NEW MADISON – Records can be tossed when Tri-Village and Twin Valley South meet up on the hardwood because you know the team who wins will have earned it.
It started with the freshmen game when Tri-Village was able to squeak out a one-point win. The junior varsity game was back and forth … but a gritty Twin Valley South stood taller at the end with a six-point win.
In the varsity contest it was a low-scoring affair and good hard-nosed defense was on display … but in the end it was Tri-Village who would prevail with a 43-30 win.
Tri-Village grabbed a first quarter lead 7-5 on two fielders by Trace Couch and a trey by Brett Boyter.
South countered with a trey from Jared Cottingim and a bucket from JJ Utz.
In the second quarter Utz fired in a three ball and Jacob Bassler got a layup, but it was another low scoring quarter for the Panthers.
Tri-Village got a spark from Knox Morris scoring six points, Couch added another four, and Gavin Richards a triple to put the PATS up 20 -10 at the half.
“We are a hard working group and we defend well,” Twin Valley South boys basketball coach Tony Augspurger said of holding Tri-Village to just 20 points in the half.
Twin Valley South doubled up its first half score, putting up 20 points in the second half … but it was not going to be enough to win on this night.
“I figured if we could beat them to 40 that’s where we had to be, and we didn’t get there,” Augspurger said.
“We are offensively challenged, and I’ve not been able to come up with enough ways to help us score. It’s frustrating for me,” veteran coach Augspurger said.
“Give Tri-Village credit. Josh’s team always defend well. We both know each other pretty well. We knew we would have to handle their pressure, and we did a pretty good job of not giving up stuff in transition,” Augspurger added.
Tri-Village put up another 13 points in the third quarter and 11 in the final stanza to win 43-30. It would be the lowest scoring game all year for the Patriots.
“Offensively we weren’t crisp, and that is partly due to their defense and not making perimeter shots. Sometimes that’s going to happen,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester said.
Despite just scoring 43 points, Sagester was pleased with his team’s effort, especially on defense.
“I thought defensively this might have been the best effort we had all year, especially the first shot,” Sagester said.
“We had really good effort, especially our on-ball defenders. I thought Brett Boyter was a big spark for us tonight with his effort, Gavin Richards did a nice job defensively on Bassler for the majority of the evening, and Trace Couch was large for us in the middle, blocking or altering shots,” Sagester added.
“We needed to rebound the ball well tonight. We didn’t do as good a job as we normally do, and we needed to find a way to score; that was it … we just didn’t make enough shots to put any pressure on them,” Augspurger concluded.
Richards led the Patriots with 14 points, Couch had 12 and Morris eight.
South got nine points from Jacob Bassler and seven from Utz.
The Patriots raised their record to 11-1 overall and 6-0 in the Cross County Conference. They will travel to Lewisburg Friday night to play Tri-County North.
Twin Valley South fell to 6-6 overall and 3-3 in the conference. The Panthers will host Newton Friday night.
Box score:
Score by quarters:
Tri-Village….07…13…13…10 – 43
TV South…..05…05…09…11 – 30
Individual scores:
Tri-Village (11-1, 6-0)
Knox Morris 8, Tyler Van Winkle 2, Brett Boyter 7, Gavin Richards 14, Trace Couch 12 Totals 3-13-8/13 – 43
Twin Valley South ( 6-6, 3-3)
Ryan Bassler 3, Jared Cottingim 3, Mike Meyers 4, Jacob Bassler 9, Winston Crosier 4, JJ Utz 7 – Totals 3-9-3/7 – 30
3-pointers:
Tri-Village – 3 (Richards 2, Boyter 1)
TV South – 3 (R. Bassler 1, Cottingim 1, Utz 1)