BASKETBALL: Trinity girls add to streak, flip recent script in rivalry games with Bulloch, JMA

Trinity’s basketball teams played a pair of non-region games over the weekend against Bulloch and John Milledge. The Lady Crusaders ran their win streak to six in a row with Friday’s 54-43 win over Bulloch, and a 56-32 victory over JMA on Saturday. The boys fell behind early, and lost to the Gators 67-49 on Friday. They dropped a 51-50 heartbreaker to the Trojans on Saturday.

Trinity will be back at Milledgeville’s Trojan Center to play its last games of 2024 Friday and Saturday in the Larry Prestridge Christmas Classic. The Crusaders face Loganville Christian to start out the weekend, and finish Saturday with Piedmont. Both sets of games will tip off bright and early at 10 a.m. 

Girls

Trinity has struggled against the Lady Gators in recent years, including several blowout losses, but the Lady Crusaders got some revenge on Friday. 

Both teams started off well offensively as the Lady Gators held a slight lead at 18-14 after one quarter.  

Trinity (7-5 overall) turned up the defensive intensity in the second quarter and held Bulloch to just six. The Lady Crusaders scored 12 of their own to take a 26-24 lead into the locker room.

The game remained close throughout the third quarter with Trinity leading 37-36 headed to the final eight minutes. The Lady Crusaders played a strong final quarter on both ends of the floor and made their free throws down the stretch to pull away for the win. 

Brinley Vinson led the way with 19 points and Maddy George added 18. Maddie Grace Alligood chipped in with 12. Trinity made five 3-pointers in the contest, and went 13 of 15 at the free throw line.

Johnna Nutting and Emme Powell led Bulloch with 11 each.

The Lady Crusaders have also struggled at times with John Milledge in recent years, but they also broke that rivalry trend on Saturday, using a big second half to blow out the Lady Trojans. 

Trinity jumped out 14-7 after one quarter and led 23-15 at the half.  

The Lady Crusaders added to their lead coming out of the locker room, and outscored the home team 16-6 in the third to take a commanding lead, 39-21. 

They would add 17 more in the fourth, allowing just 11 from JMA, to roll to the win. 

Vinson led Trinity again with 21. Alligood had 14 and George added 12.

Boys

Trinity’s boys continued to play well for stretches over the weekend, but still weren’t able to put a complete game together.

Against Bulloch, the Crusaders fell behind 18-2 after the first four minutes before finally settling in, but still trailed 23-12 after one quarter. The second was dead even, and the Gators led 33-22 at the half.

The third quarter was back and forth as well, with Bulloch outscoring Trinity 15-13 to make the score 48-35 headed to the final period.

Despite several openings, with Gators’ top scorer Jackson Sheppard in some foul trouble, turnovers hindered the Crusaders’ chances at climbing back in either quarter of the second half, and Bulloch pulled a little farther ahead in the final eight minutes, winning the quarter 19-14. 

Ben Castro-Poveda led all scorers in the game with 19 for Trinity. Freshman Tripp Mascaro added a career-high 12 in the loss.

Ike Hubbard led four Gators in double digits with 14. Jackson Sheppard and Nathan Newton had 13 each while Keonte Mayner added 12.

Saturday’s contest was highly competitive throughout, and neither team could ever build much separation on the scoreboard.

Trinity held a slight lead of 16-14 after one quarter. The Trojans would outscore the Crusaders 16-10 in quarter 2 to take a 30-26 lead to intermission.

Trinity came out of the locker room with some defensive adjustments and held JMA to just eight in the third period, and scored 14 of their own to regain a slight advantage, 40-38, going to the fourth.

They would hold on to the lead for much of the final quarter; however the Trojans turned up the full-court defensive pressure late the in the game. The Crusaders succumbed with several costly turnovers, and John Milledge scored a series of late buckets to finish with the slight lead. 

Anthony Frank-Woji led the way for Trinity with 19. Will Foskey drilled four 3s on his way to a career-best 16 and Castro-Poveda added 12. The Crusaders played both contests without Asher Evans.

Isaiah Johnson led JMA with 17 and Justin England added 13.