MORGANTOWN — The Trinity Christian girls’ basketball season opened with a win high on the hill on Thursday night in Sabraton.
The Warriors (1-0) opened their season at home with a 73-50 win against sectional foe Braxton County (0-1) to kick off the 2023-2024 campaign.
Not only did the Warriors earn the victory, but senior guard Jenna Barnett surpassed 1,000 career points for Trinity with a layup in the first quarter. She became just the 13th athlete in school history to achieve the feat.
“None of the points I’ve scored are happening without my team and teammates I’ve had,” Barnett said. “I couldn’t have done anything without them. I was a little nervous but once I started to think about it, I just needed to play my game and score points the way I always have. It’s nice to get it out of the way in the first game so we can focus on nothing other than going to the state tournament.”
Barnett led TCS with 24 points on the night shooting 9 for 15 from the field while three other Warriors scored in double figures for the game. Senior Ella Lynch scored 17 points with five triples.
“We have a lot of new players on the team and they played well tonight,” TCS head coach Mike Baldy, who was also celebrating his birthday, said. “Paige Hopkins played so well and how about Payton Moore the whole game? We shot well in the first half but I thought it was our transition game that made the difference.”
The Warriors got off to a fast start to open the game and jumped out to a 25-9 lead after the first quarter. Freshman Paige Hopkins and Barnett combined for 18 of 25 points in the opening quarter with a layup giving Barnett her 1,000th point, prompting a game stoppage and recognition.
After the pause it was back to business for her and her team. The lead swelled to 22 points at halftime with TCS leading 45-23. Six different players scored in the opening half.
“All of these kids are confident and that stems from practice with our two seniors pushing them and helping them,” Baldy said. “We are in the huddle with a minute left and are up by 20 points and Ella is in there fired up and telling her teammates what they need to do to improve. It’s all about the belief in themselves.”
Trinity continued to control the game in the second half, slowing the pace down and the scoring as well. The Warriors mixed defenses between a zone and man-to-man worked in their favor and allowed the game to be played the way they wanted as they enjoyed a season-opening victory 73-50.
Trinity will return home on Saturday at 1 p.m. to welcome Bealsville, Oh.
BOX SCORE
Trinity Christian 73, Braxton County 50
TCS 25 20 15 13 – 73
Braxton 9 14 17 10 – 50
Trinity – Barnett 9 4-6 24; Lynch 6 0-0 17; Conn 1 0-0 2; Moore 4 2-2 10; Hopkins 3 3-7 10; Kurilko 0 2-2 2; Deal 1 0-0 3; Blake 2 1-2 5
Braxton – Lunceford 6 1-2 18; Nicholson 3 0-0 6; Conley 0 1-2 1; Abraham 1 2-4 4; Cain 2 0-0 5; Fitzwater 0 1-2 1; B. Pritt 4 1-2 11; L. Pritt 1 1-4 4
3pt goals – Trinity 9 (Lynch 5, Barnett 2, Hopkins 1, Deal 1); Braxton 9 (Lunceford 5, B. Pritt 2, L. Pritt 1, Cain 1)
