By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

CAMDEN — It was a battle between the two top teams in the WOAC on Feb. 3 at Preble Shawnee High School. In front of a sold out crowd, the Tri-Village High School boys basketball team lost in overtime to the Arrows, 56-51.

Head coach Josh Sagester said the team has too often been in these type of situations where they couldn’t make the extra play late to win the game.

“We found ways to lose, unfortunately, instead of finding ways to win. That’s kind of been our MO here this year unfortunately with five losses. We’ve been there down the stretch and made some plays,” Sagester said. “Credit to Preble Shawnee, they made some free throws and made some plays down the stretch.”

The Patriots scored the first two points of the game. Then Preble Shawnee scored the next 13. The Arrows were getting the Patriots out of rhythm offensively.

After a time out, the Patriots made two three pointers to cut the deficit down to 13-8 after the first quarter. Junior Braden Keating and freshman Trey Sagester both made a three to inch closer to the Arrows.

The team did all they could to limit the leading scorer in the WOAC, junior Mason Shrout. He only scored six points in the first half, all from the free throw line.

At halftime, the Patriots were down 23-17. They kept themselves in striking distance, but couldn’t find that extra gear to get them on a run in the first half.

At the start of the third quarter, the Patriots had some trouble with the full court press by the Arrows. They got off to a rocky start with a few turnovers.

Tri-Village eventually found their footing and started to claw their way through Preble Shawnee’s lead. Late in the quarter, the Patriots tied the game at 36-36. A last second shot by the Arrows gave them a 38-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Patriots were able to ride the momentum they created in the third into the fourth. With 6:24 left in the fourth quarter, Sagester made a three-point shot to give the Patriots a 41-40 lead. He scored eight straight points to give Tri-Village a 46-40 lead.

But Preble Shawnee kept fighting. With just seconds left on the clock, the Patriots had a 50-47 lead with the Arrows having possession. Shrout went up for a three-point shot and was fouled. He made all three free throws to send the game into overtime after the Patriots couldn’t get the last second shot attempt to fall in.

Sagester said those plays at the end of the game overshadowed any other small mistakes the team made during the game.

“Those are tough plays to make to beat really good teams. You can’t make those kind of plays down the stretch. There was some other things throughout the game, but obviously those are a little bit more magnified,” Sagester said.

The Arrows took the first lead of overtime and never gave it up.

Shrout led all scorers with 18 points. He averages 23.4 points a game. He scored 11 of those points from the free throw line.

For the Patriots, Sagester led the team with 14 points with four three pointers made. Keating was second on the team with 11 and senior Justin Finkbine had 10 points.

The Patriots are now 14-5 with a 9-1 conference record. They will have a game against Franklin at home on Feb. 4 before wrapping up conference play with a home game against Mississinawa Valley on Feb. 10.

Tri-Village will also wait and see where they fall on the bracket when the postseason tournament brackets are announced on Feb. 5. Sagester said while this game could hurt their draw, he is still confident in his team’s ability to play with anyone.

“We can play with anybody. They’re a very good basketball team. We got to continue to get better,” Sagester said.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]