The odds were stacked against them. The Trinity Titans went into the Benedictine Capitol City Classic as a underdog, facing in the first round a favored Mount Saint Joseph's team, who was the number 1 ranked team in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, number 3 ranked in the state of Marylannd, and had a #178 ranking in the entire country. They knew that they weren't the favorite, and they liked that. When Coach Hamlin and the rest of the team found out that they would be without their leading scorer, Josh Brown, that just made them all the more determined to go out and prove that they deserved the respect of the Benedictine crowd and that they were meant to be in this highly competitive tournament. From the opening tip, Trinity almost controlled every facet of the game, continuing to knock down their open three point opportunities, sparked by the hot shooting of senior Abe Ferrell-Logan, who at one point in the contest just channeled his inner Steph Curry and hit 3 consecutive threes. They locked down the Gaels versatile attack of senior guards Phil Booth and Jaylen Adams in the half court, strictly limiting most of their points to when they ran in transition. The Titans were dominating through the first three quarters so much, that their lead got as big as 19 points at one point, stretched out finally by a wild circus and-1 shot that Zane Lewis threw up as he was falling down to the floor. The Gaels did expose the Titans in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 28-14 while getting many quick buckets from their full court press that they put on for most of the fourth quarter. The lead for the Titans in the fourth got as small as 2 with just under two minutes left to play, but then Trinity started to beat the press of the Gaels, forced them to foul, and knocked down their free throw shots, and walked away back to their locker room victorious, screaming and dancing happily as they burst through the doors of the visiting locker room.
Though early in the season, Trinity had a crucial game Friday Night against hated rival Christchurch. The last time Trinity and Christchurch met was in the Prep League Championship, which I think we all know what happened there. After that game's utter excitement and astonishing ending, one could only hope that this game was just as good. The student section was just about sold out as everyone piled in their all-white shirts for the White-Out and started screaming. The stage was set. From the opening tip of the game, you could tell that it was going to be physical. Both teams were fouling early and often, but then shots started to fall for both. Christchurch rode a early wave of momentum and pushed their lead out to 26-15 over Trinity about mid-way through the second quarter, before Coach Hamlin rallied his guys and they responded by going on a 11-2 run in a span of 2 minutes and 56 seconds, which only put them behind 28-26 with two minutes left before half. Christchurch managed to stop the bleeding on their side and responded with two quick threes off turnovers from Trinity and went into the locker room up 34-30. The Titans came out of the half a new team that was energizing and ravenous to defend their home court. They jumped out on a 15-2 run before Christchurch could catch their breath, and was suddenly up 45-36. Runs were sparked by a dominant down-low presence in the second half by the name of Austin Williams, who time after time in the second half managed to follow missed Titan shots with put backs right under the basket. Late in the fourth quarter, as it seemed that the Seahorses were trying to stage a major comeback, sparked by Florida-bound Devin Robinson off of a four-point play from the top of the key, Trinity answered with their sixth man, Senior Camm Johnson, hitting two huge three pointers to put the Titans up by 16 again, 71-55. Both teams played out until the bitter end, the last two minutes basically becoming a free throw shooting contest between the teams, and Trinity hung on as the final buzzer rang, victorious 75-61.
Josh Brown led the scoring for the Titans, as he's done in 3 of the 4 games this year, with 22 points, followed by Austin Williams, who had a great stat line of 16 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks. Abe Ferrell-Logan followed behind with 13, while the other senior, Nathan Swift, had a quiet seven points.
NEXT GAME: Trinity takes on Armstrong High School in the first round of the Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament (TDIT), at home in Estes on Friday, December 20th at 7:30 PM.
Last year, Trinity Varsity Basketball had a season to remember. Led by star point guard Jaylen Hinton at the helm of the offense last year, we went to the Prep League Title Game for the second year in a row, once again playing the Christchurch Seahorses. For all of you that don't remember what happened on that historic day, here is a reminder. That shot reminded us why we all support, love, and cheer our hearts out for Trinity basketball. This year, though not with Jaylen on the team, expectations are still high for this group of guys. 4 out of the starting five from last year, Junior Josh Brown, Senior Abraham Ferrell-Logan, and Senior Nathan Swift and Senior Austin Williams. Titans will look for more production from their bench players this year, especially new coming transfer Guard Eli Reece. They will also look to Sophomore Anthony Roberson to step up and provide a more pivotal role in the offense, with him likely starting at Small Forward throughout the season. The Titans will get a test early in their season and Prep League opener on Tuesday, December 3rd when they play a revamped Woodberry Forrest team. Trinity swept the the season series with Woodberry last year. Trinity will also see what Josh Brown can do handling the point guard position about half of the time that he's on the court, as he will try to adjust from being the 2 guard to the three and facilitating the ball. Josh was the teams third highest scorer last year, only behind Abe-Ferrell Logan and Jaylen. Titans will also look for revenge against Prep League foes FUMA and Christchurch, both teams that they struggle against last year, but beat them when it mattered in the postsason. If things work out, Trinity could face cross-town foe Benedictine 4 times during the course of the season if they get far enough in the TDIT, BCCC, and in the State Tournament. This could realistically happen and would be a great test for Trinity and a chance to get revenge, as they lost to Benedictine by 1 last year.
Update: In the first poll of the year, Trinity was ranked 8th in the Times-Dispatch Top Ten state rankings.
Projected starters for Trinity: G Josh Brown, G Abe Ferrell-Logan F Anthony Roberson F Nathan Swift and F Austin Williams.
Key producers off of the bench: G Zane Lewis G Eli Reece G Camm Johnson G Aaron Duhart F Jake Brown, F Weston Hannon-Bogosh.
The guys will look for a leader on the floor this year, hoping to rally around the 5 seniors on the team in Camm, Thomas Graziano, Abe, Austin, and Nathan. They will look to sprinting out of the gate in hopes of another Prep League Championship and to go to the State finals and will be in the talk all season for the State ring.
Key Games: December 3rd @ Woodberry Forrest (Win), December 13th VS Christchurch School, December 20-23: Richmond Times-Dispatch Tournament, December 27-29: BCCC Tournament at Benedictine. January 4th VS St. Chris, January 9th @ Benedictine, January 11th @ FUMA, January 24th @ St. Chris, February 4th VS Woodberry Forrest, February 6th VS FUMA, February 11th @ Christchurch.
Best-case scenario: The Titans use their strong leadership and their offense is like one of Duke's and their defense resembles VCU, and they only lose about 5 or 6 games, really soaring into the playoffs down a pivotal stretch of games from the 24th of January to the end of their season at February 11th. They keep the injuries and setbacks limited behind Josh and Abe in the backcourt, and that their big men in Nathan, Austin, and Ant can spread the floor and dominate defenders inside and near the basket. That Zane Lewis, Eli, Camm, and Aaron all provide a spark on the court with their great defensive play and passing ability. The Titans go far in the TDIT, BCCC, and get to the championship of the Virginia Prep Legue Tournament and qualify and win at least 3 games in the Virginia State Tournament.
