History was made in 2009-2010 for the Tri-Village Lady Patriots who tied Ansonia for 2nd place in the CCC with a 10-2 record and a 19-6 overall record. They won a Sectional Title, District Title and advanced to the “Elite Eight” finishing as Regional Runner-up one game short of the State tournament.

The season had ups and downs and the mark of any great team is how they handle adversity during the down times.

Tri-Village was considered the frontrunner to repeat as champions in their own Bill Burkett Lady Patriot Tournament but opened the season with a 60-58 upset loss by Franklin Monroe.

The Patriots would lose 4 of the first 7 games, none probably more devastating than a 26-25 loss to National Trail that would ultimately deny them a Cross County Conference Title.

Facing adversity the Patriots rebounded with a 51-26 win over Dunbar in the “Braggin Rights” tournament in Columbus catapulting them to 7 straight wins including a 19 point victory over Franklin Monroe extracting some revenge over the two-point loss in the first game of the year.

The Patriots came out flat against Greenville and the Wave could do no wrong snapping the Patriots 7 game win streak.

TV started another win streak eventually numbering 9 straight, one of the biggest being the final regular season game, a 50-36 win over the Miami East Vikings. Coming into the game East had never lost in the CCC winning 46 straight games. The win provided the Patriots much needed confidence and momentum going into the sectional tournament.

The PATS faced Jefferson in the first game of the sectionals and it would turn out to be a record-breaking game for sophomore Kayla Linkous. In just 2 1/2 quarters of play Linkous turned in a new school record scoring 61 points surpassing the previous mark of 43 held by Kara Schlechty. The performance landed Kayla in 8th place all-time in points scored in an Ohio High School Girls Basketball game. Her 22 field goals in a game also placed her in a tie for the 8th spot at the state level. Finally her 17-for-17 free throws left her just one short of reaching the record books at the state level.

The Patriots went on to defeat Twin Valley South to advance to the sectional title game facing Ansonia for a third time on the year. The Tigers were also enjoying a nice year on the hardwood and didn’t intend to just hand the title to TV. In fact the Patriots would have to earn it…and did they ever as Linkous would spell foul trouble early and eventually foul out of the contest. The adversity the team had been through during the season only served to let someone else step forward and shine. That came in the form of two freshman - Shaye Thomas who would take over in the second half scoring 19 points and freshman Teha Richards who would scored 4 points in overtime to secure a 55-51 sectional title win over a determined Ansonia Team.

The Patriots continued their history-making run with a district match-up with Miami Valley. In another nail biter the Patriots pulled out another exciting victory with senior Hillarie Frech hitting some big free throws as TV claimed a 49-45 District Title Championship win over the Rams.

Advancing to the Regional Tournament the Patriots squared off against South Charleston Southeastern a team who had a history of denying past TV teams from getting beyond the Districts.

Southeastern put together a game plan putting the clamps on KJ Linkous and TV was in for another barnburner. Stepping forward was senior Kaila Burns who netted 14 points and Shaye Thomas who added 12 points while running the point and again the Patriots found a way to win another overtime thriller 44-43 to advance to the Regional finals.

Tri-Village then took on Fort Loramie and played even with the favored Redskins 19-19 in the first half. In the second half the Fort sealed up the lane while ratcheting up the defense as TV succumbed to their relentless pressure ending a magical run as an “Elite Eight” team by the score of 42-26.

Looking back, the early season losses – adversity the team faced helped shape and build toughness – desire needed to carry the team through the tournament resulting in 4 close wins, games that easily could have been losses. And the rest is history!

The Patriots say good bye to 6 seniors; Adriana Finkbine, Bre Abney, Kylie Thomas, Brittani Abney, Hillarie Frech and Kaila Burn, both Frech and Burns were 4 year varsity players.

Individual Player Honors for 2009 – 2010:

Kaila Burns
- Honorable Mention CCC
- District Nine All Star Game
- 3pt FG% Single Season – 34.6% - 7th in School History
- 3pt FG% Single Season – 34% - 9th in School History
- 3pt FG% Career – 31% - 8th in School History

Hillary Frech
- Special Mention CCC
- District Nine All Star Game
- 3pt FG% Career – 31.3% - 7th in School History


Shaye Thomas
- 1st Team all CCC
- 3rd Team Palladium-Item
- Special Mention AP All-Southwest District
- Assists Single Season – 128 - 5th in School History

Kayla Linkous
- Daily Advocate Player of the Year
- 1st Team all CCC
- District 9 Media Team
- 1st Team Palladium-Item
- 1st Team AP Southwest District
- 3rd Team AP All Ohio
- Bill Burkett All-Tournament Team
- Points In Game – 61 - 1st in School History
- Points In Game – 61 - 8th all-time in State of Ohio
- Rebounds Single Season – 273 - 1st tied with Monica Schlechty
- FG Percentage Single Season – 59.9% - 2nd in School History
- Field Goals Per Game – 22 - 8th in the State of Ohio
- Points Single Season – 466 – 2nd in School History
- FG’s Single – 170 - 3rd in School History
- PPG Average Single Season – 18.6 - 6th in School History
- Point In Career – 923 - 7th in School History
- Rebounds In Career – 531 - 10th in School History