TROY – Tri-Village opened up Ohio High School Athletic Association Division IV sectional tournament play as the defending state champion and played like one in its first round win over Tri-County North, 73-37.
Tyler VanWinkle showed his senior leadership and experience by helping get the Patriots going offensively with three triples in the opening quarter, 16 first half points and 25 for the game.
Tri-Village opened up a 16-9 first quarter lead and a 32-13 halftime advantage.
Gavin Richards scored nine points in the second period to help VanWinkle’s efforts, and the Patriots’ defense clamped down on North, holding the Panthers to just four points.
“I was a little frustrated with our carelessness with the basketball, especially early on,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester said.
“They (TC North) were trying to shorten the game, take their time and kind of minimize possessions there for a little bit … but we did a good job of speeding them up once we got our feet wet and a little more comfortable,” Sagester said.
“Tyler VanWinkle was really good, which was a good sign for us because our other guys feed off him. He’s got this tournament experience, and it showed,” Sagester added.
Tri-Village continued to score well in the third quarter with 20 points. Trace Couch led the way with seven and VanWinkle added six.
North tied TV in the final frame with 19 points each, but Tri-Village won this one going away 73-37.
“We’ve seen triangle and two, man to man, box and one, 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 2-3 and now a 1-3-1 so we’ve seen the gamut, and we knocked down perimeter shots, which is a good thing for us, especially in this venue,” Sagester concluded.
Tri-Village was led by VanWinkle 25 points, Richards 16 and Couch with 14.
The Panthers got 14 points from Kurt Brinson and 12 from Gabe Brinson.
Xenia Christian, who took the bye, will be second-round opponent for Tri-Village on at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Troy.
Box score:
Score by quarters:
Tri-Village…. 16 … 18 … 20 … 19 – 73
TC North….. 09 …. 04 .…05 … 19 – 37
Individual score:
Tri-Village (20-3)
Knox Morris 5 FOULS, Tyler VanWinkle 25, Jonny Wilson 7, Brandon Peters 2, Brett Boyter 2, Gavin Richards 16, Jared Buckley 4, Trey Frech 5, Trace Couch 14
Totals 10-16-17/20 – 73
Tri-County North
Zach Edgin 3, Gabe Brinson 12, Bailey Lairson 0, Kurt Brinson 14, Garrett Woodyard 2, Parsons 2, Anthony Duncan 4
Totals 1-15-4/14 – 37
3-pointers:
Tri-Village – 8 (VanWinkle 4, Richards 2, Frech 1, Wilson 1)
TC North – 4 (Brinson 2, Woodyard 2)
