“Getting over that district hump was a huge sigh of relief from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint,” CCS coach Carl Woods said. “Now let’s just go play some ball. The pressure’s off. Maybe that mental block is gone now and we can go out and really make history for the school.”
Cincinnati Christian is on quite a roll. Its current winning streak is nine, with the last loss coming Feb. 2 at Cincinnati Country Day.
RELATED: Cougars outlast Southeastern to win first district crown
CCS, which earned its third straight Miami Valley Conference Gray Division title this year, is 21-5.
“We’ve been looking forward to this day, for some of the guys, for four years,” said Cougars senior Josh Oates, a 6-foot-1 guard. “I remember in junior high, we were looking at the banners and didn’t see any conference championships or district championships, so it feels great,”
Tri-Village (19-7) has a much deeper postseason resume. The Patriots made it to state in 1991, 2014 and 2015, going 30-0 and winning it all two years ago.
Woods knows the history, but he believes his team is capable of emerging from a regional that includes Fort Loramie and Lima Perry.
“One of our questions of late has been, ‘Why not us? Why not now?’ ” Woods said. “These guys have deserved it, they’ve earned it, they’ve worked hard for it, so why not now? Have fun, enjoy the moment, but go for it.”
Tri-Village finished third in the Cross County Conference this season behind unbeaten Tipp City Bethel and Franklin Monroe.
Josh Sagester is in his 13th season at the Patriot helm. This is his fourth year as his district’s superintendent.
“We’ve had a good tradition, blue-collar kids that work really, really hard and put in a lot of time,” Sagester said. “The more time you put in, the better that you are at anything in life. That’s what we sell to our kids, and fortunately we’re still playing.”
It’s been a tumultuous campaign for a team that’s likely better than its record. Tri-Village suffered four straight losses in December after hazing allegations led to some player suspensions.
“We’re not looking in the rear-view mirror. We’re looking forward,” Sagester said. “Our kids are playing really hard and playing well together. We’re very fortunate to be where we’re at and playing in the regionals against a good basketball team.”
Senior guard Gavin Richards is a returning starter from the state championship squad and is one of two big scorers for the Patriots. The 6-1 Richards and 6-6 senior forward Trace Couch are both putting up about 20 points per game.
Tri-Village is scoring 60.1 points a game and allowing an average of 45.4. Cincinnati Christian’s averages are 65.8 and 47.6, respectively.
“In my 13 years, we’ve pretty much predicated everything we do on the defensive end,” Sagester said. “We’re going to try to take you out of things you want to do and not let guys beat us that are supposed to beat us. Sometimes we’ve been good at that, sometimes not so good. But that’s kind of what we’ve been in a nutshell.
“We’re going to do what we have to do to give our kids a chance to win the basketball game. If that means gear it down, we’ll gear it down. If that means get it up and down, we can do that as well.
“We’ve got good leadership on the floor and obviously we’ve got two kids that have led most of the way in different statistical categories. But as of late, we’ve had some good contributions across the board, which has made us even better on the offensive end.”
Dillon McCullough, a 6-2 junior, is Tri-Village’s point guard. Six-foot senior Jonny Wilson joins Richards on the wing, while 6-1 junior Jared Buckley starts at forward.
Wilson and McCullough are both scoring in the eight-point range.
The Patriots struggled offensively in their 38-33 overtime win over Jackson Center in the district finals, but the Tigers are known for being a very good defensive team.
More troubling to Sagester was his squad’s 16-of-32 performance at the foul line.
“Free-throw shooting has been a strength of our program, so that was a little abnormal,” he said. “In that situation, in a district-final game, sometimes kids react differently. Fortunately, we were able to make enough to seal the deal.”
Woods is expecting more of an up-and-down game Tuesday.
“I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’re going to see a slowdown game,” he said. “I believe they’re going to be pushing tempo a little bit more. We’ve got to make sure we are putting ourselves in proper defensive positions so we don’t get into foul troubles like we did against Southeastern.”
The Cougars will stay with their regular starting lineup — 6-1 senior Dylan Woods, Oates and 6-2 senior Brady Roberts at guard, along with 6-3 senior Christian Keese and 6-2 freshman Cameron Rogers at guard.
Woods (14.3), Keese (11.4) and Roberts (8.0) are the leading scorers. Rogers is shooting 56.6 percent from the floor.
Tuesday’s game
What: Division IV regional semifinal, Cincinnati Christian (21-5) vs. New Madison Tri-Village (19-7)
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Fairmont High School's Trent Arena, 3301 Shroyer Road, Kettering
Next: Winner advances to a regional final Friday at Trent Arena, facing either Fort Loramie or Lima Perry at 7 p.m.
About the Author