Tyler Greer found him under the basket and delivered him the ball to bring T-V to 21-19.
In the final stanza it was still anybody’s game when FM went up 23-19… but Derrick Chowning got a nice stick-back and Tyler Greer would hit a big three to regain the lead for the Patriots 24-23. “That shot was probably the turning point in the game for us,” said TV Coach Josh Sagester. “We were struggling from the outside a little bit and it gave us a big boost.”
The two teams would then trade baskets and while knotted at 28 each with 2:40 to play the Jets would foul Ryan Buck who made both ends of the bonus and TV had won the race to 30 points.
It was now up to the Patriots to find a way to hold on… and hold on they did as they took the air out of the ball forcing FM to foul. The Patriot’s were successful in converting free throws down the stretch pulling away to take a 39-33 win.
"I'm really proud of this team," said Sagester. "At one point in the year I wasn't sure if they were going to pack it in... but they believed in teh system and responded by winning 7 of the last 8 games and all of them have found a way to contribute." "They are now rewarded with the opportunity to play in the sectional finals," concluded Sagestger.
Now Tri-Village will play Friday night 8:15pm at Vandalia Butler. They will play Ridgeville Christian who won a thriller 44-42 over conference foe Mississinawa Valley in the earlier game.
Scoring by Quarters:
Tri-Village 05 08 06 19 – 39
Franklin Monroe 05 06 10 12 – 33
Tri-Village
Barger 00
Brubaker 06
Buck 12
Chowning 10
Greer 07
Stutz 01
Wheeler 03
Totals 39
Franklin Monroe
Taylor 07
Lucas 03
Halderman 03
Shellabarger 08
French 03
Nealeigh 07
Robison 02
Totals 33
Three Pointers:
TV – (3): Greer – 2, Brubaker – 1
FM – (1): French – 1
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| Derrick Chowing scored 10 big points inside against FM. |
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