Cook nets 20 in Patriot rout of Miami East
T-V still undefeated
By George Starks 

NEW MADISON- Thirty minutes before the start of the junior varsity game, Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester had his game face on. 

With 5:05 remaining in the game, Sagester finally smiled. 

The Tri-Village Patriots used a combination of third quarter offense and defense on a Miami East Vikings team that had Sagester’s Patriots in knots in the opening eight minutes. 

Trailing 25-24 at the half, the Patriots exploded for18 third quarter points and added on 23 more in the fourth to roll to a 65-35 Cross County Conference victory. 

In the process of giving up 25 first half points, the Patriots allowed just six points scored in the third and only four in the fourth. 

While the last 16 minutes was all Tri-Village, the first 16 was a struggle for the Pats as Miami East played the home team right to the cuff. 

“Give them a lot of credit in the first half,” said a smiling Sagester. “They made some perimeter shots and were nine of 16 from the floor and a lot of those weren’t lay-ups. They had kids that stepped up that we weren’t expecting and they did.” 

Trailing 14-13 and 25-24 at the first two stops, Sagester held his team for a short period of time in the locker room. 

“This shows the character of our team to be able to come back from a one point deficit at half-time to beat this team,” Sagester said. “I believe we came out and went on a 41-10 run in the second half. I was very pleased with our offense. They were in a triangle and two and I thought we did a really good job handling that. We moved the basketball well and made the extra pass. Really pleased with it.” 

Led by Tyler Cook with 20 and Kyle Pipenger with 18, Sagester had major kudos for a third player, sophomore Colton Linkous. 

“Obviously, Cookie was a load,” Sagester pointed out. “A lot of that was created by Kyle setting the screen and Linkous came in off the and gave us some scoring (13). This was a really good win for us. This team has been a thorn in our side for a long time and we finally beat them and not just by a point or two.” 

In the end, it was the third quarter that made the difference with defense. 

In the frame, the Patriots created eight Miami East turnovers. 

“We were picking up full court in the first half and weren’t getting much from it. I was ready to try something else and my dad kept saying to stay with it. He was thinking we would wear them down and we did. I was looking for something quicker and the wiser one was saying stay with it and I think we did wear them down a little.” 

Now 13-0, the Patriots will hit the road Friday for another CCC battle at Covington. Saturday, the Patriots travel to Winchester, Indiana to battle the Falcons. 

The Tri-Village junior varsity pulled out a close one but won in the end, 32-31.