Brookville, Ohio 2/27/10

Tri-Village and Ansonia were playing a third time this year and for one of these two teams their last game of the season. The stakes were high as both teams were looking to capture a Sectional Title.

Tri-Village disposed Ansonia easily in the first two games by the score of 56-40 and 51-39… but it was early in the season and Ansonia wasn’t the same team as they were at the beginning of the year.

“We (Tri-Village coaches) knew this was going to be a tough game, said Brad Gray. Ansonia has a new coach this year… but returned 3 key players from last year. Once the girls understood Coach Ray’s system they got on a roll and were a much better team at the end of the year, which was evident by the fact they went 10-2 in the conference tying us for second place with a 10-2 record.

Tri-Village jumped out to a 10-3 lead to start the contest and looked like they were in control… but a hot shooting Tiger team would claw their way back into the contest. In fact Ansonia’s only scoring came from behind the arch in the period as they hit 4 triples.

Hillarie Frech led the Patriots outside shooting with 7 points while Kayla Linkous scored 6 inside. Freshman Jordan Hill finished the scoring on a stick back with 2 seconds in the period to give Tri-Village a 15-12 lead.

For the Tigers, Sara Mayo hit 2 three-pointers, while Kendra Reier and Sarah Amspaugh each chucked one in from long range to keep it close.

In the second frame Tri-Village struggled to get any offense going against a very aggressive Tiger defense that doubled KJ inside using their physicality as Jennifer Gasper and Sara Maya was effective in holding her down to 3 points.

The Patriots tried to counter by spreading the floor to create some driving lanes for freshman Shaye Thomas. Thomas would go on to score 7 much needed points… but before the half ended the Tigers had caught and passed the Patriots on the scoreboard leading 28-25 at the half.

Due to the hot shooting of Ansonia from the outside, T-V switched into a man defense and senior guard Ashlyn Hemmelgarn took advantage by driving the ball in for 6 points in the second period. Amspaugh and Reier both hit another trey to help the Tigers gain the lead at intermission.

“They (Ansonia) came out and hit some shots in that first half and caught us off-guard, said coach Brad Gray. We tried to adjust but they are so strong and athletic and can beat you in a number of ways so you have to give their kids some credit.”

Ansonia opened up the third frame on an inside fielder by Gasper giving the Tigers their largest lead on the night 30-25. The Patriots slowly started to creep back into the game narrowing the lead to one on a Kaila Burns three-pointer at 4:55 to make it 32-31.

Linkous regained the lead for T-V on an inside score that was recaptured by Ansonia’s Amspaugh at 2:30 leading 34-33. The same scenario played out again, this time Frech hit a jumper… but Amspaugh upped the ante hitting a trey and Ansonia led 37-35.

Linkous ended the scoring and the 3rd frame with two free throws knotting the score at 37-37.

The final stanza would turn out to be wild and wooly as neither team was willing to concede anything easy. In fact it would cost the PATS as Kayla Linkous picked up her 5th foul with 6:30 to play that caused many hearts to sink on the Patriots side, while the Tiger fans were overjoyed.

“Obviously we were worried when KJ fouled out,” commented coach Gray.

The coaches and fans might have been worried… but it also was an opportunity for others to step forward.

Stepping forward was freshman Shaye Thomas who scored 11 of her game high 19 points in the final quarter. Thomas attacked the Tigers off the dribble drive either getting a scored off the bounce or getting to the free throw line. She would convert 11-of-13 free throws on the night her last two gave T-V a 51-49 lead with 25 seconds to play.

Amspaugh tied the game 51-51 on two free throws with 19 seconds to play.

Despite the great play of Thomas it would turn out be another freshman that provided the final heroics of the day. With 9 seconds to play Teha Richards gathered in a loose ball in the middle of the lane and in one motion was able to get the ball up to basket that drew the foul… the basket was good giving the PATS a 53-51 lead.

After missing on the conversion senior Hillarie Frech somehow came out with the rebound passing it back out to Richards forcing the Tigers to foul that would send Richards back to the free throw line. This time Richards finished off the Tigers nailing both tosses giving Tri-Village a hard fought 55-51 win and a Sectional Title!

“This team grew up some today, said an elated Coach Gray. We may have been worried but we actually learned to play over the summer with out KJ due to her injury. And what can I say about our freshman they stepped up today. Shaye took charge when KJ went out and came up big. I can’t say enough about Richards who gave us some great minutes off the bench especially at the end. This was a great team win and these girls earned this Sectional Title. Let’s see if we can keep this thing rolling at the Districts,” concluded Gray.

The Patriots put 3 players in double figures led by Thomas with 19 points, Linkous had 16 and Frech added 11 points

Ansonia hit 8 threes on the day and was led by Hemmelgarn with 13 points and Amspaugh with 12.

The Patriots move on to the District game at Tipp City on Saturday March 6th at 3pm. They will be facing the Monroe lower sectional champ Miami Valley with a 19-4 record.


Score by quarters:

Tri-Village...15…10…12…12 – 55
Ansonia..…..12…16…09…14 – 51

Tri-Village
Hillarie Frech 1-3-2/2 – 11
Teha Richards 0-1-2/3 – 4
Kaila Burns 1-0-0/2 – 3
Shaye Thomas 0-4-11/13 – 19
Jordan Hill 0-1-0/3 – 2
Kayla Linkous 0-6-4/10 – 16
Team Totals 2-15-19/33 – 55

Ansonia
Ashlyn Hemmelgarn 0-5-3/7 – 13
Jennifer Gasper 0-3-0/0 – 6
Sara Mayo 2-0-3/4 – 9
Kendra Reier 3-0-0/0 – 9
Sara Amspaugh 3-1-1/2 – 12
Taylor Wasson 0-1-0/0 – 2
Team Totals 8-10-7/13 – 51


Three Pointers:
Tri-Village 2 (Frech 1, Burns 1)
Ansonia 8 (Reier 3, Amspaugh 3, Mayo 2)