Trinity tournament
Trinity boys basketball coach Tim Tessmer knew his squad could not afford to start slowly against any opponent, let alone one that has a weapon that can score points in bunches.
That’s exactly what happened Wednesday night at Hiller Hall in the second game of the Trinity Holiday Basketball Tournament as Peters Township raced out to a 14-0 lead over the Hillers, absorbed several Hiller pushes and cruised home to a 74-57 win.
Peters Township (4-4) faces Albert Gallatin tonight at 6 while Trinity (3-4) faces Canon-McMillan in the second game of the tournament.
“We just can’t spot them 14 and expect to have a lot of energy to get back in it,” Tessmer noted. “I think our legs were feeling it there trying to get back in the game.”
Peters Township’s Gavin Cote led all scorers with 29 points. Brendan McCullough and Jake Ziegler chipped in with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Connor Roberts paced Trinity with 21 points while Kyle Fetcho contributed 17.
The Indians came out smoking in the game’s early moments and never looked back as the Hillers swam upstream much of the evening.
Trinity did finish the first quarter on a 12-5 run to cut the Indians’ lead to 19-12 at the end of the quarter. A Dante DeRubbo bucket pulled the Hillers within 24-18 midway through the second, but a Cote three-pointer pushed the Indians’ lead to 29-18 shortly after. McCullough scored an old-fashioned three-point play with a layup and foul shot toward the end of the half to push the visitors’ lead to 36-23.
Trinity again made another push to get back into the ballgame in the early stages of the third as two Fetcho buckets sliced the Peters Township lead to 38-27 that forced an Indians timeout early in the quarter. But Cote dropped another three to push the advantage to 48-34 midway through the third.
“I’m really proud of Gavin,” said Peters Township coach Joe Urman. “Him putting the ball in the hoop is a big part of us.”
Cote struck again after DeRubbo scored after a steal to bring the Hillers within 10 at 48-38 as he again drained a deep three to push the advantage to 51-38 late in the third. The Hillers would draw no closer.
Urman added his team’s fast start was key to the win.
“We came out and set the tone for sure,” Urman said. “We knew Trinity would come to play on their floor in their tournament. I was pleased with that, for sure.”
Urman also credited 6-7 forward Evan Puhl for his performance, which included eight points and three blocks.
“It’s his first career start, and for him to get the start and play that well was huge,” Urman added.
Tessmer reiterated that his young group has some learning to do as the season marches forward.
“We have some younger guys that need to learn what it takes to win on the varsity level,” he added.
Canon-Mac, 72-50
The Big Macs (4-1) eventually pulled away from Albert Gallatin (3-3) after a close first half and cruised to a 72-50 win in the opening game.
Aiden Berger led all scorers with 18 points for the Big Macs. Jacob Samosky chipped in with 12 points while Gavin Miller contributed 10 for the victors.
Jamil Braxton paced the Colonials with 16 points while Caleb Mateus-Chapman scored 12.
Canon-McMillan carried a slim 36-33 lead into the third quarter, but outscored the Colonials 36-17 over the final two frames. The Big Macs drained 13 three-pointers as Berger bagged nine triples on the evening.