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Mississinawa would face their stiffest test this year in the WOAC and passed the exam coming away with a 49-47 win at Ansonia to remain undefeated at 8-0 in the WOAC.  

ANSONIA – Mississinawa Valley endured everything Ansonia threw at them and made enough plays late capturing a 49-47 win to stay undefeated in the WOAC at 8-0 with three games left to play in the league.

After taking care of Tri-Village, Arcanum and Newton handily this season Mississinawa faced their toughest conference test yet with senior veteran players Paige Emrick, Makenna Hoggatt and Brooklynn Seubert making the big plays in the stretch staving off a valiant Ansonia upset bid.

Mississinawa got off to a 7-4 start on two field goals and triple from Brooklynn Seubert by the 3:20 mark in the opening quarter.  Ansonia responded going on an 8-0 run to jump in front 12-7 at 1:20 on the back of Rose Barga with 8 points and a triple from Olivia Creager.

Seubert added another field goal to answer the run scoring all 9 points for the Blackhawks in the first quarter.  Charlotte Barga closed the scoring for Ansonia with a triple to end the 2nd quarter with the Tigers leading 15-9.

Brooklynn Seubert would be a steady influence for Mississinawa and her 23 points and 9 rebounds were big in their win over the Tigers.

The scoring pace slowed way down over the next eight minutes.  The lid was tight with the Tigers only getting two buckets one each from London Reichert and Charlotte Barga and a free throw from Rose.

Mississinawa squeaked out seven points on a triple from sophomore Lilly Geesaman and fielders from Makenna Hoggatt and Seubert … but trailed the Tigers 20-16 at halftime.

Ansonia senior guard Rose Barga had a big 1st and 4th quarter and 15 points to keep her team in the fight.

Mississinawa nearly matched their entire first half tally in the third quarter putting up 14 points while holding the Tigers to just six jumping in front for the second time in the game taking a 30-26 lead into the final frame.

In the midst of the third quarter junior forward London Reichert etched her place in Tiger lore snaring her 448^th career rebound for the most in school history and still has more than a year left to play in her career to add to that career mark.

Junior forward London Reichert pulls down her record breaking 448th career rebound.

Reichert was honored for a brief moment that was followed by a small presentation after the game. Coach Connor Custenborder praised London for her willingness to sacrifice and work hard to get rebounds for the team.

“When you look at her stats over the past three years, her points have gone down, like one or two points a game from her freshman year, but her rebound numbers are up, and that's just something you have to have.  Especially on a team like us, where she's the only girl healthy that's 5’10”, or taller. She does a great job for us in that aspect, crashing the offensive glass, getting those second chance points.  We've had some very good big girls in our conference in her time here at Ansonia with the Townsend girl from Mississinawa and the Brinson girl from Dixie. She's done a good job throughout her career, boxing those great post players out,” Custenborder explained.

Play in the 4th quarter by both teams would have everyone on the edge of their seats and once you thought a team might have made a big play to get an advantage someone else stepped up to make a play.

Brooklynn Seubert hit an elbow jumper to start the final frame that was followed by a short bucket in the lane from Makenna Hoggatt pushing the Hawks lead to 34-26 by the six-minute mark.

After the Tigers went up 8 points in 4th quarter, Charlotte Barga responded with back to back triples in less than 30 seconds to get back in it.  She had 20 points in the game.

It looked like Mississinawa was pulling away, that is until sophomore guard Charlotte Barga caught fire from deep.  She connected on two straight triples, one from each corner in the span of just 30 seconds as the Tigers closed to 34-32 and the gym was electrified.

The Hawks needed an answer and got it from senior Paige Emrick who up to this point in the game was held scoreless.  Without hesitation she rose up and fired in a three ball at the top of the key with a hand in her face to go up 37-32.

Ansonia got a free throw from Reichert, but Emerick drained a second triple to jump ahead by seven, now leading 40-33 at the five-minute mark.

Mississinawa senior Paige Emrick picked a good time to score on back-to-back three-balls as well to respond to the Tigers run.

Like dueling banjo’s Charlotte Barga strung her 3rd straight triple keeping the faithful fans of Ansonia engaged and into the game down 40-36.

Seubert scored to go up 42-36 but the three-point Tiger shooting barrage continued as Rose Barga and Olivia Creager both dropped bombs to tie the game at 42 with three minutes remaining.

Mississinawa didn’t panic as Seubert steadied the ship working her way into the middle of the lane for a runner and that was followed up by another scored in the paint from Makenna Hoggatt to go back in front 46-42.

Makenna Hoggatt had a couple of big scores in a back and forth battle in the fourth quarter to help her team stay in front.

No quit by the Tigers with Reichert making a free throw and then Rose Barga’s lay-up drew it to 46-45 at the one-minute mark.

With time working against Ansonia, they fouled Seubert who dropped two free throws, the Tigers quickly got ball up court for Charlotte Barga lay-up to make it 48-47.

Another foul sent Seubert back to the line and this time she would make one.  The Tigers would have a chance to tie the game but after making 5 three’s in the quarter they couldn’t the last one to fall and Mississinawa would get the exciting win 49-47.

After the game Ansonia coach Connor Custenborder while sad his team came up short was pleased they took the fight to Mississinawa playing them as well as any team this year.

“We knew going in it was going to be a battle. They are a great team, you look at their scores, the teams they beat in our conference, beating them pretty well. They lost their first game of the year and after that, they've been on a roll. So, I’m very, very proud of our girls for keeping the fight and when they did go on that run we stuck with it and struck back.

It was a super fun game … all four of our losses this year have been close like this one, I’d like to see us come out on top in one of these,” he stated.

Mississinawa coach Kirk Comer was pleased with his team on how they dealt with adversity in the game and persevered in a game that had an outright league title on the line.

“We were up eight points and had to take Brooklynn and Cora both out at the same time and they hit those two threes down in the corner, where we had a freshman that didn't get her assignment on defense and get to the outside shoulder to get out on them, you have to give them credit they hit them,” Comer explained.

“I always try to tell my teams, you just got to stay level through the ups and downs. Don't get too high when things are going good or too low when things aren't going so well because over the course of 32 minutes normally the best team has the best chance of winning,”

Mississinawa coach Kirk Comer looks on with his team on their feet and everyone hanging in the balance in a wild 4th quarter battle with his team prevailing in the end.

“You know, this was a fun game to be part of. I thought both teams played hard and I thought our kids showed a lot of guts coming down the stretch and made the plays we had to make when the game was online. We haven't been in that position, for a while now,” Comer concluded.

Ansonia was led by Charlotte Barga with 20 points, 11 coming in the 4th quarter comeback.  Rose Barga had 15, Olivia Creager 6 and London Reichert 6 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and 4 blocks.

The Tigers fall to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in WOAC, they will host Union City, Indiana on Thursday.

Mississinawa was led by Brooklynn Seubert’s 23 points and 9 rebounds. Makenna Hoggatt had 9 points, 4 assists, Paige Emrick and Cora Hoggatt each had 6 points in the win.

The Blackhawks improve to 13-1 overall and 8-1 in WOAC and they will play at Union County, Indiana on Tuesday. 

Score by Quarters

09 … 07 … 14 … 19 – 49 Mississinawa Valley

15 … 05 …  06 … 19 – 47 Ansonia

Team Scoring

MV – L. Geesaman 1-0-0/0 – 3, T. Woodbury 0-1-0/2 – 2, M. Hoggatt 1-3-0/0 – 9, C. Hoggatt 0-2-2/2 – 6, P. Emerick 2-0-2/2 – 6, B. Seubert 1-8-4/7 – 23, Totals 5-14-6/13 - 49

ANS – C. Barga 4-4-0/0 – 20, R. Barga 2-4-1/2 – 15, O. Creager 2-0-0/0 – 6, L. Reichert 0-2-2/4 – 6, Totals 8-10-3/6 – 47

London Reichert surrounded by her team and banner recognizing her career rebounding record she set in game verses Mississinawa Valley.  
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Mississinawa junior guard Cing Scott splits two defenders to finish a left-handed lay-up. He scored 26 points to lead the Hawks to a 55-35 WOAC win over Twin Valley South.

UNION CITY – Mississinawa pulled away from Twin Valley South in the 2nd quarter and put together a solid game from start to finish to pick up a 55-35 WOAC win over Twin Valley South.

For the first five minutes of the opening quarter Twin Valley South and Mississinawa Valley were tied 10-10 and it looked like the two teams were set to tangle for a full 32 minutes.

The Hawks opened up with an 8-5 lead on a lay-up from Caden Hanes and back-to-back triples from Cing Scott. 

Twin Valley countered with a triple from Aiden White and back-to-back buckets from Trent Ray to make the score 8-7.

Scott got through the lane for a layup only to see Ray drain a long range shot to tie the game at 10-10.

Kyle Wehrkamp answered with a corner triple, that was followed by back-to-back layups  from Hanes to forge ahead 17-10.

Senior Kyle Wehrkamp goes to the rim drawing a foul along the way.

Trent Ray broke the run with a bucket to end the first quarter with the Panthers trailing 17-12.

In the second quarter it was all Mississinawa spurned by their defense they were able to make the taller and bigger South players uncomfortable with their man-to-man pressure. 

That pressure led to some turnovers for some easy Hawk scores and frustration from South led to free throws for Mississinawa who converted 6 of 7 tosses for a 12-point 2nd quarter while the Panthers scored just three points and trailed 29-15 at the break.

Trent Ray provided most of the offense in the first half for Twin Valley South.  MV did a better job of slowing him down in the 2nd half.

After putting together almost a near perfect first half Mississinawa Valley coach had to wonder if his team could duplicate that effort in the second half.

South with a sizeable advantage in length came out looking to exploit it, got some early scores in the paint and 10 points in the frame … but the Hawks added 12 of their own with seven coming from Scott to push their lead to 41-25 heading into the final frame.

Defensively Mississinawa continued to make life tough for Twin Valley South, and they were able to slow down Trent Ray who scored 9 in the first half, and he had just two points in the second half.  South got some help from junior forward Parker Howard, he scored 8 of his 9 points in the second half but the Panthers just couldn’t find enough offense overall.

Mississinawa got 14 points in the final frame another six from Scott who ended the game with 26 to lead all scorers. Coming into the game Scott was 2nd in the WOAC in scoring at 19 ppg. 

Mississinawa also got a solid performance from guards Caden Hanes with 11 points and 9 from Cole McGlothlin.

South was led by Ray’s 11 points, who coming into the game was 5th in the conference in scoring overall at 15.9 ppg, while Howard added 9 points.

Mississinawa Valley’s 55-35 win improved their overall record to 6-6, 3-4 in the WOAC a game behind TV South who is 5-6 overall and 3-3 in the WOAC.

Aiden White scores on a lay-up for Twin Valley South.  The Panthers offense had trouble getting on track most of the night.

When you look at where the Hawks are now you can’t help but think how close they are to being 5-2 in the league with two, two-point losses to Newton and Franklin Monroe.

And although those earlier losses are pain points for coach Jeff Vaughn and the Hawks they also show how his team has forged ahead and grown from it with the impressive performance turned in against South.

“Tonight was a great win, and I told the guys after the game that I'm happy we finally played a complete game,” coach Vaughn stated.

“We've actually lost four games this year by a total of 11 points and two games by four against Newton and FM. If we would have won both of those games, we would only have two losses in the league, right?  So, I think this game shows how we're growing, that's all I can ask out of these guys. Tonight, our defensive effort was great and offensively we played well, there's not a whole lot I can complain about, to be honest and I’m really proud of them,” Vaughn complimented.

Mississinawa will play at Fort Loramie on Saturday while Twin Valley South will play at Legacy Christian on Monday night.

Box Score

Score by Quarters
12 … 03 … 10 … 10 – 35 Twin Valley South
17 … 12 … 12 … 14 – 55 Mississinawa Valley

Team Scoring

TV South – P. Howard 0-4-1/2 – 9, E. Day 0-1-0/0 – 2, A. White 1-2-0/1 – 7, L. Carver 0-2-0/0 – 4, L. Barlow 0-1-0/0 – 2, T. Ray 1-4-0/0 – 11, Totals 2-14-1/3 – 35

Mississinawa – C. McGlothlin 0-3-3/4 – 9, C. Hanes 1-4-0/0 – 11, A. Amspaugh 0-2-0/0 – 4, C. Scott 3-7-3/3 – 26, K. Wehrkamp 1-0-0/2 – 3, T. Houser 0-1-0/0 – 2, Totals 5-17-6/9 – 55


Guard Caden Hanes had a great first half with 8 points for Mississinawa and his defensive pressure help disrupt the Panthers offense most of the night as well.  
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Ayden Kane scored at the buzzer to end the first quarter off a wrap around pass from Rett Koffer.  The Indians defeated Dixie 62-34 to improve to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in WOAC.

PLEASANT HILL – The Newton boys basketball team jumped out to a big first half lead 38-10 over visiting Dixie on Tuesday night and then coasted to a 62-34 win over the Greyhounds in WOAC play.

Newton has quietly stacked up wins at the halfway point in the season and is currently 9-2 overall and 3-2 in the league.  Newton losses have come to Tri-Village and a close one at Twin Valley South, their leagues wins are Bradford, Mississinawa Valley and Dixie.

They currently are sitting in a tie for 4th place with Arcanum and are two games behind Tri-Village and Preble Shawnee, both undefeated at 5-0 in the conference.  The Indians are just one game behind Franklin Monroe at 4-1 with those two teams scheduled to play each other on January 16th at Newton.

Senior guard Luke Cornett led all scorers in the game with 21 points.  Luke at the halfway point is averaging just over 15 points a game this year.  

The Newton vs Dixie boys game on Tuesday night started fairly slow with getting a couple of lay-ups from senior guard Luke Cornett and a fielder from sophomore center Ayden Kane to go up 6-0.

Dixie finally got a couple of free throws from sophomore guard Caleb Russell to get on the board at the four-minute mark in the opening quarter.

Senior Forward Isaac Hainline of Newton got those points back on an offensive putback at 2:55 to go up 8-2 in the contest.

Dixie senior forward Dillon Phillips scored on a fielder and then senior forward Brayden Puckett dropped a triple to answer Cornett's lay-up to close the gap to 10-7 with one minute to play in the first quarter.

Senior Dillon Phillips broke a scoring drought for Dixie in the first half.  The slow start would hamper the Greyhounds all night. 

Newton finished the quarter strong on a lay-up from Isaac Hainline and then on a set play, senior guard Rett Koffer dropped a wrap-around pass to Ayden Kane on the block and he turned it into a score at the buzzer to give the Indians a 14-7 lead.  

Newton would explode 24 points in the 2nd quarter and the rims got smaller for Dixie at the same time scoring just three points and trailed by 28 points at the break 38-10.

Rett Koffer and Luke Cornett did most of the damage in the frame as the Indians got up and down the floor with the guard tandem getting lay-ups at the rim.

In the second half both teams played to a draw but there was no coming back for the Greyhounds as they lacked the offensive firepower on this night to make up ground and would fall to Newton 62-34.

Senior guard Rett Koffer's ability to get in the lane and finish at the rim has helped the Indians this year.  He is currently 5th in the league this year in assist with 3.5 per game.

Dixie now stands at 2-8 overall and 1-4 in WOAC.  It won’t get any easier as they host 10-0 Tri-Village on Friday night.

The Greyhounds were led by Brayden Puckett with 15 points.  Freshman guard Mason Simonton didn’t score for Dixie but did lead the way with 9 defensive rebounds.

Newton was led in scoring by Luke Cornett with 21 and Rett Koffer with 14 points and 7 assists. 

Box Score

Score by Quarters

07 … 03 … 13 … 11 – 34 – Dixie
14 … 24 … 11 … 13 – 62 – Newton

Team Scoring

Dixie -  C. Ruble 0-0-1/2 – 1, D. Phillips 0-1-2/2 – 4, C. Russell 1-1-3/4 – 6, C. Day 0-2-2/4 – 6, H. DeLong 0-0-2/2 – 2, B. Puckett 3-2-2/2 – 15, Totals 4-6-12/16 – 34

Newton – R. Koffer 0-5-4/7 – 14, L. Cornett 1-7-4/6 – 21, S. Hainline 1-1-1/2 – 6, N. Knupp 0-1-0/0 – 2, T. Robinson 0-0-2/2 – 2, I. Hainline 0-5-1/2 – 11, A. Kane 0-3-0/0 – 6, Totals 2-21-12/19 - 62

Dixie Freshman Carter Ruble lets the left-handed three ball go.  It wasn't a good shooting night for the Hounds who fell to the Newton in WOAC play.
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Tri-Village and Ansonia locked horns in one of two big girls WOAC basketball games played on Saturday.  The Patriots got the win 38-33. 

ANSONIA – Two big games on Saturday January 3rd that impact the WOAC girls basketball league title took place in Darke County just a few miles apart from each other.  Arcanum traveled to unbeaten Mississinawa Valley and Tri-Village was at Ansonia.

Mississinawa Valley has steam rolled through the league against the top teams added another impressive win against Arcanum 63-38 to remain undefeated in the conference at 6-0 and 10-1 overall putting themselves in control of the league race.

Tri-Village and Ansonia both needed a win to stay a game back and an outside shot at the crown. The two teams would lock horns in a defensive battle that went down to the wire.

The Tigers struck first in this one on a full-court lay-up from sophomore guard Shyann McKenna.  The Patriots countered on a short bank shot from junior Kenna Wilcox.

Shyann McKenna gets the first basket of the game on a lay-up.

Ansonia scored the next five points on a lay-up from senior Rose Barga and a triple from junior forward London Reichert to jump on top 7-2 at 4:33.

Tri-Village got three free throws from freshman Taytum Gray to answer but Reichert came right back with a left-handed lay-up to stay in front 9-5 at the three-minute mark.

Rose Barga provided over half the offense for Ansonia leading her team with 18 points.

Free throws were keeping the Patriots close with Tai Mize knocking down two … but Rose Barga added a triple a minute later for Ansonia to go up 12-7.

Tri-Village senior guard Adalynn Hines scored in the lane to close the gap with the Tigers leading 12-9 after one quarter.

Tri-Village dominated in the second period by scoring 16 points while holding Ansonia to just three.

TV closed to 12-11 on two free throws from Hines … then Rose Barga hit her second triple of the game at the seven-minute mark to stay in front 15-11 … but Hines on an old-fashion three drew the PATS within one, 15-14 at six minutes.

Sydnee DeLong gave the Patriots the lead for good on this three-pointer in the 2nd quarter.

Senior guard Sydnee DeLong dropped a triple from the wing giving Tri-Village the lead for the first time in the game 17-15 at 5:10 of the 2nd quarter. 

After getting off to a hot start things went cold for the Tigers as they failed to score in the last 7 minutes of the first half.  The Patriots added to their lead with 8 points in the quarter from Hines, DeLong had five and Alexa Light three to lead 25-15 at the break.

The pace of play slowed considerably in the second half, in fact the Tigers scored just one field goal in the third quarter on a lay-up from Rose Barga ... but they also benefitted from the charity stripe going 7-for-8 scoring nine points in the 3rd quarter.

London Reichert goes in for a lay-up for two of her seven points for the Tigers.

Tri-Village would reach their largest lead in the game 30-18 after a Wilcox lay-up and an old fashioned three-pointer from Hines.  

Ansonia's Reichert made two free throws to cut the score to 30-20 at 2:21 of the third quarter and moments later Tai Mize was whistled for a foul, the fifth team foul in the quarter sending Rose Barga to the free throw line.

For an added bonus Rose shot a technical foul that was assessed for illegal substitution by the Patriots and made all four charity tosses and the gym came alive with excitement as Ansonia cut the lead down to 30-24 heading into the final frame.

Rose Barga started the fourth quarter with a bucket to make it 30-26 before Tri-Village got a big bucket from Hines to break the run to go up 33-26.

Senior Olivia Creager dialed in her own triple to respond for the Tigers to make it 33-29 at 6:50.

Tri-Village got a free throw from Tai Mize to go up 34-29 ... but then the Tigers defense shut the PATS down over the next four minutes and added two fielders one each from Creager and Rose Barga to trail by just one 34-33 with 55 seconds left in the game.

While TV struggled to score they ramped up their pressure rattling the Tigers creating turnovers leading to Ansonia fouling and sending the PATS to the free throw line. 

While the Patriots were just 5-for-10 at the line in the fourth quarter it was enough to help them down the stretch secure the win 38-33 to hold off the late Tigers rally.

Tri-Village coach Brad Gray credited his defense to help his team get the win.

“I thought our defense, again, won the game for us today, especially down the stretch, we sped them up and we got a lot of stops,” Gray stated.

“I said at the beginning of the year, I really believe Ansonia is definitely one of the best, if not the best team in our league and I really believe that. I still believe that today, that's a really good basketball team and will continue to be good because they're so well coached.  He (Coach Connor Custenborder) is doing an awesome job with them, they're never going to be an easy game here for these next few years, I know they lose a couple important seniors, but with their sophomore class loaded and Reichert as a junior they won’t be an easy team to beat,” Gray added.

The Tigers defense made it tough on Tri-Village, but the Patriots senior leader Adalynn Hines took charge for her team in this one and her play was key to helping the Patriots get the win.

“We had seven turnovers in the fourth and four of those were untimely right after we got it down to one score and I think (Adalynn) Hines accounted for all four of them.  I told the girls all week, Hines is probably the best on ball defender I've ever seen, and she creates a lot of turnovers, creates a lot of pressure, credit to her for forcing them,” coach Custenborder stated.

The Tigers gave themselves a chance in the game by riding the hot hand of Rose Barga who led all scorers in the game with 18 points while also leaning on their zone defense that stymied Tri-Village at times.

“We thought the zone was our best game plan to beat them.  Just make sure we close out on shooters because they all shoot the ball really well. They have six or seven girls that you got to close out on hard, so we ran a 3-2 to try and get them off the top of the key and make them drive lanes,” Custenborder said.

It was Adalynn Hines who was able to take that challenge of driving the lanes and she would lead Tri-Village with 17 points.

“Hines, again, on the offensive end, did a great job of weaving in and out and getting layups and creating contact for them,” Custenborder said.

With the win Tri-Village improves to 10-1 on the year and 5-1 in the WOAC a game behind Mississinawa.  Tri-Village will be back in action on Thursday hosting Dixie.

Ansonia falls to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the WOAC.  They big back-to-back away games at Newton on Thursday and Mississinawa Valley on Saturday.

Box Scores

Score by Quarters

09 … 16 … 05 … 08 – 38 – Tri-Village
12 … 03 … 09 … 09 – 33 – Ansonia

Team Scoring

Tri-Village – S. DeLong 1-1-0/2 – 5, T. Gray 0-0-4/5 – 4, T. Mize 0-0-3/4 – 3, K. Wilcox 0-2-2/2 – 6, A. Light 0-1-1/2 – 3, A. Hines 2-3-5/6 – 17, Totals 3-7-15/20 – 38

Ansonia – S. McKenna 0-1-0/0 – 2, R. Barga 2-4-4/4 –18, O. Creager 1-1-1/2 – 6, L Reichert 1-1-2/2 – 7, Totals 4-7-7/9 – 33


Adalynn Hines led the Patriots on both ends of the floor in PATS win over Ansonia.  She scored 17 points and led the way on defense as well.
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Mississinawa stays unbeaten with win over Arcanum

Mississinawa Valley's Cora Hoggatt had 24 points in win over Arcanum to help the Hawks remain undefeated in the WOAC at 6-0.

UNION CITY – The Mississinawa Valley Lady Blackhawks continued their dominant run through conference play Saturday afternoon, remaining unbeaten with their 10th straight win after defeating the visiting Arcanum Lady Trojans 63-38 at the Nest.

“We’re playing really well,” said Mississinawa coach Kirk Comer. “The thing I’m most excited about is we have such a great opportunity for growth. They’re still learning from me and I’m learning them. We’re going to continue to work hard and try to be the best we can be at the end of the season.”

Returning to the lineup after missing time with an injury, senior Paige Emerick didn’t miss a beat, leading the Lady Blackhawks with 18 points while knocking down three shots from beyond the arc.

“Paige anticipated really well in the passing lanes and got some easy baskets for us,” Comer said. “It was an all-around good defensive night, and I thought we took steps getting better today. She’s a really good player and leader.”

Paige Emrick pitched in 18 points in win over Mississinawa.

Mississinawa wasted no time setting the tone, turning the opening tip into a Tenlee Woodbury layup just three seconds into the game. The Lady Blackhawks never looked back, building an 18-9 lead after the first quarter.

The margin grew in the second period as Mississinawa stretched its advantage to 29-14 with 3:15 remaining before halftime. Brooklynn Seubert spent time on the bench with two fouls in the quarter, but the Lady Hawks still carried a commanding 34-18 lead into the break.

Mississinawa continued to create separation in the third quarter, outscoring Arcanum 16-7 to take a 50-25 lead into the final period. The teams played to an even 13-13 fourth quarter, sealing a 25-point conference victory for the Lady Blackhawks.

“The girls have bought into what we’re doing and they’re listening,” Comer said. “The more success you have, the more they’re going to buy in. I’ve been very blessed and lucky to have great kids throughout my 30 years of coaching, and this year is no exception. They’re just a great group of kids.”

Arcanum coach Abbey Moore pointed to ball control and physical play as key areas needing improvement.

“It’s always about taking care of the basketball, and we have to figure that out,” Moore said. “These girls give their all, and they fight, but we have to develop more toughness and grit so that doesn’t happen on the floor.

“We need to get back in the gym on Monday,” Moore added. “We got out-rebounded and gave them shots and layups. You can’t do that and expect to win a ballgame.”

Cora Hoggatt led Mississinawa Valley and all scorers with a game-high 24 points.

Box Score

Score by Quarters

18-16-16-13 63 MISSISSINAW VALLEY
09-09-07-13 38 ARCANUM

MISSISSINAWA VALLEY – C. Hoggatt 24, P. Emrick 18, M. Hoggatt 7, T. Woodbury 6, B. Seubert 6, C. Seubert 1, T. Reichard 1 –  TOTALS 18 12-24 5 63

ARCANUM – C. Long 13, A. Paul 12, M. Noe 5, C. Hein 4, E. Flatter 2, D. Michael 2 – TOTALS 9 5-9 5 38


Senior Caroline Long led Arcanum with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
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Tri-Village sets up in 2-3 zone that was effective in 2nd half of Johnathan Alder game & against Kettering Fairmont both wins against bigger schools for the Patriots.

NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village boys basketball team put together impressive back-to-back performances against quality opponents with wins over Plain City Jonathan Alder in the Holiday Hoopla Classic in Columbus and DI Kettering Fairmont at the "Pac” on Saturday 55-19.

The Patriots are currently ranked #1 in D6 boys basketball and played like it against Fairmont as they jumped out to a 19-3 first quarter lead on the Firebirds.

They shot a blistering 73% in the opening quarter but maybe even more eye opening was the defensive performance they turned in.

Tri-Village normally a man-to-man team came out in a 2-3 zone determined to make the Firebirds beat them from the outside and not allow the Greater Western Ohio Athletic Conference scoring leader Jayden McGraw to beat them inside.

Coming into the game McGraw was averaging a double-double with 22.5 ppg and 11 rebounds.  But when he caught the ball in the paint he was swarmed and unable to operate to get a shot off. 

“Defensively we wanted to make it tough on him to score and when he turned to face the basket he hit a brick wall in Dom Black and then our help defenders double and triple up on him to make it tough for him to score,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester stated.

McGraw scored on a three-pointer from the perimeter, and it was the only points the firebirds had in the first quarter.

The Patriots got 12 points from Trey Sagester including back-to-back triples, one a step back three to end the quarter.  Brecken Gray and Griffin Richards each had a three and Dom Black added a bucket in the paint for a big 19-3 lead.


Sophomore guard Brecken Gray hit a big three-pointer in first quarter and two in the game versus Kettering Fairmont. TV won the game 55-19.

The Patriots were locked in on defense working hard and subbed part of the first and second quarter with no drop off in effort with everyone on the same page, and that effort held Fairmont to just four second quarter points.

Dom Black had back-to-back solid games on offense with 17 & 11 points hand was a force on defense holding Fairmont's leading scorer 16 points below his average.

Offensively Dom Black scored 7 points who benefitted from assists from Finkbine, Richards and Sagester.  Richards had 5 points on a drive to the rim, and another three-pointer as TV held a 35-7 halftime lead.

The Patriots shot 60% in the second quarter and 65% in the first half.

Tri-Village continued to pound the paint in the third frame with Black going for another 8 points.  A couple more three’s one by Brecken Gray and then a 3/4 court buzzer beater from Sagester to the third quarter with TV up 51-14.

The running clock slowed down the scoring in the final frame with the game already in hand as Tri-Village wrapped up a 55-19 win.

Tri-Village finished the game 23/41 for 56% shooting on 14 assists.  They held the Firebirds to 19% shooting and won the boards 23-18.  Kettering Fairmont had 13 turnovers to the Patriots 5 in the game.

Trey Sagester and Dom Black led the way on offense with 17 points each and Griffin Richards added 13 for Tri-Village.

After the game coach Sagester talked about the week his team had and was pleased with his entire team’s effort.

“Tonight was a statement win for our program and everyone who played affected the win with contributions across the board,” Sagester explained.

“Not only did we play well here tonight, but we also played well in the Holiday Hoopla Classic in Columbus to get a win against a good Alder team,” Sagester added.

It was a close game for nearly three quarters in that contest with the Patriots holding a one-point lead at the half 26-25.  In the third quarter the Patriots match-up zone caused shooting woes for Jonathan Alder as they pushed ahead 45-35.

Tri-Village then went on a 19-2 run in the 4th quarter to put the game and coming away with a 68-44 win against the 29th overall ranked team in the state.

After the game coach Sagester talked about why they have schedule some of the teams they face this year.

“We try to put our kids in positions to be uncomfortable and play different styles of basketball so that when we get into tournament, we can go back and you say, yea, 'we’ve seen this, Hey, we’ve done this before',” Sagester commented.

Trey Sagester has been averaging 28 points a game this year & hit that average against Jonathan Alder, and had 17 points in a running clock game against Fairmont.

Four Patriots scored in double figures with Trey Sagester leading the way with 28 points, Noah Finkbine and Griffin Richards each had 11 and Dom Black 10 points in the win.

The Patriots improve to 7-0 overall and will host Cincinnati Christian Tuesday which will be Hall-of-Fame night at the "Pac”.

Box Score

Score by Quarter

Fairmont …. 03 … 04 … 07 … 05 – 19
Tri-Village … 19 … 16 … 16 … 04 - 55

Team Scoring

Fairmont:
K. Ralston 0-0-0/2 – 0, A. Adams 1-1-0/0 – 5, S. Newman 1-1-1/2 – 6, J. McGraw 1-1-2/2 – 7, Totals 3-3-4/7 – 19

Tri-Village:
D. Black 0-7-3/3 -17, T. Sagester 3-4-0/1 -17, G. Richards 1-5-0/0 -13,
N. Finkbine 0-1-0/0 -2, B. Gray 2-0-0/0 -6, Totals 6-17-3/4 – 55

Junior point guard Griffin Richards had solid back-to-back games with 11 and 13 points in two bigs wins over Jonathan Alder and Kettering Fairmont.   

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