Delphos St. John sharpshooter Cam Elwer connects for one of his four three-pointers in Friday’s summer exhibition win over Tri-Village in the Midwest Live showcase at Sandusky. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It’s not even the fourth of July yet, but already the brightest lights in area high school Division VII basketball tee it up this weekend, whetting hoops appetites for December.
Sandusky, OH – On the scoreboard, Delphos St. John came back from an early deficit to take a 23-21 lead in the first half, and held a slim lead at halftime over Tri-Village in Friday’s opening day of the Midwest Live high school basketball showcase.
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It was an exhibition, for state media and college basketball coaches to get an eyeful from a long list of invited participants, state-wide, the best of the best of pre-season Ohio basketball talent.
And oh, what a come-and-see.
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For west-central Ohio basketball interest alone – Delphos St. John, Tri-Village, and Minster showed up from Divisions VI and VII – and for those who like up-and-down action and in-your-eye athleticism it was like back-alley basketball on steroids.
But the first three minutes of the second half proved to be Tri-Village’s undoing as Delphos All-Ohio guard Cam Elwer overcame a slow first half shooting performance, and suddenly shot the Blue Jays to a double digit lead. And when he leads, the others seem to follow.
In the span of about a half dozen possessions the excited crowd that watched got their money’s worth as Elwer and Tri-Village shooting guard Trey Sagester traded buckets, and their respective supporting casts traded defensive intensity. What it lacked in mid-January execution, it more than made up for in individual and collective basketball competitiveness. Sagester and Elwer each walked away with 20-point performances. But for pride’s sake the Blue Jays held on to that ten-point advantage for the eventual win.
It was played with a running clock, the pace was up-tempo, and it afforded what most fans would wish to see when they come out during the regular season to see the best go head-to-head. They want to see action…shooting…intensity…and of course, pride.
And Delphos and Tri-Village delivered all of that in a preview of what most believe will be two of the best, and most entertaining teams competing for small-school titles (VI and VII) come winter. Someone added, “There’ll be no Russia like last year, so anything’s possible.”
There were mistakes, yes, but the instincts, just four weeks removed from the spring sports season and the end of school were on full display.
Tri-Village guard Tre Sagester gets to the rim to score during Friday’s Midwest LIve summer showcase of high school basketball in Sandusky.
“We played a pretty good basketball game,” said Patriots coach Josh Sagester. “Bottom line, the first three minutes of the second half we didn’t defensive rebound, and while they missed some shots in the first half they weren’t going to miss ’em all night. And to their credit, they went and got some missed shots early in the second half and put them back in. And that’s been our achilles heel a little bit…our work on the defensive glass.”
Elwer, who had a slow shooting start in the first half, suddenly caught fire off a transition three-pointer four minutes into the second half, and in a span of four minutes racked up half of his game total of 23 points.
Trey Sagester did his best to answer. Another All-Ohio candidate for 2026, he began to get to the rim as well as connect from distance on catch-and-shoot ball screens.
They’re both the sons of their head coaches – Sagester and Elwer – imbued with basketball instinct and savvy beyond most, even those at this weekend’s event.
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They’re acknowledged gym rats, to use that well-worn phrase. Cam Elwer has for years been known to open the ‘Vatican’ gym in Delphos at 6 am for extra shooting, himself and teammates. And it shows. Delphos led the MAC in field goal percentage last season with a mark of 54.8%. And more impressive, as a team they shot 82% from the foul line, nearly twenty points better than the Press Pros coverage area average for all boys teams.
Sagester, of course, has his own set of keys in New Madison, and impressed those who watched Saturday with his ability to both get to the rim, and his improved quickness in getting his feet set for perimeter catch-and-shoot opportunities coming off screens. He’s much bigger, and physical, in 2025-’26.
For a period of the final ten minutes it was as much fun as you can witness from a pair of what portend to be small-school powerhouses come winter.
“It was fun,” said Sagester, who doubles as the Tri-Village quarterback during football season. “And it’s the summer. You want to play the best competition, and this was probably one of the best Div. VI and Div. VII games [of the weekend]. When you come to Midwest Live you come to see the best of the best and that’s what people got to see.
“If we played each other during the regular season I know a lot of people would like to see that game. We’ve got everyone back from a sweet sixteen team last year and we have a lot to look forward to.”
But between now and then…will he still play quarterback come September?
“Yes, of course.”
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It’s not an open competition. Only the projected best of the best of Ohio teams are invited to participate in Sandusky, and the people who come out to watch this weekend will get to see several of last year’s state champions. Division I champs Olentangy Orange took the court immediately following Tri-Village and Delphos St. John.
Distance was no object, as teams like Wheelersburg, from Scioto County, drove five and a half hours to be here for a minimum of two days and four games played.
The tease, of course, is the Cedar Point amusement park, tantalizingly close, but far down on the list of this weekend’s priorities even for teenagers. They’re here for basketball and to measure themselves against those whom they hope to see with more on the line come February. The only coasters – ups and downs – were up and down the court, like Sagester versus Elwer.
The matchups you question later…when they can’t play during the regular season.
You had to see them now.
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