Houston, Ohio
December 4, 2007

By Doug Frazier

The Patriots traveled to Houston to take on the Lady Wildcats. Houston over the last couple of years has become a top tier team in a very tough Shelby County League. So scheduling a non-conference opponent like Houston is good for the program.

A rocky start and finish were TV’s undoing at Houston Tuesday night. “Our team can’t come out flat to start a game and expect to win against good opponents we have a hard time getting out of the gate and it is something we have to correct.  We have to come in ready to play,” said Coach Brad Gray. The Patriots quickly dug themselves in hole in the first quarter as Houston got off to an 8-0 start.  

The Pat’s did not score until just over halfway through the first quarter when Jordyn Fisherback sank a free throw. She missed the second one, but Tina Allison grabbed the rebound and put-back to make it 8-3.

The Lady Pat’s were beginning to roll and finished the quarter as Allison takes the pass on an inbounds play with 0:08 to close the quarter with Houston leading 12-7.

The Patriots were down by as many as 11 on two separate occasions in the 2nd quarter but was able to cut it to 7 at the half when Erin Bundy made an old fashioned 3 and the Pat’s trailed 24-17.

The Pat’s regrouped at halftime, “we came out very strong to start the second half,” said Coach Gray.
Kaila Burns opened the second half with an assist to Jordyn Fisherback inside. At 4:43 to play in the quarter it was Burns to Fisherback again, add a free throw and TV trailed by just 2 at 27-25.

With the score 30-29 Houston, Amelia Frazier drove the lane and was fouled sending her to the free throw line. She sank both charity tosses to giving the Patriots their first lead of the game 32-30. Houston was able to score before the end of the third quarter deadlocking both teams at 32 all.

The Patriots scored the first two buckets of the 4th quarter. First Frazier stole the ball and took it the length of the floor to make it 34-32. On the next possession Erin Bundy drained a bucket and was fouled after the shot to give the ball back to Tri-Village who now led by 4 points 36-32.

Houston then called a timeout with 5:00 minutes to play and made a defensive adjustment by going to a zone. After the adjustment things then started to get rocky for the Lady Patriots as they turned it over on their next three possessions and Houston capitalized to take a 38-36 lead.

“I wish I could do it over again”, said Coach Brad Gray, referring to his decision to pull the ball out when Houston went to the zone. “We turned the ball over and it completely changed the momentum of the game.”

Houston then spread the floor with just over two minutes to go and while trying to catch up the Patriots began to foul. Houston’s 14-2 run to close out the game gave them a 46-38 win improving their record to 5-1 overall.


For the game Tri-Village was 15-55 from the field for 27% and only shot 8 free throws.  

“We have to do a better job of getting to the foul line and taking advantage of our size advantage to win ball games,” said Coach Gray.  “I also felt we were very flat defensively.   Bright spots for the game were Jordyn Fisherback who continues to be a force putting up 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Also Amelia Frazier turned in another solid floor game with 9 points and 4 assists,” concluded Coach Gray.

With the loss Tri-Village falls to 4-2 overall and will host Miami East on Thursday a perennial power and pre-season favorite to with the Cross County Conference title.

Scoring by Quarters
TV 07 10 15 06 – 38
Houston 12 12 08 14 – 46

TV
Burns……………0
Stamps…………..0
Allison…………..6
Bundy…………...8
Frazier…………..9
Fisherback……..15
Totals………….38
Houston
Willoughby……11