Tri-Village’s Noah Finkbine (#5, in white) fights through traffic for an offensive rebound and points during the first quarter of Saturday night’s near miss against Fort Recovery. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Unbeaten, and largely unchallenged, 21-0 Tri-Village had to work to survive its toughest test yet and a threatened St. Valentine’s Day massacre from Fort Recovery.
New Madison, OH – To be frank, the unbeaten and #2-ranked Tri-Village Patriots finally got that taste of tournament pressure basketball Saturday night that coach Josh Sagester had scheduled for all season long.
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Just 24 hours removed from suffering a 37-point blasting at the hands of Delphos St. John, Bob Leverette’s Fort Recovery Indians came to New Madison on Senior Night at Tri-Village with reperations on their mind from the night before. Nothing political, mind you, but when you have it handed to you, 86-49, there’s no better motivation than playing spoiler to an unbeaten season, senior night, and a mentally tired and unexpectant basketball team.
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And voila’, Sagester’s Patriots handed it to them on a silver platter, altering the starting lineup in honor of their seniors, and allowed Fort Recovery to take advantage of the evening’s sentiment. The Indians’ Colson Post and teammate Breaker Jutte (the best name in MAC basketball) both hit quick threes, and teammate Hudson Overman scored 6 quick points at the rim. And before you could say St. Valentine’s Day massacre Fort Recovery had its foot on the neck of the unbeatens by the end of the first quarter, 19-12.
One could make the case that Patriots’ coach Josh Sagester left the starters on the bench for too long. But in reality, Tri-Village had more than token players on the court. When you win by an average of 25 points on a nightly basis your roster gets more than token playing time. And the Patriots’ starting quintet had seen more than their share of the elephant.
But four minutes was more than enough time for Recovery to get that winning feeling back after Friday night’s tragedy in Delphos, and from that point through the end of the first half the Indians were determined to make a statement and play beyond their 12-9 record.
Fort Recovery’s defense made it tough on Trey Sagester and the Patriot offense early…and it took a while for Sagester to eventually accumulate his game-high 28 points.
“I think we were a little emotionally tired,” Josh Sagester would later admit. “All the festivities of Senior Night get you out of the normal routine. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and we weren’t ready to play. Last night was an emotional game that we had to play, with some physicality, and then to come back and do it again…I knew that focus could potentially be an issue.
“We gave up more points in the first half than we’ve given up all year. And then to give up 60 when we haven’t given up 50 all year…they were able to do some things to us that obviously made us uncomfortable.”
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That said, sophomore Brecken Gray had nothing to be emotional about – two more years to play – and he might have literally saved the Patriots’ bacon by canning a pair of first quarter three-pointers (four for the game) that loomed big by night’s end.
“I just came in knowing that we were going to have to make plays to get back in the game,” Gray said with a grin. “They were overplaying Trey and that’s my job when I get wide-open looks. I gotta’ make shots and get ’em off Trey. That’s all I did.”
“I’m glad he did,” senior and all-time leading scorer Trey Sagester would later admit. “We were a little off from last night, and we got in a hole for the first time all year. But we were physically and mentally able to get over the hump the way we did to come out with a win tonight. And those shots definitely helped.”
Still, Fort Recovery was not about to let Sagester and his 25.2 points per game beat them, giving him a dose of good ol’ MAC physical respect – both man and zone defense.
And despite the best efforts of the Patriots’ super sniper (12 points in the first half), Post, Jutte, Overman and company proved to be bad physical matchups, size-wise, getting to the rim through the tired Patriots’ defense to hold a halftime advantage of 29-27.
But well within striking range of Sagester, and fellow shooters Griffin Richards, Gray, and Noah Finkbine in the second half.
Down two after the break, Tri-Village seemed on the brink of breaking through and making Senior Night a roaring success. Post and Jutte had other ideas. The two combined for ten points in the first five minutes of the third quarter and by the 5:30 mark had shot Fort Recovery to a 39-32 lead.
Fort Recovery’s Colson Post gets to the rim for two of his team-high 17 points during the third quarter of Saturday’s loss to undefeated Tri-Village.
“It just says a lot about our kids,” said Recovery coach Bob Leverette. “They bought in after last night, and our goal since the beginning of the season was to be at the top of the MAC…and we’re one win away…and our other goal was to make it to the regional round of the tournament. We played Delphos tough for a quarter and a half last night, but that’s a whole different monster. Tonight we came down here, with our strength of schedule, knowing that we could go toe-to-toe with anyone. And we’re going to be a dangerous out in the tournament because we create mismatch problems. We’ve got size, we’ve got experience from last year’s tournament, and we’ve got guards that are gritty and able to handle the ball.”
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But so does Tri-Village, who down seven suddenly turned defensive. The game got very physical, and the officials – God bless ’em – seemed to be good with it. Tri-Village scratched out a couple of turnovers, converted them into points, and went on an 8-0 run in the blink of an eye by the 4:00 mark of the quarter – the capper being a long three-pointer from the wing by Sagester that suddenly tied the score, and a subsequent free throw gave them their first lead of the game, 40-39.
Tri-Village guard Griffin Richards runs for an apparent first down during the Patriots’ 8-0 run to tie in the third quarter.
Still, Recovery, with points from Jutte, Colson, Overman and Brody Barga met that challenge and led 48-46 at the start of the fourth quarter.
You can write any number of explanations and descriptions of the final eight minutes, but the condensed version can be summed up this way…they belonged to Trey Sagester, as did the final two quarters. Sagester scored 16 of his game-high 28 points after the break, and doing it he broke the hearts of Fort Recovery down the stretch with nine points, four three throws, and the ball in his hands, constantly.
Recovery would come back to take their last lead at 53-50, but Sagester and Brecken Gray would hit critical threes to retake a 59-55 lead and make the final two minutes of the game a continual trek to the foul line. Fort Recovery was forced to foul, hoping to trade 2 points for 3 if they could match with three-pointers at their end. But Colson Post could answer with only one such shot from behind the arc…while Sagester, Griffin Richard, Gray, and Carson Bedinghouse would hit 8 of 12 from the line. Final score…66-60!
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Sagester led all scorers with 28, and as is his custom, you were aware of him scoring, but surprised over him scoring so many. Brecken Gray’s four threes netted him 13 points, Noah Finkbine would finish with 12, and Dominic Black had 6.
Colson Post led Fort Recovery with 17, Breaker Jutte had 15, Hudson Overman had 14, and Brody Barga had 11, as evidence of the Indians’ ability to compete.
Father like son…on this third quarter three-pointer from Trey Sagester that led to the Patriots first lead in the game.
In his office, afterwards, Josh Sagester showed the stress of a 21-0 season, the emotional roller coaster of fighting back from a near-Valentine’s Day tragedy, and the growing expectation of matches and rematches in the Division VI tournament. And as fate would have it, #2 Tri-Village and #1 Marion Local would be on a crash course somewhere in the Division VI tournament, and the questions are increasing as to how they compare.
“I take it one game at a time,” said Sagester, quietly, but as a former state champion, himself, with perfect respect for the moment. “I have not seen Marion in person, but I’ve seen their film and I know they’re talented, athletic, and physical. They’re good at making you uncomfortable, defensively. But the potential for leading up to a meeting with them is the reason why I’ve done what I’ve done with our schedule.
“We’ve played Kettering Fairmont and Indian Hill – big bodies – and if we see Marion it won’t be the first time we’ve played against length and athleticism. We’ve played them (Marion) before in very meaningful games, and we’d be very thankful for the opportunity to get to that point. They were there last year, and you can make the point that they played better in the tournament than during the regular season. But we’ll take things one at a time, because your luck starts tomorrow. In the tournament draw it’s important to have the #1 seed because you can make some decisions. Hopefully we’re going to be healthy and able to peak at the right time.”
And it all comes with a remarkable irony…that 80% of the area probably has no idea, or appreciates, that Tri-Village and Delphos St. John are undefeated…that Delphos and Marion Local are ranked #1 in their respective divisions…and that the impending drama of tournament seeding and tactical choices may inevitably lead to a local matchup the likes of which area basketball has not witnessed in a quarter century.
Bob Leverette, by the way, left the gym smiling Saturday, satisfied that his team’s best basketball is yet to come, predicated by Fort Recovery being better against a monster different from the one they played Friday night.
Josh Sagester dodged a bullet based on what he knew about his own team, his own son, and his faith in their ability to make plays when plays were needed.
Yes, despite the early blowouts…it oughta’ be one helluva’ tournament!
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