MORGANTOWN — The Trinity Christian boys basketball team is coming off of an appearance in the state tournament a season ago and has some things to be optimistic about entering the 2023-24 campaign.
Head coach Codey Horton will serve his second season and he will enjoy the return of 82% of the team’s scoring from last year’s club.
Led by second-team all-state selection Carter Hartsock (19 points per game) and all-state honorable mention Chayce Adams (17 points), Horton said his roster is improved from a season ago with experience and added depth.
“A lot of our guys will see some added time this year by having some experience from last year,” Horton said. “We will be having some different looks with different schemes throughout the whole season. Our vision is to play harder and faster with playing deep off the bench. The foundation was built last year with our seniors putting us back on the map making it to states and we plan to be back there come March.”
Senior Ben Lohmann and junior Lucas Kniska are two other starters Horton expects to impact the team. Younger role players like sophomores Ryan Parker, Austin Porta and Parker Hopkins will be looked to step up and do their part when the time is called.
The Warriors finished two games above .500 at 14-12 last season with a fairly difficult schedule. TCS hit the road for 19 away contests last season, with only six games high on the hill in Sabraton.
This season, Horton says they have made sure to be able to get more games on their home court, while still keeping the integrity of the tough schedule.
“We needed games and everyone needed someone to come to them so we did that a ton. We had trouble closing some games after coming back by so much so I felt that our record could’ve been better than it was,” Horton said. “This year, I really wanted to get us ready for a postseason run. We have 12 home games and 10 away games depending on the OVAC playoffs. We have a phenomenal student section involvement this year so having that many home games is going to be to our advantage with our Warrior Nation. We wanted to keep some marquee matchups by playing a lot of state tournament teams and being able to showcase our skills against them.”
The TCS boyd schedule includes the likes of 2022 Class AA state runner-up Charleston Catholic, Clay-Battelle, Webster County, Elkins and Tucker County, who all made an appearance in the state tournament one season ago. Other teams like East Hardy and Wheeling Central, who always have a shot at Charleston, await the Warriors also.
The season-opener for the Warriors will be at home against sectional-foe Braxton County on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Sabraton.
“I am most excited to watch these young men play the game they love. When you see the positivity, laughter, excitement, energy, etc coming from who’s playing, who’s coaching, who’s on the bench, and in the crowd, the place is electrifying to witness. Being able to host teams at your own place and showing what Trinity Christian School is all about,” Horton said. “We all have personal goals that we are focusing on this year but as far as our team goal, we want to run it back. We want to make the run at states and we don’t plan on just arriving this year.”
