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Tri-Village
sophomore Tyler VanWinkle wasn't the leading scorer in the
Patriots
Cross County Conference victory over Bethel Friday. He scored
the final three points in the Patriots
58-55 overtime victory. CNO
Photos by Dylan Knoop
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VanWinkle hits buzzer beater in Patriots
victory
Tri-Village survives huge scare from Bethel
By George Starks
NEW MADISON- On a night when Tri-Village couldn’t buy a bucket. On a
night when the only thing worse than the weather outside was the
Patriots offense inside. On a night when it looked like the undefeated
Patriots weren’t going to remain that way, the unimaginable happened.
With 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime and things knotted up at 55-55,
sophomore Tyler VanWinkle unloaded a prayer at the buzzer.
With the crowd on both sides of the gym going nuts in a complete
frenzy, no one heard the swish but everyone saw it.
VanWinkle drained a trey at the buzzer, giving the Patriots a drama
filled, 58-55 Cross County Conference victory Friday.
“I’m not exactly the go to guy in a pressure situation but if it’s in
my hands, I’ll shoot it” said VanWinkle. “We didn’t play our best ball
tonight but we stuck to it as a team and battled back. This was a gutsy
win. We never gave up.”
Not playing their best ball may have been the biggest understatement of
the season.
One Patriot fan described it all in a very short summary.
“It was a night when our fans watched seven quarters of ugly
basketball.”
The seven quarters being referred to was the four quarters of the
junior varsity game and the first three quarters of the varsity contest.
Ugly basketball may have been the best description that could have been
used.
After the Patriots posted a 40-36 victory in the j-v game, Bethel came
out in the opening frame, doing everything right in the varsity game.
In fact, the Bees did everything right through the first three quarters.
Led by senior Patrick Bain and a stellar defense, Bethel had the
Patriots wrapped up seven different ways from Sunday.
The opening quarter saw the Patriots with a goose egg on the
scoreboard, trailing 12-0.
At the break things weren’t much better as Bethel held a 26-11
advantage.
If a 15 point deficit weren’t enough, the Bees started to put the sting
on the Patriots in the third, holding a 45-25 lead with eight minutes
left to play.
“We had a chat at halftime that we were going to find out a lot about
ourselves as a collective team,” said Pats coach Josh Sagester. “Even
in the third quarter, we didn’t play exceptionally well. Give Bethel
credit tonight. They had kids step up and make some shots early but our
program knows how to win. It’s all about finding a way.”
Finding a way is exactly what the Patriots did.
With solid board work on the offensive end by senior Tyler Cook and his
cousin, junior Damien Cook, the Patriots started to chip away at the 20
point bulge Bethel had built and with 5:27 remaining in regulation,
Tri-Village was showing signs of life, trailing 47-36.
Even a 30 second time out wasn’t enough to slow the Patriots down.
As the TV student section started to chant, “This is our house” the
Patriots offense started to feed off the student body.
With 1:36 remaining, Damien Cook pulled down an offensive and getting
to quick score for two of his team high 17 points, giving Tri-Village
is first lead of the game, 51-50.
After swapping leads, the Bees would force a 53-53 tie as sophomore
Evan Hawethorne would hit one of two from the line with 33.1 second
remaining.
That would be enough to force the overtime.
Bethel would not see a lead the rest of the way as the Patriots would
go up 55-53 on a shot made in the paint by Damien Cook.
With 1:49 left on the clock, senior guard Christian Pfledderer would
get a little paint action of his own, forcing the final tie of the
night.
It would also set up the Hail Mary shot by VanWinkle to win the game.
“Tyler VanWinkle made a big play in that situation,” Sagester pointed
out. “We started to make some shots that forced them to bring their
defense out and it opened up some space for our horses underneath to
operate. They had that 2-3 zone and they were collapsing down on Tyler
Cook. You have to credit our kids. You had to be here to believe it. I
told Tyler (VanWinkle) he wasn’t the go to man on a couple of shots but
he’s tough mentally. He threw a ball fake, set his feet and knocked it
down.”
Trailing by 20 at the end of the third, the Patriots showed what they
were made of.
“They packed it in on us and we didn’t make any shots,” said Sagester.
“Sometimes it’s tough to make shots in big games. We lost four starters
from a year ago and we’ve got some young kids that has filled some big
roles and done it nicely. We battled and stayed with it. I told these
kids we were going to win and we came back. These kids are tough and
tonight they proved themselves.”
For three quarters the game belonged to Eric Glover and the Bees.
It was a fourth quarter demise that closed the curtain on the Bees
attack.
“I think our defense just got away from us,” said Glover. “We started
giving them open shots and we didn’t crash the boards at all. We let
them get second shot after second shot. If you let a team hang around
and give them momentum, this is what happens. Momentum is a hard thing
to overcome.”
What happened to Bethel in the fourth quarter is nothing new to Glover.
“I preach to these kids all the time that we have to put four quarters
of basketball together,” said Glover. “If we can put four quarters
together, we can beat anybody in the state.”
Led by Bain’s 18 points, the Bees were seen laying face first on the
floor, emotionally drained.
“Bain is the best player in the area. He’s the heart of our team,” said
Glover. “My kids left it all out on the floor tonight. I told my kids
that it was a shame someone had to lose tonight. This was a tough game.
We handled them for three straight quarters. They are a great team. We
will see them again down the road. They are well coached and are very
well disciplined. It’s hard to come into another team’s gym and win.”
Tri-Village, 13-0, will play at Ansonia Friday.
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The
Patriot faithful cheered after Tyler VanWinkle hit the game winning
shot as the final buzzer sounded in overtime.
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