T-V senior achieves dream
Pipenger to play at Huntington
By George Starks 

NEW MADISON- Tri-Village senior Kyle Pipenger signed his letter of intent Thursday at Tri-Village High School to play college basketball for Huntington University. 

Pipenger, the son of Joel and Teresa Pipenger, is the third member of Tri-Village’s boys basketball team to sign a letter of intent this year to play college basketball. 

“It’s something I always dreamed about doing, going to the next level and playing college basketball,” Pipenger said. “It’s a lot of a lot of hard work, and it’s good to finally make my decision and get that pressure off my shoulders.” 

Pipenger, was named the Cross County Conference boys basketball player of the year each of the past two seasons, he also led all Darke County players with 21.2 points a game this season while also pulling down 4.7 rebounds a game and dishing out 4.4 assists a game stating he really enjoyed Huntington and playing in some open gyms with the Foresters. 

“It’s a nice school in a nice community,” he said. “I really love their basketball team, and the guys on it all are great guys. It’s close to home, and I think it’s going to be a really good fit.” 

The senior guard helped lead the Patriots to the regional tournament for just the second time in school history and helped lead them to the state’s No. 1 ranking in Division IV, as selected by The Associated Press. 

“We’re excited about him,” Huntington men’s basketball coach Ty Platt said. “He’s athletic, a strong kid, can score. He’s looking for his teammates, too, and all those kinds of things so I think he’s going to fit in real well.” 

Pipenger reached 1,000 points for his career this past season and finished his Tri-Village career second in career scoring, first in single season scoring, first in field goals made in a season and second in points per game for a season among many other accomplishments. He was named second team all-Ohio in Division IV by the AP. 

“Any time you can find a guy who can make shots when the lights are one, those guys are hard to find, and that’s what he can do. He can score the basketball, and I don’t foresee his role changing at the next level,” Tri-Village boys basketball coach Josh Sagester said. “It’s exciting for him, and it’s exciting for our program to send him to the next level. I think he’ll definitely be an impact player. We’re excited to get a chance to watch him play.” 

Huntington is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and competes in the Crossroads League along with Bethel College, Grace College, Goshen College, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marian University, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Spring Arbor University, Taylor University and the University of Saint Francis. 

Pipenger probably can contribute right away to Huntington either as a shooting guard or small forward, Platt said. 

“I think he’s a guy who is physically ready to do that and has the tools to come in and add to our team right from the get-go,” Platt said. “Freshmen, it’s always an adjustment for freshmen because they have to adjust to being away from home and the academic side of things as well and also the athletic thing. But I think he is going to do a good job with that, and I think he’ll have a great four-year career.” 

Pipenger said he really liked his future teammates when he visited Huntington, which is located in Huntington, Ind. 

“A lot of great players, a lot of competition, a lot of guys that just want to go out there and win,” he said. 

Pipenger is the third Tri-Village boys basketball player to sign his letter of intent in the past month. Classmates Matthew Werner and Andrew Willcox both signed with Indiana University East. 

“Our team, a lot of great players,” Pipenger said. “We’ve had a lot of success. A lot of hard work and time was put into that. Great teammates and I wouldn’t be here without them.” 

Sagester said it’s great to see another one of his players continue his basketball career at the college level. 

“It’s significant for our program,” Sagester said. “We’re preparing these guys to be good basketball players, but we’re also trying to prepare these guys to be productive citizens. It’s nice to send kids to college. If they can an opportunity to play basketball as well, it’s a feather in our cap.”