BROOKVILLE – Tri-Village brushed off a cold shooting first quarter and poorly played first half on its way to a 58-23 win over Springfield Central Catholic in Ohio High School Athletic Association girls basketball tournament action.
There aren’t many times in postseason basketball when a team shoots the ball poorly that the other team doesn’t make them pay and generally sends them packing to go home.
Tri-Village was fortunate, and hopefully got one out of its system, as the Patriots shot a dismal 3-for-15 in the opening quarter against the Fighting Irish.
For much of the opening period the score seemed to be locked at 3-2 before Tri-Village coach Brad Gray used a timeout to refocus his team.
The Patriots then went back to basics and pounded the ball inside to Danika Mann, who scored 7 points in the frame to give the PATS a 9-2 lead.
Allie Downing found a rhythm in the second quarter, scoring 9 points, as Tri-Village led at the half 22-5.
In the third quarter shots that were missed in the first half started to fall again, led by Mann with 9 points and Downing with 5, and Tri-Village expanded its lead to 40-9.
In the final stanza freshman Trisa Porter, who already started to put on a how-to clinic on distributing the basketball, shredded and picked apart the fractured defense of Catholic Central with six dimes and a total of 11 for the game.
On the receiving end of many of those dimes was Mann, who finished the game with 26 points to lead all scorers. Downing added 17 as the Patriots advanced to the sectional title game with a 58-23 win over the Irish.
Newton, a 43-27 winner over Franklin Monroe, will be the next opponent Tri-Village will take on at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Brookville High School.
Score by quarters
CC … 02…03…04…14 – 23
TV …09…13…18…18 – 58
Team scoring
CC – Doolittle 5, McConnell 4, Weaver 1, Baker 13 – Total 23
TV – Morris 4, Printz 5, Porter 4, Downing 17, P. Bietry 2, Mann 26 – Total 58
