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| Tyler Greer buried a big 3 late in the game to give the PATS a lead to help them to a win over National Trail 49-43. |
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By George Starks, The Daily Advocate
New Paris, Ohio November 24, 2007
Ask Tri-Village basketball coach Josh Sagester how many shots his team missed in the paint and he may reply with, "I don't know right off hand. I'm not sure I can count that high."
Despite missing a grocery cart full of them, Tri-Village still pulled out an exciting 49-43 victory over National Trail Saturday night on the road.
"I don't know how many bunnies we missed tonight," said Sagester. "It was physical out there tonight at the start of the game and I think that affected our kids a little bit and started looking for contact instead of putting the ball in the hole. In the third quarter alone, I can't count the number of bunnies we missed. To our credit, we found a way to win."
After trailing 12-10 at the end of the first frame, The Patriots held a slim 21-20 lead at the break, doing with their big man on the bench in foul trouble.
"When Ryan (Buck) went out with three fouls early in the second quarter and then we have to play a long stretch in the second quarter without him, the rest of the team stepped up," Sagester stated. "I have to give my guys alot of credit. We started the season with our first two games on the road. We took Arcanum's and Trail's best punch and come out of it with a 2-0 record. We've been to two teams openers and that's tough."
Even though the Patriots held just a 30-29 lead after three, it was Kendell Stutz that set the table for the Patriots down the stretch.
Stutz finished the game with 21 points for Tri-Village to lead all scorers.
"Kendell was a spark plug for us tonight," Sagester pointed out. "Last night (Friday) it was Ryan who was doing the job at Arcanum, tonight, it was Kendall. We have some guys on this team that on any given night can step up and score some big points for us."
Sagester also made note of one other big aspect of the game.
"We hit 19 of 29 shots from the line and Trail only went to the line five times tonight," Sagester pointed out. "That's huge and that was the difference in the Arcanum game Friday. We were 21 of 28 from the line and Arcanum only shot one from the line and they missed it. We try to get the ball in the paint to make the basket and we draw the fouls. That's huge for this team."
While Stutz paced the team on offense, Buck added 12 with Tyler Greer chipping in 11 in support.
That included one big shot early in the fourth quarter.
With the Blazers holding a 33-32 advantage, Greer buried a trey at the 6:08 mark of the game, giving the Pats a 35-33 advantage.
A lead they would hold the rest of the way.
"That shot was a big boost for us at that point," Sagester admitted. "It gave us the lead and we never lost that lead."
The Tri-Village junior varsity held on to down Trail 37-36.
The Patriots, 2-0, will open their home portion of the 2007-08 schedule Friday, hosting Twin Valley South.
"It's sad that this game has to be played so early in the season," said Sagester. "I would venture to say that we are the two upper echelon teams in the CCC and the conference could be decided Friday night. I guess this game will show if we are pretenders or contenders."
Scoring Summary:
Score By Quarters:
TV 10 11 09 19 - 49
NT 12 08 09 20 - 43
Individual Scoring:
Tri-Village (49)
Greer 11
Stutz 21
Fisherback 03
Buck 12
Barger 02
Totals 49
National Trail (43)
Jones 06
Catron 11
Kimberlin 06
Abner 04
Ebersole 04
Beck 12
Totals 43
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| Kendall Stutz gave the Patriots a lift to down National Trail pouring in 21 points. |
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