NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village girls basketball team opened its season with a convincing 69-30 win over Springfield Greenon in its own Patriot Bill Burkett basketball tournament.
It was a game where Tri-Village senior Emma Printz led the way with 21 points, but also saw freshman Meghan Downing compliment her by adding 20 points of her own.
Not since Kayla Linkous scored 30 points in her debut back in 2008 has a freshman had that much of an impact.
Meghan scored the first bucket of the game and had 6 points in the first quarter as the Patriots built an 18-5 lead.
Lissa Siler had 5 points, Maddie Downing 4 and Emma Printz 3 in the period.
TV erupted for 21 points in the second period which saw Printz connect on a triple and convert a 4-point play, then seconds later fire up another triple for 7 quick points to put the Pats up 25-8 and they went on to take a 39-12 lead at the break.
“We got off to a really good start tonight,” Tri-Village girls basketball coach Brad Gray said.
TV established an early post presence with the ‘Downing Towering Duo” Maddie & Meghan Downing. Maddie is a 6-foot-1 junior and Meghan a 6-2 freshman.
“We’ve got two really good post players with Maddie and Meghan Downing and they really compliment each other well,” Gray said. Maddie likes to be on the block and Meghan around the 15-foot area and she is pretty effective there as well. We’ve got some pretty good shooters placed around them, so when teams double up, they can hit, and we did that in the first half, especially Emma Printz,” Gray stated.
“Emma can step back 3 or 4 feet behind the arch and still shoot it pretty effectively, and tonight she got it going early,” Gray said. Hopefully she can keep it going. Emma is a four-year player and been a part of some big moments and big games, a kid who doesn’t get phased by the moment and we expect that kind of leadership from her,” Gray praised.
The half was a chance for Greenon to regroup and they took advantage by putting together their best quarter scoring 13 points … more than the entire first half. They also held the Patriots to just 15 points in the frame to trail 54-25 at the end of the third quarter.
Tri-Village played a lot of the fourth quarter with younger players that included four freshmen: Meghan Downing, Delanee Gray, Molly Scantland and Chloe Godown as the Patriots rolled to the 69-30 win.
Tri-Village was also playing without a key member of its team as junior Trisa Porter is coming off minor knee surgery and isn’t yet 100 percent and ready even though she has been cleared to go.
For the Patriots, it’s a chance for other kids to step up and contribute in her absence.
“It’s tough to fill Trisa’s role, she’s a special player and it has to be done by committee and everybody needs to do the little things they can do to fill her void and we’re looking forward to getting her back sometime soon, because she is a big piece of what we do,” Gray commented.
Printz led with 21 points, Meghan Downing 20, Maddie Downing 14 and Siler 12.
Score by Quarters:
Tri-Village^18^21^15^15^–^69
Greenon^5^7^13^5^– 30
Individual Scoring:
Tri-Village: Printz 21, Me Downing 20, A. Bietry 2, Siler 12, Ma Downing 14. Totals: 7-17-14/15 – 69
Greenon: Benedict 4, Potter 4, Henry 8, Young 2, Ware 9, Cunningham 3. Totals: 4-7-4/8 – 30
Three Pointers: Tri-Village: 7 (Printz 4, Siler 2, Me Downing 1), Greenon 4 (Ware 2, Cunningham 1, Potter 1)
