UNION CITY – Tri-Village got off to a fast start on Friday, jumping out to an early 22-9 first quarter lead, and never looked back on its way to a 68-40 Cross County Conference win over Mississinawa Valley.
In the opening frame TV got triples from Brett Boyter, Tyler VanWinkle and Gavin Richards. Richards also would score nine points to lead the Patriots to the 22-9 start.
Andrew Johns fired in a trey and got some help from fielders from Devin Rinderle, Trent Perkins and Dalton Geesey, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Tri-Village.
“I thought we came out spirited and passionate, really for the first time all year, and it help us get off to a really fast start,” Tri-Village boys basketball coach Josh Sagester said.
In the second quarter the Hawks hung tough, matching the Patriots led by Devin Rinderle’s nine points, but they trailed at the half 37-22.
In the third frame the Patriot doubled up the Hawks as VanWinkle got hot with eight points including two triples, and Tri-Village extended its lead to 54-31.
In the final stanza Tri-Village pounded the ball into the paint, feeding their big man Trace Couch, who would score eight points in the lane.
“For us to be successful we need a post presence, and we focused on getting Trace touches in the fourth quarter, and he did a nice job of finishing around the rim,” Sagester said.
Mississinawa could not catch up despite getting some inside scoring of its own from Geesey, who would end the game with 10 points … but it wasn’t enough as Tri-Village rolled on to a 68-40 conference win.
“We knew they played well against St. Henry, and they were athletic, and we talked about being solid defensively and having guys in the right spot, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight,” Sagester said.
‘We shared the ball really well tonight, and guys were passing it well, and guys were finishing, and I’m really proud of them,” Sagester concluded.
“We really never got into the flow tonight,” Mississinawa coach Tim Barga said. “We only have six guys on varsity and really only two showed up and played hard and with passion. In order for us to win we have to get the whole team playing that way.
“I have to give Tri-Village credit. They came out shot the ball well tonight,” Barga said.
“Ever since I’ve been coaching here it seems like teams shoot the three well against us. It almost feels like 60 percent. Heck, they could be shooting hooks shots and they would go in,” Barga added.
“We’re just going to try and regroup and come back out tomorrow and give our best against Troy Christian,” Barga concluded.
Leading scorers for the game were VanWinkle and Richards from Tri-Village each with 19 points. Couch added 15 for the Patriots.
Mississinawa was led by Devin Rinderle with 13 points, and Geesey chipped in 10.
Tri-Village goes to 3-1 overall on the year and 2-0 in the conference and will be back in action Friday when the Patriots will host Franklin Monroe.
Box score:
Score by quarters:
TV….22…15…17…14 – 68
MV….09…13…09…09 – 40
Individual scores:
Tri-Village (3-1, 2-0)
Knox Morris 8, Tyler VanWinkle 19, Jonny Wilson 2, Brett Boyter 3, Gavin Richards 19, Brandon Peters 2, Trace Couch 15 – Totals 8-21-2/3 – 68
Mississinawa (1-3, 1-1)
Ethan Bowman 4, Trent Perkins 2, Colyn Nelson 4, Devin Rinderle 13, Andrew Johns 6, JJ Howard 1, Dalton Geesey 10 – Totals 3-13-5/5 – 40
3-pointers:
TV – 8 (VanWinkle 5, Boyter 1, Richards 2)
MV – 3 (Johns 2, Rinderle 1)
