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| Drew Moore suffered a broken nose in the game but battled in the second half dropping in 5 three's for 15 points but battered and bruised the Patriots limped out in defeat. |
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By George Starks
Sports Writer
CASSTOWN— “We came in here a 13-3 team and ranked 14th in the state. We looked like a 3-13 team that was ranked 144 in the state,” said Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester after the Patriots fell to Miami East 64-51 Saturday.
The look on the face of Sagester spoke volumes. Trailing 23-5 at the end of the first quarter, the frustration on the young coaches face was more than evident.
The last shot of the first half, taken by the Patriots, fell between the back of the iron and the backboard, getting stuck as the buzzer sounded.
The Patriots trailed 38-19 at the break and all Sagester could do was rub his head, trying to rid himself of a pain that was not about to go away quickly.
“It was just as bad as it looked for me,” said Sagester. “It was real disappointing that we didn’t give the effort that we should have in the first half in what I call a league title game. It was frustrating. We didn’t come out and play with the intensity that we had played with for 16 games. The fire and the passion wasn’t there tonight.”
Whatever Sagester said to his team at the break must have sunk in. The Patriots came out in a triangle and two on defense and the Vikings were rattled as Tri-Village forced six big turnovers and had closed the gap to within nine at 47-38.
On offense, it was the hot outside shooting of freshman Drew Moore and the inside presence of senior Ryan Buck that got the red, white and blue clad Patriots back in the game.
Buck would eventually foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter with 23 points while Moore would drain five treys and finish with 15 points.
But the Patriots had dug their own grave in the first quarter. A hole they would not be able to climb out of.
“We got the lead down to five or six in the second half but couldn’t get the rebounds we needed to get any closer,” Sagester said. “When you dig a hole like we did against a team of this caliber at their place, it’s going to take an act of God to get back in the game the way I look at it. We got the game down to 10 and then nine and finally six but we couldn’t get over the hump.
“We looked intimidated right from the onslaught and I was disappointed with the leadership tonight,” Sagester continued. “I told the guys that the season was a marathon, not a sprint. We have to take it one game at a time and hopefully we can re-group and get ready for Friday night and Franklin Monroe.
Hopefully, East can go to Twin Valley South Tuesday night and play the way they did tonight and knock them off. That would put us right back in the title chase for a share of the conference. I thought coming in here we had something but I don’t have any answers. I really don’t.”
The Patriots, 13-4 on the year will host Franklin Monroe of Friday and will welcome Greenville on Saturday night.
In the junior varsity game, Brett Foreman hit a three at the buzzer to give the Patriots a 44-41 victory in overtime.
Score By Quarters:
T-V 05 14 19 13- 51
ME 23 15 09 17- 64
Individual Scoring:
Tri-Village (51)
Barger – 0
Brubaker – 0
Buck – 23
Greer – 9
Moore – 15
Stutz – 4
Totals – 51
Miami East
Beard – 2
Carey – 11
Coomes – 9
Deal – 4
Dunivan – 5
Hickman – 26
Miller – 5
Vega – 2
Totals – 64
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| Ryan Buck took a beating inside in a very physical game against Miami East but still managed 23 points in the loss. |
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