MORGANTOWN — Before Tuesday’s Class A Region II, Section I semifinal matchup with No. 14 South Harrison, the homestanding Trinity boys’ basketball team knew quite a bit.
The No. 5 Warriors knew the stakes were as high as they can get — win and advance, or turn in your uniforms tomorrow. They also knew the Hawks’ offensive engine ran through a dynamo guard named Caleb Jenkins. Trinity knew him very well, considering he was the same Caleb Jenkins who filled up the scoresheet as a member of the Warriors the previous three seasons before transferring to South for his senior year.
So with defense clearly on their minds, and attacking the paint their focus, the Warriors took care of business with a solid, steady and impressive 61-44 victory to advance to this Friday’s sectional championship game.
“We knew what Caleb is capable of on any given night,” Trinity coach John Fowkes said, “so we just didn’t want him to get 40 on us tonight. And he had to work for every point he got, and that was a big key.”
The Warriors (18-5) employed their tight man defense throughout the game, giving the Hawks offensive fits. And when South Harrison (16-6) came out with a diamond-and-one defense, Trinity kept its poise on offense, even when it struggled from distance early. In fact, despite missing numerous jumpers, the Warriors dissected the zone with precision for paint points all night.
Jenkins singlehandedly held his team in the game in the first quarter, scoring all eight points, while Trinity doubled him up, with Logo Zervos matching his former teammate’s production. An early 8-0 second quarter run pushed the Warriors lead to 24-8 with five minutes left in the half, which ended with a 35-18 home team bulge.
“We knew we wanted to play strong defense coming out for the second half,” Zervos explained, “really keep them from making a run and get back in it.”
You can’t do much better than to hold your opponents scoreless for the first four minutes of the half, and by the end of the third, Trinity had built the lead to 48-26, and despite a burst from Jenkins in the final quarter (he finished with a game-high 22 points), the Warriors’ lead never fell below 15 as they cruised to the win.
Thomas Sears nailed four triples to also get into double figures for South, while the Warriors enjoyed balanced scoring, with big man Daniel Woods and wing Briston Bennett each scoring 16. Joel Robertson scored 10 and shadowed Jenkins effectively in the second and third quarters, as well.
“We shared the ball well and found open guys all night,” Zervos said. “And even if your shot isn’t falling, if you can get lay-ups and easy baskets, it keeps everyone calm and focused. And anytime you can get transition baskets off your defense, those are huge.”
Afterward, Fowkes was especially pleased with his team’s poise and defensive intensity.
“We have limited our last six opponents to under 45 points,” he smiled when talking about every coach’s favorite subject, “and we know that, at this time of year, if you can consistently do that, you have a real chance of doing big things. Our kids have bought in, they’re very coachable, and we like how we’re playing right now.”
