The Trinity basketball teams each suffered a big loss at home Tuesday night as they played host to Breckinridge County in a 3rd Region doubleheader.
The Lady Raiders (4-2) hung tight early, but a big push in the third quarter by the Lady Tigers (6-1) allowed them to pull away for a 72-49 win.
For the Raiders (4-2), an 8-0 run in the first and a 10-0 run to start the second was enough for the Tigers (4-1) to gain a big advantage that turned into an 81-53 victory.
BOYS
Coming off a big win over Daviess County on Monday night, Trinity head coach Nathan West said his team showed signs of being worn down early.
“I think we probably had a little hangover from yesterday,” he said. “You could tell in the first half our energy level wasn’t the same. You have to bring the same energy to beat a team like Breck. They kind of just put it on us. The energy was the biggest difference early, and it’s difficult to play from a deficit.”
Tied 7-7 midway through the opening frame, the Tigers used an 8-0 run to get an early lead. They scored the first 10 points of the second quarter, and the Raiders were never able to recover.
The full-court pressure by Breckinridge County led to several turnovers, and the Raiders also lost big man Cameron Wright to injury in the first quarter.
Not having his presence down low caused Trinity to have to change their approach.
“We rely heavily on Cameron to rebound,” Wst said. “He dominates the glass. It took us a little while to adjust. They’re going to have to step up and fill the void.”
As a team, the Raiders largely couldn’t get shots to fall most of the night, though Trenton Morris and Joe Brown both finished in double figures.
Morris hit five 3-pointers, scoring a game-high 19 points, and West added 16 points and connected three times from beyond the arc.
The Raiders were only outscored by three points in the second half, but a 32-14 second quarter was more than enough for the Tigers to get the win.
Trinity returns to action Friday when they travel to play Union County at 7:30 p.m.
Trinity stats: Trenton Morris (19 points), Joe Brown (16 points), Cameron Wright (4 points), Kevin Foster (3 points), Cade Mills (2 points), Sam Russelburg (2 points), Landon Hall (2 points), Ethan Howard (2 points), Ben Goetz (2 points), Devin Rhinerson (1 point)
GIRLS
Cassidy Morris — 24 total points — single-handedly kept the Lady Raiders in contention through the first two quarters, but the Lady Tigers locked down and pulled away after halftime.
Morris scored seven points in the first frame, at the end of which Trinity trailed 16-11. She scored six points to open the second, and a 3-pointer by Josie Aull tied the game at 21-21.
“Cassidy works hard in practice,” said head coach John Cummings. “She did an excellent job, and her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball.”
An 8-1 run for Breckinridge County put them up 34-26 at the half, and they outscored Trinity 26-12 in the third to essentially put the game out of reach. Cummings said he was still proud of the fight his girls showed despite their youth.
“I thought our kids did a really good job early,” he said. “Then our youthfulness and their experience kicked in. You have to give Breck a lot of credit. They’re really good. The good thing about tonight is we learned a lot and I though our kids continued to play hard. I think we gained some confidence tonight.”
The Lady Raiders are off for a week before they play Allen County-Scottsville in the PBI/Danny Annis Classic at County on Dec. 19. Cummings said it’s a good time for the team to work on improving.
“We just have to get a little tougher, a little stronger and a little older,” he said. “It’s a good time for us to regroup. (Breckinridge County) exposed some things that we’ve got to work on. We’ve just got to get better in some areas that will help us get better down the road.”
Trinity stats: Cassidy Morris (24 points), Josie Aull (8 points), Georgia Howard (6 points), Morgan Kinsey (4 points), Nina Wathen (4 points), Katherine Hibbitt (2 points), Hadley Hatfield (1 point)
