February 12, 2009
Union City, Ohio

The Lady Patriots were trying to stay in the top tier of the Cross County Conference and needed a win against a very scrappy Mississinawa Valley Blackhawk team who was looking to make a statement on their own on their home court.

Kayla Linkous poured in 33 points and the Hawks contested the Patriots down to the wire nearly pulling off the win… but the Tri-Village survived for a 52-49 league win.

In the opening stanza the Hawks struck first with Kaila Burns responding with a three-pointer to give the Pats an early 3-2 lead. MV was able to regain the lead moments later in what would become a common occurrence throughout the contest. Both teams struggled early to put the ball in the basket and TV took a lead 10-6 after one period of play.

In the second quarter Mississinawa Valley pressured the entire court getting the game into a faster pace. The result was nine lead changes and eventually a tie to end the first half at 25-25. Kayla Linkous poured in 13 points in the quarter while Courtney Cox paced the Blackhawks with 8 points.

The third quarter was again a back and forth affair with the Patriots holding a 3-point lead 38-35 going into the final frame.

Try as they might TV just couldn’t shake MV… they hawked the Pats relentlessly until KJ was able to convert on consecutive scoring plays that gave TV a 48-43 lead with 1:41 to play. This was the largest lead of the game for either team and appeared to give Tri-Village control… but a desperate heave from about 25 feet on the right wing banked in for Mississinawa Valley close the lead to 49-48 with 31 seconds to play.

With the Patriots struggling from the free throw line the Hawks had several more opportunities… but two free throws one by Adrianna Finkbine with 12 second to play and another by Kylie Thomas with one second to play sealed the win at 52-49. The Hawks just ran out of time as Tri-Village once again showed their resilience in another closely contested game.

“I’m not sure what to say, lately we seem to be getting every teams best effort where they are making shots while we struggle with ball pressure,” said Coach Brad Gray. “Give credit to our kids as they continue to find a way to win and once again gutted it out.” “They have responded well and I’ll take that as a good sign and hope it pays off when we are in the tournament,” added Gray. “I didn’t think we would be 12-6 right now and am pleased to be where we are at this time of the year,” concluded Gray.


Scoring By Quarters:
Tri-Village…….10…15…13…14 – 52
Miss Valley……06…19…10…14 – 49


Individual Scoring:
Tri-Village: (12-7, 7-4 CCC)
Hillarie Frech 1-0-2/4 – 5
Adriana Finkbine 0-1-4/7 – 6
Chelsey Royer 0-0-0/0 – 0
Kaila Burns 1-1-0/0 – 5
Kylie Thomas 0-1-1/2 – 3
Taylor Collins 0-0-0/2 - 0
Kaila Linkous 0-12-9/15 - 33
Totals – 2 – 15 – 16/30 – 52

Miss Valley: (5-14, 3-8 CCC)
Rimmer 2-1-3/4 – 11
Jessup 0-1-0/0 – 2
LeMaster 2-1-0/2 – 8
Cox 2-3-2/2 – 14
Wicker 0-5-2/6 – 12
Keen 0-1-0/0 – 2
Totals – 6 – 12 – 7/14 – 49