Early points off turnovers…Tri-Village guard Sydnee DeLong spots an open teammate upcourt following a first half turnover that became fast break points for the winning Patriots. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
#1 seed Tri-Village scored 59 points in the first half on their way to domination of #13 seed Franklin Monroe in the Division VI sectional/district second round at Versailles.
Versailles, OH – Their 87-14 win over Franklin Monroe in the Division VI district tourney Saturday conjured a variety of adjectives descriptive of the #1 seed Tri-Village Patriots. And according to Max Preps, the #14-ranked team in Ohio Division VI basketball this week.
Impressive, certainly. The sheer numbers, themselves, don’t lie.
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Athletic? No question. This 2026 latest edition of Tri-Village girls basketball under coach Brad Gray is physically smaller than teams in the past – significantly so over their 2023 Division IV champion team. What they lack in height they more than make up for in quickness.
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Aggressive? Without a doubt. Being smaller, the Patriots play the game from one baseline to the other as a function of perpetual motion. Their mantra from Gray is…if they’re standing still they’re vulnerable. So never be standing still.
On a mission? Obviously. Over the years they’ve developed one of the great competitive cultures for basketball in New Madison, Ohio. Winning matters, because winning produces other long-lasting attributes regarding competitive success in adult life. Literally, in schools like Tri-Village competitive zeal in the classroom and on the scoreboard is part of the curriculum.
And how about…uncomfortable! There was the sense among the 500 people who watched Saturday afternoon’s tournament carnage at Versailles High School (Div. VI)…at Trotwood (where Div. V Versailles beat Northeastern 77-29)…and at Sidney (where Div. VII Botkins beat Calvary Christian 68-2) that these were anything but good competitive experiences for kids – the oft-used phrase by those seeking to justify the status quo. It was one of those awkward scenarios where you can’t help but admit that what you’re seeing is impressive, but at the same time…out of whack!
Tri-Village’s Kenna Wilcox reaches for a turnover caused by the Patriots’ pressure defense.
Impressive? I’m sure even those from Franklin Monroe, a fellow conference member with Tri-Village in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference, could not have had anything but respect for the competitive ability of Tri-Village, who beat Franklin Monroe during the regular season by a margin of 55 points. They certainly could not have been surprised.
The Patriots jumped out early, created nine turnovers in the first quarter alone, and scored 13 of their 25 first quarter points by pressuring Franklin Monroe into mistakes and transition layups.
In addition, the Patriots canned 9 of 17 three-point attempts in the first half on their way to a whopping 59-7 halftime lead.
They subbed liberally. Every available player on the Tri-Village bench played like interchangeable parts…and scored.
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Playing with a running clock for the entire second half, Tri-Village quit pressuring full court. They continued to run and shoot, and they continued to play hard, because that’s the culture of Patriot basketball. After scoring 34 points in the second quarter, they scored 13 in the third and 15 in the fourth on their way to 87 for the game. Franklin Monroe matched their first half number of 7 points, and finished with 14.
In an average basketball post you write about players and contributions. And in this case Taytum Gray, Adalynn Hines and Tai Mize led Tri-Village, each scoring 13 points. Kaley Brandon had 11. Sydnee DeLong and Kenna Wilcox each had 10. As written before, just about every Patriot who touched the floor touched the scorebook, as well.
Tri-Village’s Taytum Gray steps to the rim for two of her 13 points in Saturday’s district tournament win over Franklin Monroe.
And for Franklin Monroe, Caydance Nichols led the Jets with 6 points. No one else scored more than 3.
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To their credit the Jets players handled the outcome, and the margin, with class and aplomb. There were no issues regarding sportsmanship. Rather, some smiles and nods of congratulation in the post-game handshake line. No one liked it, I’m sure. But no one made an awkward moment worse, either. Tri-Village moves on to play Houston next, who survived overtime against Tri-County North on Saturday, 57-54.
It was hard to ask the typical basketball questions in the post-game interview. 87-14 is a statement in and of itself, except for the question of whether games like this should be played in the first place?
Is it necessary to have the entire membership of OHSAA schools involved when clearly some are outmanned, or in this case, out-girled? Franklin Monroe, a school with its own history of good basketball in the past, this year finished its campaign with a record of 3-20.
To the question of how either team benefited from a 73-point margin, Tri-Village coach Brad Gray had no choice but to take the high road, basketball-wise. It’s hard to talk about a competitive benefit when one team has a 14-point day.
“What we’re focused on with our kids is that we’re a lot better when the ball has life to it,” said Gray. “We’re not undefeated, and there have been times when we’ve gotten ourselves in trouble by dribbling too much. We stress moving the basketball and playing unselfish basketball. We’re better when we have a lot of kids contribute from a scoring standpoint.
Adalynn Hines eyes a free throw for the Patriots during Saturday’s district tourney win at Versailles.
“When you look at us, we’re not big. We do not have that imposing presence in the post. We have to play really, really hard, and we have to play that way for 32 minutes. And kids will play like that more when they feel like they’re getting a piece of the action.”
“Defensively, we have to pressure the heck out of the basketball,” he added. “That’s how we defend the post. We’re telling our backcourt to pressure the basketball and make it more difficult to pass the ball inside – work harder to make the vision from the guards to the post more difficult. Our kids are doing a good job with that right now, and we really stood out in the Versailles game (last week, 63-40) with how we defended the perimeter.”
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While the explanation makes all the sense in the world in terms of fundamental basketball, there still exists the question of whether teams that have not had success in the regular season should be subjected to beatdowns the likes of 73-3 (earlier this week), 68-2, and 87-14?
“I get it (the issue of lopsided scores in the tournament),” Gray admits. “But, where do my loyalties lie? My loyalties lie with getting my team ready to compete for a championship. It’s hard to do that and worry about feelings. And teams can opt out of games, but that’s a hard position to be in, as well. I’m an athletic director, besides being a basketball coach. And what are you selling to your community if you opt out of games you feel you can’t win? That’s a hard thing to do.”
The Patriots’ defense was suffocating…holding Franklin Monroe to just 14 points, and 7 in each half.
And a hard lesson to justify to young athletes, as well. Gray, along with untold others in his shoes, would rather adhere to the old solution of simply get better. Accept the need to improve and make that your focus. And while you work to get better, is setting a competitive standard not an elemental part of the process?
To our point made earlier this week, is it not time for teams to win a requisite number of games to qualify for the state tournament process? Is the same measuring stick that we accept for other life endeavors such a bad idea for basketball?
Tri-Village is a fine team – a #1 seed – and the #14th-ranked team in the state of Ohio, Division VI. Their measuring stick is much higher, and should be. There’s a pride with which you play when you’re 19-4 and one of the best – all the more reason to administer basketball now in the manner in which we do football.
Win your way to participation. Earn it. And benefit from the degrees of your improvement.
It’s a kid’s game, but it’s not a kid’s responsibility for how to administer change for the sake of balance…fairness…sportsmanship…and competitive achievement.
The adults have to do that. The ones who say we’re doing what’s best for kids.
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