By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

NEW MADISON — The Patriots get back to back wins over two 10+ win teams. After their win at Franklin Monroe last night, they get a 44-28 win over a 12-win Troy Christian team on Jan. 27.

Tri-Village outscored Troy Christian 14-2 in the fourth quarter. Head coach Josh Sagester said the team showed off their toughness to get this win.

“What a defensive effort. Hold this team to 28 and held Franklin Monroe last night to 33. I can’t say enough about our effort and our toughness. These games are won by toughness,” Sagester said.

After a close first quarter, the Patriots started the second quarter on a 9-2 run. After they found modest success getting to the rim, Tri-Village started to space out the floor with sophomore Noah Finkbine being their undersized center.

That drew away Troy Christian senior Frank Rupnik, who is listed as 6’7, from the paint. Sagester said he liked their matchup in that look with Finkbine and senior Reed Wehr handling the ball and driving in with a lot of space available.

Sagester said Finkbine converted from a guard to a forward as they lack some size on the team. He has turned into a do it all player for them.

“He can do a lot of things. He’s a swiss army knife. He can guard hard, he can guard on the perimeter, he can guard in the post, he can finish around the rim and he made a big three for us,” Sagester said.

Tri-Village led 22-13 at halftime and had the momentum on their side. That was until the third quarter started.

Troy Christian went on a 12-2 run to grab a 25-24 lead. Sagester said they had some uncharacteristic turnovers that helped contribute to the run. He also said they expected Troy Christian to make a run at some point.

But the young players stepped up. Finkbine got a put back shot to go in just before the buzzer to give Tri-Village a 30-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Sagester said sophomore Trey Sagester and freshman Dom Black came in and scored some crucial buckets down the stretch.

In the last game against the Jets, it took awhile for the Patriots to respond to adversity. Sagester said the team responded well after the Eagles’ run.

The defense dominated the fourth quarter. Sagester said senior Braden Keating was excited to get the task of slowing down senior Parker Penrod who averages 18.4 points a game. Penrod had six points in the game.

Sagester said Keating is one of his better defenders he has ever coached and it showed in this game. He also said senior Tanner Printz was great defensively being at the right place at the right time getting some rebounds and some deflections.

The press also started to take it’s toll on Troy Christian. The Eagles started to wear out as the game went on and they couldn’t make their perimeter shots.

Sagester said they wanted to force Troy Christian to take contested two-pointers and run them off the three-point line. He felt they did just that as Troy Christian only made four threes in the game. Last season in Troy Christian’s win over Tri-Village, they made 12 threes and they just made 14 threes in their game last night against Riverside.

Finkbine led the team with 13 points. Trey Sagester finished with eight points.

Tri-Village is now 15-1 on the season with a 7-0 WOAC record. Sagester said a win like this helps get into a pretty good spot in the RPI rankings for seeding in the postseason tournament. They are currently first in their section in Division III.

“We beat a team with 10 wins last night, beat a good team tonight. That’s good RPI points for us. It’s coming down here pretty soon. We got to take care of business,” Sagester said.

The Patriots will host Bradford on Feb. 2 next for a 7:30 p.m. tip off. They will then host National Trail on Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

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