BASKETBALL: George beats buzzer as Trinity girls stun Westfield; Boys split two early Thanksgiving week

Trinity’s basketball teams finished their pre-Thanksgiving action early last week at home.  

The girls got a dramatic last-second win over Westfield, 55-53, in their only contest of the week Monday night. The boys went cold in the fourth quarter of Monday’s set to fall 56-41, but rebounded the following night for a resounding 63-44 win over Piedmont.

Monday’s girls game was back and forth throughout between two of the best teams in their respective classifications.

Trinity led 13-11 after one quarter and still had a lead at the half 27-23.

Cold shooting and turnovers plagued the Lady Crusaders out of the locker room, and Westfield would outscore them 14-9 in the third to take a slight 37-36 lead into the final stanza.

They still held a two-point lead with less that five seconds remaining. The Lady Hornets essentially just had to inbound the ball cleanly to come away with a victory, but Trinity’s Chloe Rozier and Maddy George had other ideas.

Rozier got a hand on the inbound pass and came up with a steal. She then fired a pass to George, who drilled a 3-pointer as time expired to give Trinity the improbable 55-53 win.

George led Trinity with 19 and Addie Kendrick added 11. The Lady Crusaders drilled eight 3s in the contest, and went 15-of-21 from the foul line. 

Mary Blake Brannon led Westfield with 15. Maddie Gunningham had 14 and Kate Lane added 11.

The boys’ contest was nip and tuck through the first three quarters. Trinity came out cold but played solid defense and trailed 11-7 after one.

The second quarter was better offensively, as they managed 16 to the Hornets’ 11 to lead 23-22 at the half.

The Crusaders again couldn’t find the range from outside in the third period as they were outscored 12-8 and trailed 34-31 going to the fourth.

Hudson Hodge exploded for 15 of his game-high 29 in the final quarter as the Hornets pulled away for the 56-41 win.

Jagger George was the only Crusader in double digits with 20.

Ben Hulbert added 13 for Westfield.

Tuesday’s game against Piedmont was a much better for Trinity on both ends of the floor.

The Crusaders came out strong as they jumped out to a 15-11 lead after a quarter. 

Unfortunately, they went a bit cold in the second as they managed just nine. Piedmont would heat up a bit from the outside with 16 of their own to take a 27-24 halftime lead.

Coming out of the locker room, the Crusaders dominated on both ends of the floor. The offense caught fire with 21 in the third while holding Piedmont to just 10 to give Trinity a 45-37 lead.

The fourth was even better defensively as the Cougars managed just seven points. Trinity was nearly as good offensively in the fourth with 18 to pull away for the 63-44 victory.

George would lead the way again with 24 and made six of the Crusaders’ 15 3-pointers in the night. Kolbi Grooms had 14 and Hayden Bowles had 12, with both connecting on four triples.

Corbett Cross led Piedmont with 21 while Cam Moss added 12.

Trinity starts the month December Monday night as its boys play at Thomas Jefferson. Both teams return to action at Stratford on Tuesday, then home for two with FPD on Friday.