The Patriots had to be tough to fight off never-stop-coming Antwerp in Saturday’s second semifinal for a 44-41 victory in front 5,883 fans. Next is a 5:15 p.m. matchup Sunday with Richmond Heights in the state final.
Sarver was at the end of the bench in 2015 when brother Colton Linkous made a last-second 3-pointer to lift the Patriots to their only state championship. On Saturday, Sarver played every second and made two defining plays. They might not match his brother’s thrilling moment, but without them the Patriots might have lost.
“The guy to my left,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester said referring to Sarver in the postgame interview room, “made a lot of plays on both ends of the floor. He’s very special.”
In a game of alternating runs that always ended with Tri-Village in control, Antwerp began the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run and tied the score at 37 on sophomore Landon Brewer’s 3-pointer. But 22 seconds later Sarver made big play No. 1 when he elevated over the defense and buried his fourth 3-pointer for a 40-37 lead with 2:28 left.
The Patriots struggled at the free-throw line (5 for 14). So up 42-40 with 1:01 left, Sarver was ready for big play No. 2 and rebounded a missed free throw. The rescued possession allowed Dalton Delong to make two free throws with 49 seconds left for a 44-40 lead.
Those two plays by Sarver will not be pleasant memories for Antwerp coach Doug Billman.
“He is really athletic, he jumps – he’s the state high jump champion – but he’s really aggressive on top of it,” Billman said. “You add strength with what he’s got, and he’s got a lot of things that are really impressive. And those are winning plays. At state those types of plays in a tight basketball game really add up.”
Sarver was much more matter-of-fact about those two plays.
Of the 3-pointer, he said, “It was just something kind of in the moment. My guys did a really good job of finding me, especially late.”
Of the rebound: “When I grabbed that rebound, I just wanted to secure it first and make sure I didn’t do anything stupid.”
Up 44-41 with five seconds left, Sarver had a chance to put the game out Antwerp’s reach but missed two free throws. But it didn’t matter. Antwerp was out of timeouts, rushed up the floor and finally succumbed when Jagger Landers’ 3-point try fell short at the buzzer.
“You could tell by the way in which they continued to keep coming at us and making plays and making plays, they were winners, and they weren’t going away,” Sagester said.
Sagester gets little time to get his time ready for Richmond Heights, which is led by 6-7 senior Josiah Harris who will play college ball at West Virginia.
“I watched them today,” Sagester said. “Obviously they’re very athletic, very long and play with very good on-ball pressure. We’ve got to do a good job and we’ve got to be us.”
Sagester prepared his team for the state final with a nonconference schedule that included Division I Mason, Division III regional semifinalist Meadowdale and Division II Hamilton Badin. His goal was to prepare his team mentally for difficult moments, opponents and settings.
Sagester’s final pre-game words to his team before leaving the locker room Saturday were a reminder that in playing Antwerp things would not always go their way. He reminded them that mental toughness mattered as much as anything.
“We weren’t pretty,” Sagester said, “but we were tough.”
Richmond Heights 59, Berlin Hiland 21: Richmond Heights rolled into the Division IV final Saturday morning with a 59-21 victory over Berlin Hiland at UD Arena.
The Spartans (24-4) lost in the semifinals last year to eventual champion Botkins and lost in the semis in 2019.
London Maiden and Jaiden Cox-Holloway led the Spartans with 12 points apiece and Josiah Harris added 10. The Spartans shot 62.1% and held Hiland to 21.1%.
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