BASKETBALL: Trinity comes up short in Tuesday-night set at Stratford

The Trinity Crusader basketball teams traveled to Macon on Tuesday night for a pair of road contests against Stratford.  The girls played their third close game of the season but lost a heartbreaker 59-58, while the boys struggled in their season opener and fell 71-34.

Boys

The last time the Crusaders took the floor they were playing for their second-straight state championship.  Unfortunately, they lost that game and a ton of firepower off of last season’s squad.  

Gone are all-state performers Will George, Hayden Clay and Lincoln Harper as well as all region guard Daniel Bristol.  

Trinity also opens this season with a new coach, its fourth in four seasons, in former Crusader player Nolan Gottlieb.  

Gottlieb had a decorated career playing for the Crusaders before going to to play at Anderson University in South Carolina. He returns to the bench after taking several years off to sell real estate full-time.

Despite the losses, the Crusaders do return two-time all-region post Anthony Frank-Woji and starting wing Ben Castro-Poveda.  Gottlieb will fill out his rotation with some promising, yet unproven players.

Junior guards Kolbi Grooms and Will Foskey both stepped into the starting lineup for the first time on Tuesday and will be counted on for lots of minutes this year.  Another pair of juniors will also take on increased roles this season in Carter Lee and Hayden Bowles.

A trio of freshmen will also be counted on for heavy contributions this season.  Asher Evans was the fifth starter for the opener, Tripp Mascaro will see big minutes in the post, and Jag George, who is still recovering from a broken leg, will most likely take over as the starting point guard once healthy.

Holdover Alston Bryan and newcomers Sam Fuller and Graham Forth will also see time off the bench while also gaining valuable experience during practice.

The first game for the new-look Crusaders did not go well against a deep and athletic Eagle squad.

Stratford’s full-court press gave the inexperienced Trinity guards fits from the opening tip as they raced out to a 26-6 lead after one quarter.  

The Crusaders settled down some in the second quarter as they were outscored just 15-10, but the Eagles led 41-16 at the half.

Trinity actually cut into the lead slightly as they outscored Stratford 12-10 in the third but still trailed 51-28 headed to the fourth.

The final quarter was very lopsided again with mostly the Eagle bench putting up 20 while the Crusaders only managed six again as the final margin ballooned to 71-34.

Frank-Woji led Trinity with 20 while Castro-Poveda added 10.

Frankie Raines led Stratford with 27.  Bobby Wooten added 10.

Girls 

The girls game was back-and-forth throughout as the Lady Crusaders seemed to find their stride offensively.  Trinity scored 15 points in each of the first two quarters.

Unfortunately, the Eaglettes were also solid offensively, as they scored 13 and 17 to keep the score deadlocked, 30-30, at the half.

Stratford was able to build a bit of a lead in the third as Trinity went cold.  The Eaglettes won the quarter 16-10 to take a 46-40 lead into the fourth.

The Lady Crusaders caught fire in the final eight minutes, battling back and taking the lead with under a minute left.  

Unfortunately a turnover with less than 30 seconds remaining gave the Eaglettes the ball back, and they were able to score late to win the game 59-58.

Maddy George led three Lady Crusaders in double figures with 20.  Brinley Vinson had 14 and M.G. Alligood added 13. 

Camiya Hudson led Stratford with 24.  Dalaila Lowe added 18 and Kaliya Walker added 11.

The difference in the game was at the free-throw line.  Trinity was 7-of-11 while Stratford finished 16-of-26.

The Crusaders were set to resume their season at Loganville Christian Friday, with a home debut against George Walton Academy set for Monday night.