MORGANTOWN — The number 9.
That’s it. That’s all Trinity boys’ basketball coach Codey Horton has written on the board in the Warriors’ locker room. Hasn’t mentioned a single word about it to his team. Doesn’t need to.
Because his players know exactly what that number nine means.
After making it back to the Class AA State tournament last season, the pre-season polls have the Warriors ranked No. 9 this year, and Horton’s team feels they have something to prove to the rest of the state.
And in Tuesday night’s home opener against Braxton County, the Warriors sent their first message loudly and clearly, dominating the Eagles in a convincing 68-37 victory.
As might be expected, both teams began their season with four consecutive turnovers, two by each team. But it was the Warriors excellent length, quickness, and energetic helping defense that continued to perplex Braxton County (0-1) to the tune of a whopping 34 turnovers on the night.
That, combined with a solid night on the boards on both ends of the court, kept the Warriors comfortably in control from the opening tip. Trinity (1-0) senior guard Chayce Adams used his quickness to break the Braxton press, penetrate with effective dribble-drives, and score 8 points in the first quarter to help build a 21-9 lead. Down 28-11 after two minutes of the second quarter had elapsed, the Eagles strung together some defensive stops and knocked down some open shots to pull within 10 at 30-20. But Trinity’s Carter Hartsock blocked an Eagles shot, gathered the loose ball, and fed Adams for a big three-pointer, initiating a 9-0 response run for the Warriors, leading to a 39-20 lead at the break.
The second half was more of the same, as quick-jumping, athletic senior Hartsock followed his 10-point second quarter with 9 more in the third, and TC steadily built their lead up to 54-28 after three. The Warriors ran out the final quarter by holding Braxton County under ten points in a quarter for the third time, and newcomer Austin Porta’s late triple provided the Warriors with their largest lead of the night.
Hartsock led all scorers with 25, Adams hit for 20, and Ben Lohmann picked up 10 in the Warriors’ win.
Commenting on the observation that “Yeah! Good D!” was the phrase most often heard coming from the Trinity bench, Horton indicated that was not by accident.
“We know that once you get to tournament time, it’s defense that wins games,” he explained, “so it’s a big emphasis for us. I thought our energy and intensity on defense, especially in the half-court was a difference-maker tonight. It led to a lot of transition points, which was big, because we missed an awful lot of open threes.
“But,” he continued with a smile, “we were taking the right shots at the right time. I have to think that we’ll have better shooting nights moving forward. Overall, it was a good opening night. Plenty to work on, and plenty of good things to keep, too. And we’ll have to keep making steady progress if we hope to get to Charleston and do more when we get there. It’s one of our team goals, and we’d like to prove that we belong there.”
With a number a lot smaller than No. 9 next to their name.
The Warriors host cross-county and Mason-Dixon Conference rival Clay-Battelle at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Box score
Braxton County 9 11 8 9–37
Trinity Christian 21 18 15 14–68
BRAXTON COUNTY (0-1)
Ryken Rutherford 4 0-0 9 Riley Hunt 1 0-0 2 Brady Toler 1 3-4 6 Landon Stewart 2 1-2 5 Aiden Crockett 1 1-1 3 Owen Lowther 3 0-2 6 Stephen Boggs 3 0-0 6 Totals 15 5-9 37
TRINITY CHRISTIAN (1-0)
Ben Lohmann 4 2-2 10 Austin Porta 2 0-0 5 Lucas Kniska 2 0-0 5 Chayce Adams 8 2-6 20 Carter Hartsock 9 7-8 25 Charles Steptoe 1 0-0 3 Totals 26 11-16 68
3-pointers – BC 2 (Rutherford, Toler), TC 5 (Porta, Kniska, Adams 2, Steptoe)
— Story by Mark Schraf
