by Gregg Meadows
If you would have told Tri-Valley boys basketball Coach Todd McLoughin before the game that his team would hold Fairfield Union to 37 points In the D-II Regional semi-final game, he probably would have jumped for joy.
The only problem was that his Scottie team only scored 33 points in Thursday night’s March 9 ‘Sweet Sixteen’ contest against the Falcons, as Tri-Valley fell to Fairfield Union in ‘Sweet Sixteen’ action on Thursday night, March 9 in Athens at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
Fairfield Union advances to the D-II Regional final Saturday evening back at ‘The Convo’ to play top-ranked and unbeaten Columbus Bishop Ready for a shot at The Final Four.
The Scotties finished the 2022-23 regular season with a final 19-8 record.
The low-scoring affair saw the TV offense suffer through one of its worst outings of the year, as both teams struggled game-long to find their range at the spacious ‘Convo’. Tri-Valley had defeated the tall and physical Falcons 54-49 back on Jan. 19 in Dresden at The Dawg House in a non-conference game.
The only bright spot for the Scotties was Tri-Valley junior Terrell Darden, whose game-high 24 point performance was the only Scottie in double figures by far.
The first quarter of action saw the Scotties take a slim 8-6 lead, as Darden scored all of his team’s points on a three-point bomb, and a pair of athletic drives to the hoop – one a traditional three-point play.
The second period opened on a bad note for Tri-Valley, as Scottie starting sophomore forward Nohah Nichols suffered a dislocated shoulder fighting for a rebound on TV’s second possession of the period, and was lost for the rest of the game. Tri-Valley’s only field goal of the quarter was a Jayden Walker drive to the rim that gave TV a 15-13 lead in the final minute of the first half, but a Falcon layup ahead of the buzzer sent the teams to the halftime lockerroom tied at 15-15. Darden was 4-4 at the foul line in the period.
TV trailed 27-24 headed to the fourth quarter, getting five more points from Darden, a Max Lyall trey and a Jack Winland charity toss for its third period offensive production.
The fourth frame saw the Scotties score on three straight possessions on six points from Darden and a Jayden Walker layup that saw the black-and-gold take a 33-30 lead with 1:58 left. But Fairfield Union outscored Tri-Valley 7-1 the rest of the way, and convert a crucial three-point play in the final minute of play to secure the win.
Congratulations to the Scotties on an outstanding season, and congratulations and good luck to the three departing seniors – Jayden Walker, Aaron Frueh, and Jack Winland.
