NEW MADISON – It was an enjoyable event for Tri-Village for nearly 31 minutes … but like the Lady Patriots’ last game it had a terrible ending.
Tri-Village had leads of 10 points a few times in Saturday’s game against Fort Recovery and entered the final stanza with an eight-point lead.
But it was a rerun of Tuesday night’s game with Versailles as Fort Recovery came all the way back and hit a triple with a minute to play to draw within one 42-41. Moments later the Indians grabbed an offensive rebound and with the stick-back went ahead 43-42 only this time there were more than three seconds left in the game.
Tri-Village still had an opportunity to win it in regulation … but would go just 1-for-4 from the free throw line and a miss by Fort Recovery at the buzzer sent the game into overtime.
Fort Recovery took control in overtime and handed the Patriots a 52-47 defeat.
The Patriots and Fort Recovery duked it out in the first quarter, and when the dust settled Tri-Village held a 17-15 lead.
Rachel Miller scored eight points (the only points in the game) and Allie Downing seven in the quarter.
In the second quarter the Patriots got a boost off the bench from sophomore forward Autumn Moore with four points and a triple from Emma Printz to go along with six more points from Downing to go up at the half 30-23.
Fort Recovery started the third quarter in a box and one to slow down Downing, and Brooke Godown scored four points in the paint to go along with a basket from Downing.
The Patriots were able to run a set that found Shelbey Dowler open beyond the arch, and her triple gave the Patriots a 39-31 lead to end the third quarter.
But the final stanza again wasn’t kind to Tri-Village, who shot nearly 55 percent in the first half and 45 percent in the third quarter … but the Patriots shot a mere 20 percent in the fourth quarter, and the Indians mounted a comeback.
For Recovery gave Tri-Village opportunities as the Indians only made 13-of-24 free throws in the game … but Tri-Village was just a mere 7-for-15, including three critical misses in the last few seconds that sent the game into overtime.
Fort Recovery hit two consecutive triples to take control in OT, and then the Patriots closed off the Fort and the Patriots were unable to penetrate it as the Indians took a 52-47 victory.
Fort Recovery was a very long and athletic team and won the battle of the boards 34-25, but the biggest advantage was on the offensive glass where the Indians grabbed 16 to Tri-Village’s nine offensive boards.
The Patriots also had 15 turnovers to 11 for Fort Recovery.
“It’s tough for me to find words to say … I’m at a loss. I don’t know what to do. We’ve lost all three games this year the same way. Either they aren’t learning or I’m not doing a good job of teaching. I really don’t know what else to say,” Tri-Village girls basketball coach Brad Gray said.
“We aren’t doing the things we need to do to win games. It’s frustrating,” Gray concluded.
Tri-Village dropped to 19-3 on the year and will look to rebound in the sectional tournament play at 11 a.m. Feb. 13 in Brookville.
If the Patriots want to go far in the tournament they’ll need to change scripts, and they better start with rewriting the ending.
Box score:
Score by quarters:
TV…17…13…09…04…04 – 47
FR…15…08…08…12…09 – 52
Individual scores:
Tri-Village (19-2, 12-0)
Rachel Miller 8, Autaum Moore 5, Emma Printz 6, Allie Downing 19, Brooke Godown 4, Shelbey Dowler 3, Danika Mann 2 – Totals 6-11-7/15 – 47
Fort Recovery
Kiah Wendel 14, Grace Thein 12, Carley Stone 5, Kendra Siefring 9, Whitney Will 8, Jacie Kaiser 4 – Totals 7-9-13/24 – 52
3-pointers:
TV – 6 (Miller 2, Printz 2, Downing 1, Dowler 1)
FR – 7 (Thien 4, Wendel 2, Will 1, Kaiser 1)
