NEW MADISON – Twin Valley South was poised to escape town with a win, holding a 7-point advantage in the fourth quarter, but Noah Burns gave Tri-Village a boost, scoring all 10 of his points in the final period, as the Patriots outscored the Panthers 26-15 in the frame for a 55-51 win.
Both teams started slowly and after eight minutes of play Tri-Village held a slim 8-7 lead.
TV South went to senior Travis Lovely inside in the second period, and he scored 8 in the paint and 10 first half points.
Tri-Village countered with its own senior big man as Jared Buckley attacked the rim for 9 points and a triple from Trey Frech and a fielder from Cameron Sterrett gave the Patriots a 22-19 lead at the break.
The third quarter was a back and forth affair with five lead changes and two ties.
Tri-Village struggled over the last couple of minutes of the third quarter, turning the ball over, which led to 7 points and gave South a 36-29 advantage heading into the final stanza.
Tri-Village coach Mackenzie Perry obviously was frustrated as his team has struggled this year with momentary lapses.
“Our goal as a coaching staff is to play a full 32 minutes of basketball, and we are trying to plug gaps as quickly as we can when kids go through brain dead moments,” Perry said.
With South holding a 38-31 lead, Tri-Village went to work to narrow the gap.
Burns hit a long triple and scored 7 points and Frech added 5 including a triple that put the Patriots back on top, 43-41, at 4:25.
“Noah was a spark plug for us in the fourth quarter, and he got us going, but those are the kind of things we see out of him in practice, and it was good to see him bring it to the game when we needed it tonight,” Perry said on the play of Burns in the fourth quarter.
South battled back to tie it again at 46-all … but Gage Hileman answered with a long one form the corner to go up 49-46.
The Patriots have had a few games this year when they struggled at the free throw line, but Saturday night they shined, going 13-for-14 for the game and 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter to help seal the 55-51 win.
Tri-Village had four players in double figure scoring with Buckley leading the way with 17, and Hileman, Frech and Burns all had 10 points each. Buckley also would prove big on the boards with 12 caroms.
“We made some mistakes tonight, but I was glad to see us hit big shots in big moments and finally shoot it well from the free throw line,” Perry said. “We did enough good things to get the victory. and a win is a win, and I’m thankful for all of them,” Perry concluded.
Twin Valley south was led by Travis Lovely with 17 points and Willie Bowman with 11. The Panthers fell to 6-8 overall and 4-4 in the Cross County Conference.
Tri-Village improved to 6-8 overall and 4-3 in the conference and will host National Trail on Friday.
Box score:
Score by quarters
TVS . 07 … 12 … 17 … 15 – 51
TV … 08 … 14 … 07 … 26 – 55
Individual scoring
TV South – Bassler 6, Cottingham 5, Bassler 5, Wills 6, Bowman 11, Lovely 18;
Totals 3-19-5/6 – 51
Tri-Village – Gage Hileman 10, Noah Burns 10, Trey Frech 10, Jared Buckley 17, Christian Ricker 6, Cameron Sterrett 2; Totals 7-11-13/14 – 55
