MORGANTOWN — The Trinity boys’ basketball team hit a crossroads this season. Nearing the end of January, the Warriors had a 7-8 record and were about to play six-straight road games. Not the best situation for a team with its sights set on Charleston.
The Warriors showed resolve, however, and won five of their next six contests, capped off by an upset over then-No. 7 St. Marys in their penultimate game of the season.
Trinity hit a snag in its regular-season finale, however. In their first home game in over a month, the Warriors let a 13-point first-half lead slip away and closed the season with a 64-56 loss to the Highlanders.
Entering postseason play, Trinity (12-10) is the No. 3 seed in Class AA Region II, Section 2 and will travel to play two-seeded Braxton County at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“We got seeded third and at first I was upset about it because we have a better record than Braxton (County), but Braxton beat Webster,” TC coach Codey Horton said. “We’ve just got to come ready to do business. We’re not just going to show up and win, we’ve got to play our game.”
Despite being in the same section, Trinity and Braxton County (9-13) did not play one another this season. In fact, the only sectional opponent the Warriors face this season was Notre Dame, beating them twice, 66-42 and 85-35.
Horton doesn’t expect playing on the toad will be an issue for his well-traveled team.
“We’re used to being on the road all year,” he said. “It’s annoying, but we’ve spent a lot of money on gas this year. We play better on the road, so we’ll take it.”
The No. 4 Irish (2-20) will play No. 1 South Harrison (19-2) in the other sectional semifinal Tuesday night.
In Section 1, No. 3 Moorefield plays at No. 2 Petersburg and the winner will take on No. 1 Frankfort in the section final.
Class A
BLACKSVILLE — Also in Mon County on Tuesday, the Clay-Battelle boys’ team will host Wood County Christian to get postseason play underway.
The Cee-Bees (16-6) claimed the top see in Class A, Region I, Section 2 and will have home-court advantage throughout the section tournament. They get things started with a game against four-seed Wood County (2-20), a team they defeated 74-34 in the regular season, in the section semifinal.
In the other section semifinal, No. 3 Doddridge County (12-10) travels to No. 2 Tyler Consolidated (9-13). Clay-Battelle had wins against both Doddridge and Tyler this season, going undefeated against section opponents in the regular season.
On the other side of the region, Paden City defeated Hundred 74-54 in a play-in game and will play at No. 1 Madonna while No. 2 Cameron will host No. 3 Valley.
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