Trey Sagaster featured 10-of-14 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 beyond the arc, and 4-of-4 from the line. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Veteran columnist Bruce Hooley writes Ohio State basketball and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Dayton, OH – There are ways Tri-Village looks just like head coach Josh Sagester’s district championship teams of the previous three seasons and one aspect in which the Patriots assuredly do not.
That’s what makes Sagester’s fourth consecutive district title every bit as remarkable as the nail-biting manner in which it arrived Tuesday at UD Arena via a pulsating 49-46 survival of Cincinnati Summit Country Day.
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At 24-2 overall and No. 6 in the state’s final Division III poll, Tri-Village has the lofty record and ranking that’s been customary in recent years.
But when the Patriots’ play, there’s a much different look to them than Sagester’s team that lost in the Division IV state championship game two years ago or the ones that reached the regionals in both 2021 and 2023.
Tri-Village overwhelmed its opponents then with 6-6 bookends Josh Scantland and Justin Finkbine inside and 6-5 wing Layne Sarver. Even last season, with Scantland and Sarver gone, T-V still had Finkbine to anchor the post offensively and discourage driving the lane defensively.
Josh Sagaster waves his trophy of the 2023 Division III Final win.
That’s not the case now, with the Patriots’ starting no one taller than 6-3 and often playing an entire lineup where 6-2 sophomore Trey Sagester towers over the four teammates around him.
“This is the smallest team I’ve ever had in my career,” a drained Josh Sagester said last night after annexing his eighth district title over 16 seasons in two separate stints on the Tri-Village sideline. “It’s also the toughest team I’ve ever had in my career.”
The Patriots needed every last ounce of that grit to fight off Summit Country Day, which towered over them, but could not out-tough them despite a lineup that sometimes went 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 across the front line.
Summit had considerable quickness and athleticism to go with that size, but trailed throughout after breaking to an early 8-4 lead.
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“We’re small, but we gotta be dawgs,” Trey Sagester said. “We’ve got to guard. It’s not all about size; it’s about heart. And we had heart tonight.”
The Patriots’ supporters had heart, too…heart palpitations, that is, watching their team try to navigate the final 1:14 with a precarious 45-39 lead.
Tanner Printz added 10 points, and had 5 assists and 5 rebounds in the win over SCD.
Summit’s L.J. Stocks cut into that with a three-pointer on which he was fouled, draining the free throw to suddenly make things way more interesting than necessary.
Then an abysmal call along the sideline that should have put Sagester on the line for two free throws at the 50-second mark instead was ruled a turnover off Sagester, giving the ball back to Summit.
Such swallow-the-whistle-at-crunch-time nonsense is what often makes OHSAA basketball unwatchable, and often can lead to a summer of regret when it triggers an avalanche of adversity the team in front can’t stop.
But Sagester settled his team in the timeout Summit called to plot a tying or go-ahead possession.
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“We talk about our brand and our habits,” he said. “If we stick to our brand and our habits, we think good things are going to happen.”
Summit drove the lane to seek a tie, but Noah Finkbine swatted the shot away to trigger a fast-break layup from Reid Wehr and a 47-43 lead with 28 seconds left.
Reed Wehr played a physical game contributing to the Patriots win over SCD.
That margin melted to 47-46 when Country Day’s Alex Davies hit a triple from the corner with 22 seconds left, prompting a timeout from Tri-Village.
The Patriots would try to inbound at 16.8 before needing another timeout…12.9, before Summit knocked the ball away and out of bounds, and again at 11.9 before finally getting it to Sagester for a two-shot free throw opportunity.
He drained both, just like he did almost everything that left his hand all night in a performance that featured 10-of-14 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 beyond the arc, and 4-of-4 from the line.
The win moves second-seeded Tri-Village into the regionals for a rematch with third-seeded Preble Shawnee, which took down top-seeded Waynesville, 61-52, in the other district final last night.
Preble handed Tri-Village a 41-32 defeat on Feb. 16 in the WOAC championship game.
Tri-Village Patriots Basketball – 2023 Division III Division Champs
The rematch promises to be an emotional mushroom cloud, but it will have to go some to match the frantic final seconds of Tri-Village’s win over Summit Country Day.
“It was nerve-wracking,” the younger Sagester said. “I felt like we were trying to take the ball out for the last hour. But we made free throws at the end. That’s all that matters.”
The score 47-46, with 22 seconds on the clock, Coach Sagaster and Co. hold their breath as they watch Trey Sagaster at the Free Throw line shooting for two.
Tri-Village survived despite an atypical night from the field from the rest of the Patriots, none of whom could get a single three-pointer to fall in nine tries.
Two back-door layups early in half-court sets and three layups off inbounds plays in the second half gave Tri-Village some desperately-needed easy scores, and its tenacity also made a significant difference.
Despite its size edge, Summit Country Day (17-8) got outscored in the paint (26-16), off turnovers (19-7) and on second-chance points (10-3).
“We had to execute,” Josh Sagester said. “Obviously, they were long and athletic. We had to do what we do. We talk about valuing (the ball). We talk about executing. Again, brand and habits. Things we do in practice every single day so that in these moments, our kids are prepared.”
Trey Sagaster standing his ground and holding on tight.
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