Brookville, Ohio – February 23, 2010

Tri-Village after a relatively easy game in the opening round of the sectional tournament was taking on Twin Valley South. In their first match-up with the Lady Panthers, T-V was able to pull out a close 43-39 win in a very competitive match-up.

The Patriots were a little tentative in their regular season game… but played with a sense of urgency to begin the game. Tri-Village used a very tenacious defense that frustrated TV South as they struggled in the opening quarter to score.

Meanwhile, the Patriots got off to a fast start with Kaila Burns and Kayla Linkous scoring the first two baskets, Burns on a drive and Linkous on an offensive rebound to go up 4-0 at 6:03.

Over the next few minutes neither team was able to get shots to fall as both defenses were working hard. Tri-Village’s defense would win the battle giving up just one-point in the opening quarter.

It was the play of senior guard Hillarie Frech that would jump-start the Patriots offensively as she connected on four straight jumpers for 8 points that would give T-V a 12-1 lead.

Freshman Teha Richards got the PATS off and running to start the second period with a foul line jumper. South finally got their first field goal on the night and followed up with a second to make the score 14-5 at 5:03.

Tri-Village then went on a 6-0 run that started with a fast break led by Shaye Thomas who dished to Linkous for an easy deuce. A few minutes later KJ would grab an offensive rebound and put it back for the score. Richards added a second jumper of the quarter from the free throw line to go up 20-5.

South would get one more field goal before the half while freshman Jordan Hill finished the scoring with a free throw giving the Patriots a 21-7 halftime advantage.

The Patriots continued to roll after intermission with their defense leading the way again. Linkous would roll in the frame scoring 9-points and Shaye Thomas added a deuce as the Patriots doubled their lead on South 32-16.

In the final stanza the Patriots spread the floor and continued to look inside to Kayla Linkous. Senior Kylie Thomas did a nice job of feeding Linkous which on three straight possessions led to easy scores and at the 5:58 mark Tri-Village held a 22 point lead 38-16.

With the large lead the Patriots freely substituted the remainder of the game. Tri-Village went on to win the game 39-30… but the final score was not indicative of how the Patriots controlled the game and executed their half court offense to perfection.

Kayla Linkous led the Patriots with 22 points and a dozen rebounds. Shaye Thomas dished out 5 assists and Kylie Thomas added 3 in the win. The Patriots record is now 16-5 overall.

The win advances the Patriots to the sectional final game at Noon on Saturday 2/27 at Brookville High School. They will face the Ansonia Lady Tigers who won a close game against Mississinawa Valley 35-32.

This will be the third match-up between the two schools this season. Tri-Village won the first game by the score of 56-40 and the second game by the score of 51-39. However, facing the same opponent three times in a season is difficult and the Lady Patriots will need to come ready to play and need the support of all our fans. I hope to see all of you on Saturday rooting on the Lady Patriots.

Scoring by Quarters:
Tri-Village ......12......09......11...07 – 39
TV South ........01......06..…09...14 – 30

Individual Scoring
Tri-Village
Linkous 0-9-4/10 – 22
Thomas 0-1-0/0 – 2
Hill 0-0-1/2 – 1
Richards 0-2-0/0 – 4
Burns 0-1-0/0 – 2
Frech 0-4-0/0 – 8
Totals 0-17-5/12 - 39

TV South
Gates 0-1-4/5 – 6
Perry 0-1-0/0 – 2
Ingram 0-2-0/0 – 4
Philpot 3-0-0/0 – 9
Creech 1-1-2/2 – 7
Weigand 0-0-2/2 – 2
Totals 4-5-8/9 – 30