Patriots fall in state semi-finals
By George Starks

COLUMBUS- Convoy Crestview went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter and applied some stellar defense to drop a 54-50 loss on Tri-Village Thursday.

With the Patriots leading by five at the break, 24-19, the Knights outscored Tri-Village 15-4 in the third frame as the Patriots would never see a field goal.

Tri-Village committed numerous third quarter turnovers, allowing the Knights to take a 34-28 lead heading into the final stanza.

In a game that is often determined by the play in the first three minutes of a half, it was Convoy Crestview that set the tone that would eventually determine the outcome.

“For whatever the reason, we allowed them to speed us up,” said Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester. “Their pressure forced us to make some uncharacteristic turnovers. We took a lot of quick shots and it got us a little discombobulated. I thought their pressure began to wear us down a little bit but I thought our kids played hard. I think really the start of the third quarter really summed it up.”

It was a tale of two halves for the Patriots.

Leading 16-12 after one, the Patriots outplayed the Knights by a single point in the second eight minutes

“I thought in the first quarter we had the tempo where we wanted it. Very methodical, very deliberate,” said Sagester. “They (Crestview) are very athletic out front and again, they kind of wore us down. I didn’t think they got us in the first quarter or the second, but by the third, we were wearing down a little bit and we didn’t handle it very well. We had a few turnovers and a couple of those led to direct baskets.”

Holding the Knights to a dozen points in the opening frame and seven in the second, the Patriots gave up 35 in the second half.

“I thought our defense was pretty good all night long,” said Sagester.

One turning point for the Patriots came in the second quarter when junior Damien Cook picked up his second foul midway through the quarter, forcing Sagester to put him on the bench.

With a little over 30 seconds remaining Sagester put his star junior back in and it didn’t take long for him to pick up his third foul.

“We were trying to get baskets at that point, and we were trying to steal one in that last thirty seconds,” said Sagester. “Sometimes you have to be a gambler. Because of our six man rotation, we’ve played kids with two and three fouls.”

In his last game as a Patriot, Tyler Cook dropped in a game high 20 points to lead the way for Tri-Village.

“It’s tough when you are losing the D-IV Player of the Year,” said Sagester. “Tyler has been a huge asset to this team and our program.”

Cook summed up his season and his career.

“It’s been a great four years,” said Cook. “I’ve had a great coach and I couldn’t ask for a greater group of guys. I’m sad that it’s over.”

The Patriots end the season with a 26-2 mark and go out with sectional, district and regional titles.

The Patriots will lose two seniors. Along with Cook, Tri-Village will graduate guard Tommy Bell.