MORGANTOWN – The Trinity boys’ basketball team outscored Keyser by 14 points in the second half to earn a 61-54 season-opening win on Tuesday, handing first-year head coach Codey Horton his first career victory.
“It’s just awesome,” Horton said with a breath of relief. “I think I just used that word about five times in one sentence in the locker room talking to the team because that’s the best word I could get. It was awesome to see them fight and want it so much.”
The fight Horton praised his team for was most prominent in the second half, after the Warriors (1-0) found themselves trailing the Golden Tornadoes (2-1) by seven points at halftime, 31-24.
Trinity began the game ice cold from the floor, particularly from deep, starting just 1 for 11 from three.
Despite trailing, TCS was down by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter, but a 13-3 run would bring the game within two at 26-24 with 90 seconds until the break. Keyser responded well with five quick points before halftime to swell the lead to seven.
Then came the second half.
The Warriors exploded out of the locker room for an 18-6 run over five minutes of the third quarter, with the first lead of the game at 38-37 coming from a Ben Lohmann layup with 2:58 left in the frame after senior Levi Teets stole a pass at midcourt. They would outscore Keyser 20-11 in the third quarter.
Lohmann scored 17 points while going 6-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Junior Carter Hartsock also scored 17 points of his own.
“The good is that we’re open and we are going to shoot it,” Horton said of his team’s confidence despite a poor shooting night from deep (7-of-25). “Almost everybody on the team has a green light. I thought a few of our shots were forced today but we will get that fixed.”
A huge difference in the game down the stretch was the hustle plays from the Warriors, particularly senior Levi Teets, earning the stats that don’t show up on the sheet.
“So we actually have defensive charts now,” said Horton, explaining that those stats are showing up for his team now. “Charges, getting on the floor, making big plays, everything counts. We had a huge play for a jump ball right at the end to help seal it.”
After a three by Chayce Adams (his fourth of the night for TCS), the ball was fumbled by a Keyser player and Teets dove after it to force a jump ball with possession going to the Warriors just before the Golden Tornadoes could call timeout and maintain possession. Adams then hit two free throws to extend the lead to five at 58-53. TCS hit six of its final seven chances at the stripe to close out the win 61-54.
“We knew how good we were I think,” Horton said of his team after the game. “This was our first game and a good test and we wanted to see how we would actually perform.”
The Warriors will host Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
TWEET – @ahhh_griff
Trinity 61, Keyser 54
TCS 11 13 20 17 – 61
KHS 10 12 11 12 – 54
TCS – Lohmann 9 4-4 17; Hartsock 20 3-3 17; Adams 12 2-3 16; Kniska 7 0-3 5; Hancox 5 1-2 4; Teets 1 2-4 2
Keyser – Matlick 14 0-2 12; Liller 10 1-4 11; Schell 4 1-2 8; Staniglawczyk 8 1-2 7; Broadwater 4 2-2 7; Keller 3 0-0 4; Washington 8 0-0 2
3-pt. GOALS – TCS 7 (Adams 4, Kniska 1, Lohmann 1, Hartsock 1). Keyser 4 (Liller 2, Schell 1, Broadwater 1)
Bridgeport 60, University 57
BRIDGEPORT — Anthony Spadafore scored 22 points to lead Bridgeport, which held off a last-second attempt from the Hawks.
In the final seconds, UHS picked up a steal with 1.9 seconds left, but was unable to get off a 3-point attempt.
It was the Hawks (3-1) first loss of the season.
Charles Nemecek had 14 points and 10 rebounds for UHS, while teammates James Garbart and Rafael Barcinas also had 14 points.
Morgantown 76, Greater Latrobe (Pa.) 49
Brody Davis scored 22 points and Sharron Young added 17 for the Mohigans.
Izzy Everett and Garrison Kisner each scored 10 for the Mohigans (3-0).
Cameron 53, Clay-Battelle 49
CAMERON — Lance Hartley had 15 points and teammate Colson Wichterman added 13 to lead Cameron past Clay-Battelle.
The Cee-Bees (1-1) were led by Colby Barr’s 15 points and Kohlton St. Clair added 10.
