By Don McDermott – Sports Editor Daily Advocate
NEW MADISON – Part I of the Tri-Village High School boys’ 1990-91 basketball saga is finished, concluding with the Patriots’ systematic 82-47 rout of Mississinawa Valley here Saturday night.
Part II – the quest for a Division IV state championship – starts Saturday where the 1989-90 trek came to a shattering halt, the University of Dayton Arena.
Tri-Village completed its second consecutive 20-0 regular-season run with the victory over the Blackhawks in a Cross County Conference game. The Patriots, 10-0 in the CCC and champions of that league for the second straight season, open Dayton Division IV Sectional Tournament play at 3 p.m. Saturday against a conference adversary, Tipp City Bethel.
In December, the Patriots won 92-73 at Bethel; that is one of 43 consecutive regular-season games they have won.
But UD Arena has not bee a friendly place for the Patriots, who have not won a sectional tournament game there in several seasons, including the 1989-90 campaign. Hamilton New Miami, 6-14 going into the first-round game against the Patriots – seeded No. 1 in the tournament and ranked first in the state Associated Press poll – won 77-74, bringing an abrupt end to a spectacular season.
Tri-Village’s seniors – Shane Bietry, Lee Brandon, Scoob Cook, Dirk Lewis, Nate Lindamood, and Randy Ward – played their final home game Saturday and powered the Patriots to an easy victory.
Lindamood scored 21 points, boosting his total to 383 in 20 games and clinching the 1990-91 Darke County Area scoring title with a 19.1 ppg average. Lindamood added six rebounds and was 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Bietry had 15 points, seven assists and four steals.
Lewis scored six points, had each assists and four steals.
Brandon, starting his second consecutive game after playing a key role as sixth man all season, had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Ward had 12 points and nine boards.
Cook, bothered by a sprained ankle, played two minutes toward the end of the first half and did not see action in the final 16 minutes.
“Mississinawa came in here and played hard, but they didn’t handle our full-court pressure very well,” said Lee Falknor, the Tri-Village coach. “We started building this defense…a sagging man-to-man, a ‘help’ defense…three years ago.
“Matt (assistant/junior varsity coach Renfro) and I figured that to win the big games, we were going to have to learn to play man defense,” said Falknor. “We’re committed to that defense.”
The Blackhawks committed 24 turnovers as they trailed 23-10, 39-26, and 61-36 at the quarters. They closed to 36-25 on a Victor Enis field goal with 40 seconds left in the second quarters, but the Patriots went on a 17-3 run over the next 3:48 to put the game beyond reach.
“We ran into a buzzsaw,” said Mike Leone, the Mississinawa Valley coach. “Even without Cook, they were too much for us to handle. They have some kids who can play, and tonight they were ready…we weren’t.
“You can watch a team play, and you can watch film, but until you’re on the sidelines, coaching against them, do you realize how impressive they are,” said Leone.
Matt Ford had 15 points, Victor Enis 12, and Ismael Anguiano 12 for the Blackhawks.
In the junior varsity game, Tri-Village won 42-26, giving Renfro his 300-career victory with various basketball teams at the New Madison-based school.
Scoring by Quarters
Tri-Village 23 16 22 21 – 82
Miss-Valley 10 16 10 11 – 47
Tri-Village
Lindamood - 21
Brandon - 19
Ward - 12
Cook - 0
Bietry - 15
Lewis - 6
Fisherback - 2
Baker - 7
Totals - 82
Miss-Valley
Ford - 15
May - 0
Pearson - 3
VEnis - 14
Hanes - 2
Anguiano - 12
NHanes - 1
CEnis - 0
Totals - 47
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| 1990-91 State Runner-up 27-1 |
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