Trey Sagester quickly jumped from 9 to 24 points, scoring 15 points in the third quarter of Monday’s win over Houston. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Tri-Village shook off the rust from a week off and quickly dispatched Houston Monday in the opening round of the Division VI sectional/district at Troy.
Troy, OH – Senior Trey Sagester scored his customary 24 points in the Troy Division VI sectional opener on Monday, and afterwards said:
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“We just wanted to get here, get it out of the way, and show people that we’re here for a long run. We just want to keep knockin’ ’em off. This was the first step in our way.”
Just that simple?
Yeah. Just that simple.
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#1 seed, and Division VI #2-ranked Tri-Village made short work of the #13 seed Houston Wildcats at the Trojan Activity Center in the second of two games played, 78-33 – Twin Valley South beat Riverside, 62-60 in the first – and depending on how you look at things…took advantage of a running clock.
The Patriots led 45-19 at the halftime break, and only needed whatever they could glean from the clock in the second half to get everyone on the floor and acclimated to the different atmosphere that comes with tournament play.
Having not played since beating Vandalia last Tuesday, Tri-Village didn’t show that much rust, just some issues in rhythm. Guard and top scorer Trey Sagester didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half (2 for 7 from the field and 5 of 8 from the foul line), finishing the first half with 9 points.
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But coming out for the third quarter, Sagester quickly found that lost rhythm, canning three long range three-pointers in succession from the wing, added a trio of buckets at the rim…and before you could count on your fingers and toes he had gone from 9 to 24 points with two minutes remaining on the running clock. That’s was all the time he needed, and he watched the remainder of the game as the bench took over.
Center Dominic Black also benefited from his time, scoring at the rim on one Sagester and Griffin Richards assist after another, easily racking up 15 points for the game before he exited to watch the remaining minutes from the bench.
Like Sagester, Black was anxious to get to the gym, get into the atmosphere of the tournament, and move on.
“We had a whole week to prepare, so we just wanted to come out here and focus on our fundamentals,” said Black, who at 6’5″ and 270 pounds is a Division I college football recruit with offers from Colorado, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky, amongst others.
“We just do what we do, but I was excited to get on the floor and play with my guys. I missed a few bunnies, which I’m not happy about. But I’ll be in the gym tomorrow, working on that.”
Houston never contended, and could hardly have expected to, having finished the regular season with a 1-21 record and the distinction of drawing the short straw to play the #1 tournament seed and the #2-ranked team in the state.
Center Dominic Black ran the floor for two of his 15 points in Monday’s tournament win over Houston.
Still, Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester looked at any opportunity to play as a means of acclimating his team to the environment.
“You have to have that time on the court,” said Sagester. “As many days as we’ve had from our last game until the tournament, and now we don’t play again until next Monday. So you’ve got to have your starters out there with an opportunity to get up and down, find some rhythm, and some game conditioning in a full-court setting.
“And we don’t do a ton of full-court scrimmaging in practice. That’s not how we operate at this time of year, trying to be smart about injuries, with legs, and so our kids still have to get game minutes given the situation.”
Still, Sagester was pleased with how they played, layoff notwithstanding.
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“Sure, although we haven’t had a lot of minutes with the starters in fourth quarters this year. And that’s helped us get our bench in for developmental time. The bad thing is the running clock limits your developmental time, and my other guys deserve some time. But it’s just going so fast. It’s a tricky situation.
Houston defensive highlight…the Wildcats’ Luke Crim gets all ball on the shot attempt of Tri-Village’s Dominic Black.
“Tournament wins aren’t easy, even though I realize we’re a #1 playing a #13. But it’s a neutral floor, even though we’ve been here before, nerves factor in…and the kids are realizing now that the stakes are just a tad higher. I thought our kids did a good job defensively. You want to compete, and I think we got that out of our system. We shared the ball really well tonight, found the open man, and now we’ll take tomorrow off and get back to work on Wednesday.”
If he sounds like a man with a plan, to, ask his son puts it – show people that they’re here for a long run, – Sagester lives for tournament basketball and the challenge of playing under the ultimate conditions. The expectations are high in New Madison, they’ve been high all season, and team and coach alike are excited for the test. The stakes are higher, yes, but having scheduled accordingly for the ante having been raised…they’re not apt to see more than they’ve seen already against the likes of Kettering Fairmont, Indian Hill, Middletown Fenwick and Vandalia Butler.
“We just do what we do,” says Dominic Black. And they’ve done it before.
The Village people, town and team, are anxious to do it again!
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