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Tri-Village senior, Damien Cook, heads to the bucket for two of his
game high 28 points Friday against
Arcanum. Tri-Village rolled to a
82-45 Cross County Conference victory, remaining undefeated on the
season.
CNO Photos by Dylan Knoop
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Tri-Village
steamrolls Arcanum
Defense sets tone early
By George Starks
NEW MADISON- It was a night when a basketball game resembled the human
version of the Fast and the Furious.
The faster the Tri-Village went, the more furious the Patriots got.
Tri-Village put four in double figures Thursday, led by Damien Cook’s
28, in a masterful 82-45 Cross County Conference victory over Arcanum
Friday.
Despite the 37 point blowout, it was defense that set the tone early
for the Patriots.
The Patriots allowed 10 first quarter points then clamped down in the
second frame.
Arcanum could only muster eight more points in the quarter as the
Patriots offense rocked, putting up 24 points.
When the first half buzzer sounded, the Pats held a 44-18 lead.
But it all started with defense.
“On defense, I thought we were really good early with our full court
pressure,” said Patriots coach Josh Sagester. “When you pick up in the
full court, sometimes it’s not going to get you in the first couple of
minutes. It’s going to take some time to wear down their ball handlers.
I thought we hurried them into some shots that Coach Bixler didn’t
want. We tried to pick up the tempo because we want more possessions
that the other team. We have some kids that are pretty skilled. W
hang our hats on our defense.”
On offense behind Cook, senior Colton Linkous netted 18 points with 10
rebounds while sophomore Gavin Richards netted 14 with Tyler VanWinkle
adding 13 in support.
“I thought we shot the ball well and with a couple of games in a row, I
see us getting better,” said Sagester. “We have the talent on this team
and we are getting better.”
Coming off a big win over Franklin Monroe at the Jet Tournament,
Arcanum coach Marcus Bixler seen the positives in the loss.
“We knew coming in that we had our hands full,” said Bixler. “You pick
your poison as to how you want to guard them and what you want to take
away. You pick your poison and hope the other one doesn’t knock down
the shots. They knocked down a lot of shots.”
The poison Bixler referred to was the outside shooting of the Patriots.
Tri-Village knocked down nine treys, four by Linkous and three by
Richards.
“I was really pleased,” said Bixler. “We needed to focus on some things
tonight and we did. It’s going to help us moving forward and that was
our goal tonight. My kids never quit. This is a work in progress for
us. We have high expectations in how we go about our business and our
coaching staff was very proud of them for that.”
The Trojans were led on the floor by junior Conner Pohl with 10.
Tri-Village, 7-0, will host Bradford Friday before traveling to
Miamisburg Saturday.
The Trojans, 3-4, will host Ft. Recovery Tuesday before bringing in
Ansonia Friday before hitting the road to Dixie on Saturday.
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Arcanum junior Connor Pohl fights through a stellar Tri-Village
defense.
Pohl led the Trojans with 10 points.
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