Dayton, OH — In one word, head coach Josh Sagester described the Patriots first trip back to the State Championship as “elated.” Tri-Village won in a thriller over the Antwerp Archers by the final score of 44-41 behind a game high 20 points from Senior, Layne Sarver.

Layne Sarver started off the game by hitting the first two buckets, both three pointers, for the Patriots, which would set the tone for the rest of the game. He would end the first quarter with 8 points to lead the team as they took a 14-10 lead into the second quarter.

Tri-Village would then go on a 12-0 scoring run in the second quarter to stretch the lead out to 22-10. Antwerp was only held to four points in the second quarter as they would go into the half down 22-14. Layne Sarver led all scorers at the half with 13 points and the Archers leading scorer, Jagger Landers, was held to just 5 points at the half on 2-of-5 from the field.

The Archers came out of the half with some second half adjustments that sped up the Patriots offense and allowed them to close the gap, and eventually overtake the lead with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter, on a converted and-one three pointer from Sophomore, Landon Brewer. That lead wouldn’t last long as Tri-Village would eventually take a 35-28 lead into the fourth quarter behind some big buckets from Wilson Suggs, Justin Finkbine and Josh Scantland.

As the fourth quarter was nearing the final two minutes, the Archers wouldn’t go away and ended up tying the game on a corner three from Landon Brewer, which ended up tying the game at 37-37. On the ensuing Patriots possession, Layne Sarver hit a three to put the Patriots back on top at 40-37. With 5.5 seconds remaining in the game and the Patriots up 44-41, Layne Sarver missed two free throws to allow the Archers one final shot to send the game to overtime, which fell just short out of the hands of Jagger Landers from the top of the key.

With the win, Tri-Village will advance to play in the State Championship game on Sunday, March 20th at 5:15pm as they will face Richmond Heights.