BASKETBALL: Trinity splits with Brentwood to close regular season; Both teams get berth in region semis

The Trinity hoops teams completed their regular season Friday against Brentwood in front of a packed house.  

The girls fell way behind early against the No. 1 team in GIAA’s class AA, but stormed back for a 61-54 win. The boys could not complete the same feat as they fell to Eagles 74-50.

When the Lady Crusaders and Lady Eagles met in Sandersville a couple of weeks ago, Trinity was beaten soundly. That looked like it may happen again early on in this one.

The Lady Crusaders struggled with Brentwood’s pressure early on and couldn’t buy a basket as they fell behind 20-5 after one quarter.

They were able to right the ship in a big way in the second quarter on both ends of the court. 

Offensively, they exploded for 24 points, and defensively, they held Brentwood to just four as they took a 29-24 lead at the half.

The third quarter was fairly evenly matched, and Trinity still held a slight lead at 42-40 at the end.

The fourth saw Brentwood tie the game on a couple of occasions, and even take another brief lead at one point.  

But a barrage of 3-pointers would eventually propel Trinity to the big win.  

M.G. Alligood drained the first one to put Trinity on top for good.  A few possessions later, Chloe Rozier knocked down a triple following an offensive rebound to extend the lead. Brinley Vinson would provide the dagger with a huge 3 at the end of the shot clock, and Trinity would hold onto its seven-point lead. 

Vinson and Maddy George scored 18 each to lead the way and Rozier added 15. Trinity hit nine 3-pointers in the contest.

Cadence English paced Brentwood with 18. Bailey Barron had 14 and Kaylee Rizner added 11.

Between games, the teams celebrated senior night. Alligood, Rozier, Vinson and Addie Kendrick were all honored for the girls, while Will Foskey, Hayden Bowles, Kolbi Grooms, Carter Lee and Alston Bryan were recognized for the boys.

The Crusaders were hoping the excitement in the building would help them get off to a fast start against the much more athletic Eagle squad.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as Trinity came out of the gate cold and fell behind 22-8 after a quarter. 

The Crusaders finally got some momentum going in the second, as a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays from Jagger George followed by 3-balls from Lee and Bowles got the deficit all the way down to six.

The turning point in the game came with around three minutes left in the period, after Foskey was called for a questionable foul that resulted in a Brentwood 3-point play.  

It was not the first controversial call of the night, and tempers flared, resulting in a technical foul.  After all the free throws were made, the Eagles drained a 3 on the ensuing possession to push an eight-point advantage back up to 16.  

Jones Sheppard would hit another 3 at the buzzer to make the halftime score 42-24.

Trinity went cold from outside again in the third as they managed just 10. The Eagles scored 17 to extend their lead to 59-34 headed to the fourth.

The Crusaders finally outscored the Eagles in the fourth 16-15, but it was too little, too late. 

George led all scorers with 19, and Foskey added 13.

Zylon Andrews had 18, Baylor Cobb 17, Jaelen Johnson 14, Tristan Robinson 12 and Sheppard 11 as all five Eagle starters reached double digits.

At halftime of the boys’ contest, Trinity honored all the 1,000-point scorers in school history. There are 18 girls and 17 boys who have accomplished the feat, and nearly 20 were in attendance for the recognition.

Brentwood will play host to this week’s region 2-AA tournament, and the Crusaders’ opening games will come back-to-back in the semifinal round Thursday afternoon, as both their teams avoided the do-or-die play-in game Tuesday night. 

The girls (seeded second) will play Gatewood at 3 p.m., and the boys (from the No. 3 draw) take on Central Fellowship at 4:30. 

Full brackets, courtesy of Trinity athletic director Bruce Lane, are below…