By Jeff Higley – Richmond Palladium Items
DAYTON, Ohio – Tri-Village was determined not to let it happen again.
And although it wasn’t pretty, the Patriots got what they went for Saturday, besting Bethel 69-33 in a first round Division IV sectional game at the University of Dayton.
The Patriots, tied with St. Henry for the No. 1 ranking in the state, lost a first round sectional game last year when it was ranked No. 1. They didn’t want history to repeat itself.
There was little reason to worry. Aided by balanced scoring and some feisty defense, the Patriots earned a trip to the second round against Southeastern on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
“It seemed like we were tense all game long,” Tri-Village coach Lee Falknor said. “We played tentative because we were afraid what happened last year would happen again. We never really did relax.”
Tri-Village used a 1-2-2 fullcourt zone defense to nail down it 21st victory against no losses.
The combination forced Bethel into 32 turnovers. The Patriots forced 17 turnovers in the second half when they limited the Bees to 10 total points – all by Garrett Evans.
“They have a nice press but if you can get the ball in the right spots you can beat,” Bethel coach Dave Wolfe said. “We were very tentative. We didn’t want to attack it.
“Their reputation had a lot to do with it,” Wolfe added. “We know they’re know for the good defense that they play.”
“The press was the big factor,” Falknor said. “When we adjusted to what they were doing, they became apprehensive about attacking it.”
Although Tri-Village trailed just once (2-0), Bethel stayed in the game throughout the first half, trailing 33-23 at intermission after James Perry hit a 3-pointer with one second left.
At halftime, Falknor decided to abandon the man-to-man defense and go with a zone.
“I told them at halftime that we’d have to play good defense it we wanted to win,” Falknor said. That they did.
Bethel hit just 5-0f-21 field goals in the second half and committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter alone. Tri-Village gradually increased the lead to 49-31 after three quarters then exploded in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bees 20-2.
Falknor was most pleased with the fact that nearly everyone who played contributed on the scoreboard. Nate Lindamood led the way with 19 points while Lee Brandon added 18 and Dirk Lewis 13.
“That’s been the trademark of this club all year,” Falknor said. “We would have liked to have gotten some more shots inside. I’d like to see our inside people handle the ball a little more.”
Scoob Cook, T-V’s starting center for most of the season, didn’t start for the third straight game because of a bad ankle. He did see action, scoring six points and pulling down nine rebounds.
Evans led the Bees, who finished the season 2-18, with 14 points while Perry added 11.
Scoring by Quarters
Tri-Village 15 18 16 20 – 69
Bethel 10 13 8 2 – 33
Tri-Village
Lindamood - 19
Brandon - 18
Ward - 4
Cook - 6
Bietry - 3
Lewis - 13
Fisherback - 2
Baker - 7
Wicker - 0
Blocher - 4
Pearson - 0
Totals - 69
Bethel
Sloan - 2
Sorrell - 0
Evans - 14
Schmidt - 2
Lyons - 2
Beam - 2
Perry - 11
Rogers - 0
Totals - 33
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