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MILL CREEK, W.Va. — Trinity Christian girls’ basketball closed out its regular season the way it wanted: With a positive record.
The Warriors (12-11) traveled to Tygarts Valley for their final stand, holiding .500 record knotted at 10 wins and losses, but pulled out the road win over the Bulldogs, 58-50.
Maggie Mercure, though not leading the team — that was Jaclyn Smith with 23 points — was a major factor in the Warriors’ win, putting up 20 points in her career night.
“Maggie is what kept us alive,” TCS coach Mike Baldy said. “She scored nine of her 20 points in the first half, [bringing us back] in the first quarter. She hit a shot at the buzzer going into halftime that cut the deficit from 3 points to 1 point.”
The Warriors returned from the break to snap out of their offensive funk, taking the lead 2 minutes into the third quarter and never letting it go.
Aside from Smith’s and Mercure’s 20-point performances, Olivia Austin had 11 points in the win. The Warriors had a big night at the charity stripe, hitting 69.2% (18 of 26).
Senior Abby Lanham led the Bulldogs with 28 points off 11 buckets and a 4 of 7 performance from the line.
Trinity now waits for the Sectional bracket to be released before figuring out its next game.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN (11-10)
Smith 7 6-12 23; Mercure 6 7-8 20; Austin 3 3-4 11; Pancoast 1 0-0 2; White 0 2-2 2. Totals: 17 18-26 58.
TYGARTS VALLEY
A. Lanham 11 4-7 28; Wamsley 4 0-0 8; Walden 1 2-2 4; Cabaniss 2 0-3 4; L. Lanham 1 2-2 4; Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 8-14 50.
TCS 11 15 20 12 — 58
TVHS 15 12 10 13 — 50
3-pointers: TCS 6 (Smith 3, Austin 2, Mercure); TVHS 2 (A. Lanham 2).
Boys’ basketball
Trinity 80, Barnesville (Ohio) 58
BARNESVILLE, Ohio — Trinity Christian kicked into high gear with its out-of-state road game at Barnesville Friday night, upending the Shamrocks, 80-58.
Fletcher Hartsock led a group of four Warriors that all found double digits in the monster win with 22 points.
Once TCS (9-11) had captured the lead, it was never relinquished as the Warriors took a 46-23 lead at the half. They followed with a strong second half to stay afloat even though the Shamrocks (12-10) outscored the Warriors in each second-half quarter.
Aside from Hartsock, Seth Goins had 19 points while Carter Anderson and Jonathan Moore both had 14. Goins and Anderson were strong behind the arc, hitting five and four treys respectively.
Barnesville was paced by Luke Powell with 26 points. Kason Powell (11) and Colton Hines (10) combined for another 21.
The win sets up the Warriors’ regular season finale on Feb. 20 as they host Tucker County.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN (9-11)
Hartsock 9 3-3 22; Goins 6 2-2 19; Anderson 4 2-2 14; Moore 6 1-2 14; Kurilko 3 1-1 8; Teets 1 0-0 2; Boczek 0 1-2 1. Totals: 29 10-12 80.
BARNESVILLE (12-10)
L. Powell 12 0-0 26; K. Powell 4 1-2 11; Hines 5 0-0 10; Hudson 2 0-0 5; Hunker 1 0-0 3; Hannahs 1 0-0 3. Totals: 25 1-2 58.
TCS 24 22 12 22 — 80
BHS 13 10 13 22 — 58
3-pointers: TCS 12 (Goins 5, Anderson 4, Moore, Hartsock Kurilko); BHS 7 (L. Powell 2, K. Powell 2, Hudson, Hunker, Hannahs).
Freshman boys’ basketball
University 65, Preston 52: The Hawks (11-6) led by Sage Clawges with 12 points closed out its season with a win over neighboring county rival Preston.
Kaden Farrell and Gavin Powroznik added 10 points each in the win. The Knights were paced by Jaden Hawkins with 14 and Brian Manko with 11.
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