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Tri-Village senior Gavin Richards scores two of his game high 31 points
Friday against Mississinawa Valley. The Patriots rolled to an 80-24
Cross County Conference victory. CNO photos by Dylan Knoop
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Hawks no test for
Patriots
By George Starks
NEW MADISON- “It was like watching a collage team play a junior high
team. That’s the way it was and I’m not going to stand here and butter
it up any. ”
That’s how Mississinawa Valley coach Tim Barga described the game
between his Blackhawks and Tri-Village.
The Patriots used a staunch defense while putting three in double
figures in an 80-24 thrashing of the Hawks Friday in the season opener
of the Cross County Conference.
On defense, the Patriots opened in a stellar man press that the Hawks
couldn’t come up with an answer for.
“I thought we got a little loose with the basketball, especially in the
first quarter,” said Pats coach Josh Sagester. “I was pleased with our
effort. I thought we played really hard.”
The Patriots jumped out early and led at the first intermission, 19-4.
Things would never get any better for MV as the Hawks would trail at
the break, 42-11 and 63-17 after three.
Despite a 31 point performance from senior Gavin Richards, 17 from
senior Trace Couch and 12 from junior Dillon McCullough, it was all
about a relentless defense and the press.
“This is something we’ve been working on since last season and now, we
have the personnel to do it,” said Sagester. “I think with our
athleticism, we can pull this off this season. With our floor men and a
goal tender like what we have back in the paint, we can extend our
defense and get the job done.”
The goal tender Sagester spoke of is Couch.
Along with his 17 points, Couch swatted down a handful of shots while
yanking down six rebounds and causing no less than a dozen steal, four
that belonged to him.
“He created a lot of havoc in the paint on defense,” admitted Sagester.
“He dominated the game and he was out there leading our breaks by
getting out in transition. Gavin is really good making the perimeter
shots but this team is about more than that. Gavin is very athletic and
can get to the rim quickly. We were sharing the ball well and it was
just a great first night out.”
Before the start of the junior varsity, Couch was quoted as saying,
“I’m past ready to play.”
“I think that was the feeling of this whole team,” said Sagester. “In
the end, it showed by the play on the floor.”
“I think we had more turnovers than points tonight (30 turnovers to 24
points),” exclaimed Barga. I know we had 19 at halftime. I’m not going
to say we played bad, they (TV) played that good and we didn’t. Are we
better than that…God I hope so.”
Barga said it all boiled down on one thing.
“Fundamentals! That’s where we’re flat at,” said Barga. “I didn’t see a
lot of pivoting or rebounding. Our passing was poor, our foul shooting
was poor. There is nothing good to say about what we did tonight.”
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Trace Couch (15) created havoc all evening for the visiting Blackhawks
as
MV’s Andrew Johns found out. Couch finished the night with 17
points, six
rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals for the
Patriots.
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Blackhawk junior Ethan Bowman get two of his hard
earned eight points
against Tri-Village.
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