By George Starks |
NEW MADISON- The final score would indicate a 20 point blowout, 52-32, by Tri-Village.
It was anything but that.
It may have been one of the ugliest victories for the Lady Patriots in a very long time.
“We got a much needed win but it doesn’t feel like a win,” said Patriots coach Brad Grey.
In the first three or four minutes, it looked as if the Patriots were going to run Dixie back to New Lebanon before the Greyhounds could even get started.
Tri-Village jumpedout to a commanding early.
The Patriots jumped out to a early 9-0 lead as Grey employed a full court press that had the Hounds mystified, creat numerous turnovers the created those points.
By the end of the opening eight minutes, the Pats held a commanding 19-5 lead and at that point, it seemed it was all but over.
This was not going to be the night they tore Ole Dixie down.
When the second quarter started, the Greyhounds made a statement, closing the gap to under 10 before the intermission, trailing 23-16 at the intermission.
It wasn’t even the whole first quarter that we dominated. It was more like the first three minutes,” said Grey. “Just call a spade a spade. We just wasn’t good the rest of the night. I know people thought we played well in the first quarter but it was really a three minute stretch. When you get a big lead that early, it almost becomes counter-productive. I think what happened was the players and myself included, relaxed too much. I’m taking a lot of this on myself. After we took the big lead, I think we allowed the wind to be taken out of our sails and again, I take the brunt of the blame for that.”
When the second half resumed, the Pats seemed to realize a sense of urgency, going on the attack but barely holding Dixie at bay with a 36-25 advantage.
“I thought as the game went on we were slow with our rotations and we weren’t playing with as much fire as we should have,” Grey stated. “I’m sure our fans wasn’t happy with what they were seeing. I know it wasn’t a good view from where I was sitting either. We have to be better. I really want to try to press better but we’ve got to prove that we can be more consistent and tonight, we didn’t do that. With the press, I think we got more than we gave up, I just don’t like giving anything up. We chalk it up as a win, even though it was ugly, it was still a win.”
With the victory, the Patriots remain undefeated in the conference and will play Monday against Willard at Versailles set to begin at 3 p.m.
The Tri-Village junior varsity rolled to a 38-16 victory.
CNO Pics by Danny Stockton (stocktonstudios.com). Featured photo: Sophomore Tai Mize eyes the bucket for two of her eight points during first half action in the Lady Patriots 52-32 victory over Dixie.
