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The Tri-Village boys basketball team by way of a 55-20 win over Preble Shawnee claims the 2026 WOAC championship trophy.

NEW MADISON – It was undefeated Preble Shawnee and Tri-Village boys basketball playing for a WOAC league championship Friday night for the fifth year in a row.  The Patriots would roll in this one with efficient offense and stifling defense for a 55-20 win to claim back-to-back league titles.

The Patriots would get off to a good start behind Griffin Richards a triple and a deuce and Brecken Gray two triples as the Patriot jumped ahead 11-0.  They would tack on 8 more in the opening frame with four points from Dom Black, a fielder from Noah Finkbine and two more free throws from Richards.

Preble Shawnee got on the board late in the quarter on a Braylon Dorrell one-hander in the paint, Foxbower also scored a bucket and two free throws from Caleb Blankenship but the. Patriots led after the first quarter 19-6.

“To have guys like Griffin Richards and Brecken Gray in a big environment like this knock down shots for us to start the game was big,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester said on the first quarter start.

The game plan going in for both teams was to take away the other’s top scorer.

Preble Shawnee went with Caleb Blankenship on Trey Sagester and Tri-Village countered with Noah Finkbine on Brody Morton and neither were able to score in the first quarter.

And for nearly two quarters the Arrows kept Sagester (25.4 ppg) in check until he got to the free throw line with just over two minutes to play in the first half knocking down both of them. 

Sagester finally broke loose for a couple of medium range jumpers and added two more free throws for 8 points to help TV forge a 34-12 lead at the break.

The Patriots kept Morton who averages 17.5 ppg in check in the first half.

Coming into the game Trey Sagester needed nine points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer and shortly into the third quarter he connected on a 17’ jumper with two hands in his face to do just that.

Trey Sagester hit this jumper with hands in the face to break the boys school scoring record of 1911 points.

 It would be points 1,911 and 1912 eclipsing the mark set by 2022 graduate Layne Sarver who led the Patriots to the state championship game that season.

After a quick acknowledgement and a hug from coach and dad Josh Sagester, who would present Trey the game ball.  Trey jogged into the stands to get a hug from his mom and give her the prized possession to hold onto.

The Patriots scored 14 points in the third frame with Sagester adding two more buckets and Noah Finkbine hit two three’s along with a fielder by Hayden Hunt while continuing to hold the Arrows in check with their defense for a 48-15 lead.

Preble Shawnee’s Brody Morton would pick up a block and drop two free throws in the fourth quarter to finally get on the board as the Patriots held their leading scorer to just two points on the night.

“It was a great effort by Noah Finkbine guarding Brody he’s got a motor like no other. He's got competitive stamina, he takes on the challenge and most nights, if we put him on somebody, it’s going to be a tough night for somebody,” Sagester explained.

While Noah Finkbine standouts for his athleticism & defensive prowess he also can score & drops a triple here. He had three treys & 13 points in win over Arrows.

The Patriots used a running clock in the final frame to close out the game 55-20 to claim the league title.

“To hold a team to 20 points is pretty impressive. I thought we were on point top to bottom. Every guy guarded hard and if you hold teams to 20, you're going to win those nights. That's the bottom line,” Sagester concluded.

Tri-VIllage coach Josh Sagester swings the nets after his team won the 2026 WOAC boys basketball championship. 

Box Scores

Score by Quarters

PS: 06 … 06 … 03 … 05 – 20
TV: 19 … 15 … 14 … 07 – 55

Team Scoring                                                                                                                         

PS: Foxbower 0-3-0/2 – 6, Morton 0-0-2/2 – 2, Blankenship 0-1-4/4 – 6, Schroeder 0-1-0/0 – 2, Dorrell 0-1-1/2 – 3, Totals 0-6-8/12 – 20

TV: Black 0-3-1/2 – 7, Sagester 0-5-4/4 – 14, Hunt 0-1-0/0 – 2, Richards 1-3-4/4 – 13, Finkbine 3-2-0/2 – 13, Gray 2-0-0/0 – 6, Totals 6-14-9/13 – 55

It was a celebration for the cheerleaders and students who's enthusiastic support was appreciated by the team.

Since the inception of the 12 team Western Ohio Athletic Conference there has only been two boys basketball teams win a league championship.  Tri-Village won the initial season 2021-22 and in 2024-25.  Preble Shawnee sandwiched in between back-to-back titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24. 

What’s the common denominator?  The game between Tri-Village and Preble Shawnee has determined the champion each of the last four years.  Once again these two will meet with perfect 10-0 records in the WOAC with the winner claiming a league title.

Preble Shawnee holds a 3-2 lead in head-to-head matchups winning twice in 2023-24: once in the regular season to clinch the crown and the other in the D3 Tournament Regional Semi-Final game.

In the five games played between the two, Tri-Village has scored 280 points and Preble Shawnee 256 … it doesn’t get more even than that.

Tri-Village is led by Trey Sagester a four-year player who leads the WOAC in scoring at 25.2 ppg, is 2nd in steals at 3.9 and 4th in assists at 4.5.

Preble Shawnee’s Brody Morton, also a four-year player is 2nd scoring in WOAC at 17.5 ppg and 3rd in steals at 3.6 per game.

The two bigs in this game will be Dom Black and Brody Foxbower.

The Patriot’s Black is averaging 12.4 ppg, 73.6 FG% and 5.5 rebound per game.

The Arrow’s Foxbower is averaging 10.9 ppg, 54.7 FG%, is 5th in the WOAC with 7.7 rpg.

While these four lead the league in a number of categories the remaining cast for both teams are proven athletes, playmakers and the game will hinge on how well they execute.

For the Patriots Noah Finkbine, Griffin Richards and Brecken Gray will be leaned on and they will need contributions from  Kasyn Hollinger, Hayden Hunt and Carson Bedinghaus. 

The Arrows will lean on Caleb Blankenship and Braylon Dorrel and will need contributions from Gage Powers and Colton Schroeder.

Tri-Village leads the league in scoring at 69.1 ppg  with the Arrows scoring 55.7 ppg.  The Patriots are giving up just 32.6 ppg while Preble Shawnee gives up just 41.6 ppg.

Tri-Village has had some good wins this season against some bigger opponents drubbing Kettering Fairmont 55-19 and Jonathan Alder 68-44 on their way to a 19-0 record.

Preble Shawnee enters the game with a 17-3 record and recently knocked off Botkins a state contender from the Shelby County League 47-44.

The “Game” between Preble Shawnee and Tri-Village will feature talented players, interesting matchups and will take place on Friday. February 13th in New Madison.

Come out and support your team and if you’re a basketball fan, it’s one game you won’t want to miss.

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Franklin Monroe honored four seniors and all played well but Dixie was able to come from behind in the 4th quarter to get the win 34-30.  (Dale Barger photo)

PITSBURG – The Franklin Monroe Lady Jets played inspired basketball riding the emotions of Senior Night and never quit in a close contest with the Dixie Greyhounds.  The Hounds would prevail late answering every run the Jets had to escape with a 34-30 win at the Hangar.

Franklin Monroe would honor four seniors prior to the game Alivia Addis, Ava Figel, Caydance Nichols and Kyra Brandt.

Jet's senior Ava Figel tries to score between two defenders on senior night.

Both teams struggled to score early in the game. Dixie got two fielders from Bethany Himan and Franklin Monroe got a bucket each from Kyra Brandt and Alivia Addis with just over 2:30 to go in the first quarter. 

Dixie then jumped ahead 9-4 after Ella Kreitzer scored an old fashioned three-point play followed by a Jacie Hartmier fielder.  Franklin Monroe’s Caydance Nichols scored on a jumper in the lane to end the first quarter with Dixie leading 9-6.

The Greyhounds scored 8 points in the second quarter getting five from Emma McQueen, two from Maddison Caldwell and a free throw from Kendyl Hypes.

While the Jets did a good job of doubling & denying Kendyl Hypes the ball inside, her presence on defense and rebounding were factors in the game.

The Jets got a triple from Reagan Flora a lay-up from Nichols but trailed at the break 14-11.

Franklin Monroe came out with fire and energy in the 3rd quarter holding Dixie to just 3 points while having their best  offensive quarter scoring 11.  Alivia Addis got them going with a triple, then scored six more for 9 of the 11, sparking the Jets to a two-point lead 22-20 heading into the final frame.

Senior Alivia Addis sparked her team in 3rd qrtr with 9 points & had 11 for the game.

“I thought we came out with really good energy. Our defensive energy was needed even when we got in a little bit of a slump, we didn't let up.  Then Alivia Addis gave us a boost with a big third quarter to grab the lead,” Franklin Monroe coach Carrie Wood said.

“She has had a couple games like that where she stepped up and really showed that senior leadership on the floor and I'm very proud of her overall,” Wood praised.

Addis would pick up her 4th foul and have to sit much of the final stanza, even then the Jets were able to expand their lead to 26-21 and things were looking good.

Dixie senior Bethany Himan was a big factor late in the game and led her team with 12 points to get a 34-30 WOAC win.

Dixie inched their way back into the game behind Bethany Himan who scored 8 of her game high 12 points in the fourth quarter. 

Himan’s three-pointer at 4:26 tied the game up at 26 and then she gave them the lead on a lay-up and moments later added a free throw with Dixie leading 29-26 with 1:58 to play.

Senior Caydance Nichols was able to get to the rim for 8 points and was leaned on to run the offense for the Jets against Dixie.

Caydance Nichols was able to navigate through the lane to close the score to 29-28 but Dixie answered with a lay-up and then made a couple of free throws to push their lead back out to 33-28 with 33 seconds left.

FM didn’t give up as senior Kyra Brandt scored at the rim to close to 33-30.  But a missed lay-up and a made free throw from Dixie closed out the scoring with the Greyhounds spoiling senior night for the Jets winning 34-30.

After the game first year coach Carrie Wood talked about her seniors and her first experience with a senior group.

“I will say that my seniors challenged me at first. I set the rules and expectations, and there was a little bit of pushback, but by end of season, I would say that everything has really been good. They (Seniors) have been setting great examples for the underclassmen, and I think that is huge, and what we needed here at FM,” Wood concluded.

With the win Dixie improved to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in the WOAC.  They have one game remaining in the regular season and will host Arcanum on Thursday.  Dixie than will face Ansonia on Tuesday February 17th for a first-round tournament game in DVI with the game played at Versailles at 6pm.

Franklin Monroe fell to 3-18 overall and 0-10 in the WOAC.  They will conclude their regular season on Thursday hosting Northeastern. They are also in the OHSAA DVI girls basketball tournament and received a bye and will play in the 2nd round against the winner of Tri-Village vs Dayton Christian.  That game will be played at Versailles as well on Saturday February 21st at 3:30pm. 

Box Scores

Score by Quarter

09 … 05 … 06 … 14 – 34
06 … 05 … 11 … 08 – 30

Team Scoring

Dixie – Kreitzer 0-1-1/1 – 3, Miller 0-1-2/8 – 4, K. McConnell 0-0-1/2 – 1, Himan 1-4-1/3 – 12, McQueen 1-1-3/6 – 8, Hartmier 0-1-0/0 – 2, Hypes 0-0-4/8 – 4, Totals 2-8-12/30 – 34

FM – Addis 1-4-0/0 – 11, Brandt 0-2-0/2 – 4, R. Flora 1-0-0/0 – 3, Buhl 0-2-0/0 – 4, Nichols 0-4-0/2 – 8, Totals 2-12-0/2 – 30



Senior Kyra Brandt scored a bucket late to keep it a one possession game but the Jets were unable to score and Dixie sealed the game at the free throw line for a 34-30 win.

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Undisputed and undefeated, the 10-0 Lady Blackhawks win outright WOAC girls basketball Championship. (Dale Barger photo)

CAMDEN – The Mississinawa Valley girls basketball team wrapped up a perfect 10-0 record in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference after a 65-35 win at Preble Shawnee to claim an outright 2025-26 League Championship.

The Blackhawks who shared the conference title with Arcanum and Tri-Village last year was able to navigate through the league this year with big wins at Tri-Village, Newton and Ansonia along with a home win over Arcanum.

The Lady Hawks wanted to make the game against Preble Shawnee special for their fans and had a goal that everyone would play and take part in clinching the championship.

Makenna Hoggatt buried two triples early to help get the Hawks out to a fast start in championship game.

They did that by getting off to a good start racing out to a 25-7 first quarter lead connecting on 5 triples: two each from Seniors Makenna Hoggatt and Paige Emrick and one from sophomore Tenlee Woodbury.  Senior Brooklynn Seubert made her presence felt inside going for eight points while her younger sister, freshman Cassidy Seubert added two points.

Brooklynn added another six points in the 2nd period, while Emrick and Cora Hoggatt both chipped in triples as the Hawks took a 42-14 lead at the break

Preble Shawnee got seven points from Josie Mondello-Garrett to lead the Arrows at the half.  Also chipping in was Aubrey Unger with a triple and two points each from Ava Apkin, Lainey Hawley and Jenna Dixon.

All of Mississinawa Valley players saw action in this game and each of them would contribute in some way with 11 of the 13 players scoring in the contest.

With a running clock for much of the second half the Blackhawks held a 52-18 lead after the third quarter.

Preble Shawnee picked up their scoring pace in the final stanza with Mondello-Garrett scoring eight of her team high 15 points.  Aubrey Unger had seven of her 12 points in the frame as the Arrows nearly matched their three-quarter total with 17 points.

Varsity players for Mississinawa Valley were cheering on the reserve players every time they made a big play.

With all the starters watching from the bench the reserve players saw action in much of the 3rd and all of the 4th frame as they became their biggest cheerleaders recognizing each of them when they scored or made a big play.  Everyone participated and contributed in what would be a 65-35 win to claim the 2025-26 WOAC Conference Title.

“I thought it was neat how everybody got to play and contribute to tonight’s game,” Mississinawa coach Kirk Comer said after the game.

“It was nice to get everyone time on the floor to be a part of this. Everybody's been working well together in practice. A lot of times the people who do a lot of the hard work going against the varsity and the scout team don't get a lot of credit and tonight they were all able be a part of this championship game,” Comer added.

Seniors Brooklynn Seubert and Paige Emrick agreed with their coach on how special it was for everyone to be a part of the game.

“I'm just really proud of how far we've come. We had a great team last year, but I really think that this team this year is very disciplined and we play so well together as a team,” Paige Emrick said

Senior Brooklynn Seubert scored 17 points and has been a handful for most teams to slow down this year in the paint.

“It's always been a team effort, coach preaches team and when you look up at that scoreboard everybody's scoring and it usually says 16,15,14,13, everyone’s contributing and it’s never just one person who is scoring the most points. On almost every play, every single person on our team touches ball before we score and I’m so happy everyone got to be a part of it tonight,” Brooklynn Seubert stated.

On this night Seubert led the way with 17 points and Emrick had14, along with 9 other girls putting the ball through the net. 

It’s that type of teamwork that has led to a 17-4 overall record to complete their regular season schedule. The losses have come to some perennial powerhouse teams like Ft. Loramie, Versailles, Legacy Christian and Parkway.  While you want to win those games a loss now to those teams can valuable if you can learn from them and help prepare your team in post season.

Mississinawa finds themselves currently in 2nd place behind Russia in the OHSAA RPI rankings to determine the seeds in the upcoming tournament. 

Coach Comer feels with this group of kids they have potential to make a nice run in the tournament and in his 30 years of coaching it might be one of the best teams he’s had.

“I told the girls, about mid-season I've had a lot of success in 30 years coaching girls basketball.  I’ve had a lot of good teams and been blessed to coach a lot of great players, but I don't think I've had a better all-around team.   We're not there yet but for the seniors, we got to get as far as we can and just see where it takes us.  The first thing is they have to believe. No matter what the jersey says on the other team we've got to believe we're the better team and play together. They might have a better player or two … but I feel like we have the best team, and if we all play together, we can accomplish big things,” Comer concluded.

Seubert and Emrick speaking on behalf of their other senior teammates are ready to embrace that along with Trinity Reichard, Cora and Makenna Hoggatt as they have been playing together since the 3rd grade.

"I'm very proud of everyone as seniors on this team, it definitely been a goal for us to win a league WOAC championship, going into the eighth grade, that was the year they changed from the CCC to WOAC, and since then we’ve always wanted to win an WOAC championship title as seniors because we felt like we had something specialt,” Seubert explained.

While they are happy to get the league title they want more as the Blackhawks have won back-to-back District Championship and last year advanced to the Regional championship but was denied a trip to the state finals bowing out to Ft. Loramie. 

Senior Paige Emrick buried 4 triples and has been a steady offensive threat over the last three years for the Blackhawks. 

“The key for us is to continue to work hard and prepare for each game the same way, stay together and take it one game at a time,” Emerick reasoned.

It won’t be easy but the formula of playing together and sharing the ball has worked well thus far … now they just need to believe and take the next step in their journey and see where it will take them.

BOX SCORE

Score by Quarter
25 … 17 … 10 …13 – 65 Mississinawa
07 … 07 … 04 … 17 – 35 Preble Shawnee

Team Scoring

MV Geesaman 0-0-2/2 – 2, Woodbury 2-0-0/0 – 6, M. Hoggatt 2-0-0/0 – 6, Sanabria 1-0-0/0 – 3, Reichard 0-1-0/0 – 2, C. Seubert 0-1-3/4 – 5, C. Hoggatt 0-2-1/2 – 5, Livingston 0-0-1/4 – 1, Emerick 4-0-2/4 – 14, B. Seubert 0-5-7/8 – 17, Totals 9-11-16/24 – 65

PS Unger 2-2-2/2 – 12, Apking 0-1-0/0 – 2, Hawley 0-2-0/0 – 4, Dixon 0-1-0/0 2, Mondello-Garrett, 0-6-3/4 – 15, Totals 2-12-5/6 – 35

MV Seniors Cora Hoggatt, Paige Emrick, Brooklynn Seubert, Makenna Hoggatt and Trinity Reichard achieved a goal they set when they were I"n the eighth grade to win a WOAC Championship.

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South scored win over Dixie Friday night 59-45.  Parker Howard scored 10 points in game.  They also beat Carlisle 52-45 on Senior Night on Saturday improving to 9-9 on the year.  (Dale Barger photo)

NEW LEBANON – Twin Valley South boys basketball trailed Dixie at the half but gradually pulled away in the 3rd quarter, fought off a couple small Greyhound runs on their way to 59-45 WOAC win.

Dixie jumped out to an 8-3 lead by the 4:09 mark to start the game and things were looking good for the home team.  Senior Brayden Puckett dropped a triple and sophomore guard Caleb Russell added a three and a short pull up jumper in the lane to grab the 8-3 lead.

Panther senior Laiden Carver stole the ball and converted a fast break bucket to make it 8-5 at 2:41 but sophomore guard Cole Swafford got that back right away with a bucket to go up 10-5 with 2:22 left in the quarter.

After the good start the Hounds went cold, and South took advantage as Lucas Barlow scored two straight buckets at the rim and had all 5 of his points in the game in the quarter with the Panthers trailing 10-9 heading into the second quarter.

Dixie's Caleb Russell knocks down jumper in lane, had 11 1st half points, 14 for the game. 

Dixie and South deadlocked with 14 points each in the frame.  South got two triples and 8 points from Aiden White and 6 points from Trent Ray. Russell poured in 6 more points for the Greyhounds and had 11 at the half.  Freshman guard Mason Simonton had a triple, and 5 points and Senior Colin Day added a trey for the 14 points for Dixie hanging on to a one-point lead at the break 24-23.

Twin Valley South coach Kerry Crouch talked about his team’s first half performance.

“We had a different lineup to start the game, but we have full confidence in whoever we have out there starting the game, and we hung with Dixie in the first quarter. Then we got the starters back in the second quarter and I thought they did really well off the bench heading into half time down by one. We knew we were shooting a lot of threes and with a size advantage we needed to take advantage,”  Crouch stated.

The scoring pace after the half would go up another level with Twin Valley South exploding for 21 points in the third quarter as junior Parker Howard and Aiden White each had 6 points, Evan Day had 4, Carver 3 and Ray 2 as they looked to get the ball to the rim more.

Dixie did everything they could to keep pace adding 16 points with three triples; two from Simonton who had 8, a trey from Puckett, Russell had 3 and Day added 2 points, but they trailed 44-40 going into the final frame.

When South needed a bucket Trent Ray was the go to man. He had 18 in the game & created a cushion early in 4th with 3 straight buckets. 

Dixie still was in striking distance, but Twin Valley South looked to Trent Ray in the 4th quarter.  Ray attacked the basket on backdoor cut and used high low action for three straight buckets to go up 50-42.

The three’s that were going in for Dixie now weren’t falling and South expanded their lead to 53-42 before Simonton connected on his 4th triple of the night but trailing 53-45 with 2:37 left to go.

Dixie fouled late as Ray made 4 free throws and a layup, then White completed the scoring for the game for a 59-45 WOAC win for the Panthers.

Dixie Coach Nick Worley talked about his team executing and effort after the game.

“They're a big team, so we made the point to make sure we box out and rebound we didn't do very well in the second half. Credit those guys, though, they're, a bunch of bruisers, and we're a young team trying to figure out how to play defensively. We're having to play a little bit of zone this year, which we haven't done in a long time. Our kids battled and played hard but we just kind of ran out of gas today,” Worley explained.

Dixie Freshman Mason Simonton shows his range with this triple well beyond the arch.  He had 4 treys and 18 points to lead the Greyhounds.

Dixie gave glimpses of what their future might look like with a couple of young players leading the way with freshman Mason Simonton scoring 18 points, showing his range with 4 triples.  Sophomore Caleb Russell displayed an ability to drive to the basket or pull up for a jumper, and contributed 14 points for Dixie with both players drawing praise from Worley.

“Mason and Caleb, they're one of our top two scorers and the core of our program going forward and that's exciting. Caleb’s really taking the next step as far as the leadership role goes. We have two seniors, no juniors in the program, freshmen and sophomores, so our kids have to get in the weight room and keep building strength,  these young guys can hoop, which is very exciting,” Worley concluded.

Dixie fell to 2-7 in the WOAC, and after a loss to Fort Recovery Saturday night moved to 4-13 overall. The Greyhounds will travel to Legacy Christian on Monday night.

Twin Valley South was led by Trent Ray with 18 points, Aiden White 16 and Parker Howard 10.  The Panthers moved to 4-5 in the WOAC and had a big game at home Saturday night with Carlisle.

“We’re trying to change the culture here and as a first year coaching these guys it would be nice to get one against Carlisle on Senior Night. We're at eight wins right now, they had just five wins all of last year so I think we can possibly be 12 or 13 wins at the end of the year, which is huge for the program. I think we're going to continue to build off this every game. We just got to play four solid quarters from the start, and we'll be right there,” Crouch stated.

True to his words Twin Valley South did just that against Carlisle Saturday night.  After trailing 31-22 at the half the Panthers exploded for 17 points in the third quarter to take a one-point lead and then outscored Carlisle 13-7 in the final frame for a big 52-45 non-conference win to improve to 9-9 overall.  The Panthers have 4 regular season games left and a big test on Friday as they travel to take on 16-0 Tri-Village.

Box Scores

Score by Quarters

09 … 14 … 21 … 15 – 59 Twin Valley South
10 … 14 … 16 … 05 – 45 Dixie

Team Scoring

TVS – P. Howard 0-5-0/2 – 10, E. Day 0-2-1/2 – 5, A. White 3-3-1/1 – 16, L. Carver 1-1-0/0 – 5, L. Barlow 0-2-1/4 – 5, T. Ray 0-7-4/6 – 18, Totals 4-20-7/15 – 59

DIX – Swafford 0-1-0/0 – 2, Russell 1-5-1/2 – 14, Day 1-1-0/1 – 5, Simonton 4-3-0/0 – 18, Puckett 2-0-0/0 – 6, Totals 10-8-1/3 - 45

Lucas Barlow filled the gap for South in 1st quarter scoring five points for Panthers.
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