By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ANSONIA — The Tri-Village High School boys’ basketball team defeated Ansonia High School, 69-48, on Dec. 20 at Ansonia.

Tri-Village head coach Josh Sagester said it was a total team effort during the win.

“Defensively, we rebounded the ball well and shared the ball well. All players on the floor filled their roles well,” Sagester said. “We shot the ball well and we were on point defensively.”

The Patriots flew out to a 40-17 lead after the first half. Tri-Village was able to force turnovers and get the offense humming throughout the first half.

Junior Braden Keating had nine points in the first half for the Patriots. Senior Wilson Suggs had eight points. Eight different players scored in the first half for the Patriots.

Senior Camden Cook got his first start in this game. Sagester said he played big in the first half. They were able to control the paint and get their outside shots falling.

Ansonia head coach Tony Overton said first half’s, like today, have been a common theme this season. The Tigers haven’t been able to come out strong to start a game.

“We came out flat. We’ve done it all year this far. We lack focus at times, mostly starting the game,” Overton said. “The second half we have been able to learn from our mistakes. However, when you dig a hole it’s hard to climb out.”

Ansonia did play better basketball in the second half. They came out of halftime and scored 20 points in the third quarter. The Tigers have been a tough team to face so far this season and they got back to that kind of play in the second half.

However, Tri-Village continued to hit shots when they needed to. Freshman Trey Sagester had ten points in the second half to help Tri-Village keep their lead. Senior Dalton Delong chipped in five points in the second half.

Both guards led their team through the Ansonia storm in the second half.

“Sagester and Delong hit some big shots to help us maintain our lead in the third and fourth quarter,” Sagester said.

Tri-Village had a 52-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Patriots closed out the game limiting Ansonia to 11 points in the final quarter.

Senior Justin Finkbine led the team with 14 points in the game. Sagester said Finkbine was a monster in the paint. Delong, Suggs and Sagester each had ten points in the game.

For Ansonia, juniors Jakob Creager and Garrett Stammen each had 11 points to lead the team.

The Patriots are now 5-2 with a 4-0 conference record. They will travel to Fort Recovery on Dec. 23.

The Tigers are now 4-4 with a 1-3 conference record. They will play at the Patriot Holiday Tournament at Tri-Village on Dec. 29.

The Tigers can learn quite a bit from this game. Overton said the team can grow from this game and eventually be a different team.

“These are simple fixes. We just have to keep repping it in practice. I feel we can get there,” Overton said. “We have 13 games left and I’m confident this team will be totally different come February.”

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