By Dave Hughes – Special Contributor
The Daily Advocate
ARCANUM – It was business as usual for Tri-Village High School’s boys’ basketball team Friday night as the Patriots slipped by Arcanum 83-72 to remain undefeated.
But that businesslike demeanor nearly got the Patriots, ranked No. 4 in the Ohio Associated Press Division IV ratings, into trouble.
The Trojans, trailing by 17 at halftime and by 21 with just 5:40 left in the game, hustled themselves back into contention by outscoring Tri-Village 23-14 the rest of the way.
Patriot coach Lee Falknor, who likes the even-keel play that the businesslike approach gives the team, admitted they could have played with a bit more emotion, especially in the second half.
“I was disappointed with our intensity on defense, but we try to approach each game more businesslike. The more even you play emotionally, the fewer valleys you have,” he said.
But the Trojans, playing on high-octane emotion themselves, made a game of it in the first quarter and again in the fourth. Those middle periods though, were Arcanum’s downfall.
In the first quarter the Trojans used five points by senior guard Ryan Hood and four from sophomore center Chad Massengale to take a 12-9 quarter lead.
But in the second quarter T-V outscored Arcanum 29-18. Leading a well-balanced attack offensively for the Patriots was senior center Scoob Cook with 12 points. Jamie Fisherback chipped in with seven while both Nate Lindamood and Lee Brandon had five.
In the third quarter, Lindamood took over, knocking down nine points and leading the Patriots to a 17-point advantage at the end of that period. But Arcanum would not die easily and made the final run at the Pats before running out of time.
In that final comeback effort in the fourth quarter, Arcanum got 13 points from Massengale and 10 from Hood.
Arcanum coach Neal Hans felt his team played well. “We didn’t play scared tonight. The last time we played them (Jets Holiday Tournament) we did, he said. “I was very pleased with our offense as far as being patient and doing what we were supposed to do. We had excellent games from Ryan (Hood) and Chad (Massengale) and we had good hustle out of everyone,” he said.
Hans saw the game as a stepping-stone. “This was a good one to build on. We have to start building for the tournament,” he said.
Falknor praised his team for its 12-0 start. “This is one of the hardest working teams I’ve ever had in practice,” he said. “One of the keys to our success is that we do the little things well, in games and in practice.”
Tri-Village got 22 points and nine rebounds from Cook. Lindamood was right behind with 20 points and Randy Ward added 14. Hood had the big game for Arcanum with 31 points to lead all scorers. Massengale added a career-high 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Both teams shot well from the field. The winning Patriots hit on 30 of 60 field goal attempts for 50 percent while Arcanum was 27 of 51 for 53 percent. Arcanum outrebounded the Patriots 28-25. The Trojans committed 24 turnovers. Tri-Village had 20.
The Patriots remain perfect at 12-0 and 5-0 in the CCC. Arcanum falls to 4-9 and 3-3.
Scoring by Quarters
Tri-Village 9 29 27 18 – 83
Milton Union 12 18 18 24 – 72
Tri-Village
Lindamood - 20
Brandon - 7
Ward - 14
Cook - 22
Bietry - 8
Lewis - 7
Fisherback - 5
Totals - 83
Arcanum
Gray - 5
Studebaker - 0
Hood - 31
Hollinger - 7
Robinson - 0
Clark - 0
Foster - 3
Massengale - 26
Totals - 72
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