HOOPS ROUNDUP: Trinity girls take first (of many) with CFCA; East Laurens, West Laurens rally for road wins

The Trinity Crusaders continued region action over the past week with matchups Friday at Brentwood and then Central Fellowship Tuesday back at home. 

The girls fell to the top-ranked Lady Eagles 65-43, but rebounded to defeat CFCA 64-56. The boys did not fare as well, as they fell 64-33 to the then-unbeaten Eagles (East Laurens would hand them their first loss the following Tuesday) and lost to the Lancers, 74-57.

The Lady Crusaders (13-7 overall) fell behind early Friday and could never make up the deficit as they dug a 17-6 hole after a quarter. The margin remained 11 at the half, 31-20.

Brentwood pulled away even further in the third by outscoring Trinity 20-13 for a 51-33 lead, and rolled to the win. 

Bailey Barron led three Lady Eagles in double digits with 25. Cadence English had 15 and Callie Jones added 10. Brinley Vinson led Trinity with 22.  

The Lady Crusaders made 18 field goals in the contest, while Brentwood made only 17. But the Lady Eagles made a living at the foul line, especially in the first half, going 16 of 24 in the contest while Trinity was just 4-for-4. 

The game against Central Fellowship (likely the first of at least three and potentially four possible meetings this year) was a rematch of last season’s state championship game, which the Lady Lancers won in a close battle. This one was much of the same. 

CFCA broke a 12-12 tie to outscore Trinity 11-7 in the second, and take a slight halftime lead.

The offense for both teams improved after intermission as the Lady Crusaders scored 18 in the third to nearly match their first-half total. But CFCA had 20 in the quarter to extend its lead to 43-37 going to the fourth.

Trinity exploded for 27 in the final eight minutes, and tightened down their full-court pressure to hold the Lady Lancers to 13. 

A Central Fellowship 3-pointer with about three minutes to go tied the score back at 53-53, after the Lady Crusaders had completed a run to pull in front by five. 

But Trinity continued to cash in on the offensive end as Chloe Rozier, Addie Kendrick, Vinson and Maddie Grace Alligood combined for the baskets that put the game away. 

Maddy George led Trinity with 22 points. Vinson added 14, and Rozier ended with 12.

Morgan Riley led all scorers with 25 for CFCA.

The Crusader boys were dealt a severe blow in the days leading up to the Brentwood game when they learned that second leading scorer Jamarion Ricks would no longer be with the team.

The shorthanded squad – with reserve guard Jude Evans also out indefinitely with an injury – was no match for the top-ranked and undefeated Eagles. Brentwood jumped out to a 23-11 first quarter lead and never looked back.

Trinity trailed 39-18 at the half and the deficit ballooned to 60-29 after three periods. The fourth quarter was just six minutes due to the mercy rule, and both teams scored four points each. 

Jagger George led Trinity with 12.

The trio of Tristan Robinson, Zyion Andrews and Baylor Cobb combined to score for 60 for Brentwood with 23, 20 and 17 respectively.

The Crusaders (8-11 overall) had a much better performance early on Friday, trailing only 15-11 after one quarter as their defense initially kept the Lancers’ skyscraping front line from imposing its will inside. 

A Hayden Bowles 3 had Trinity behind only 15-11 late in the first quarter, and triples from Kolbi Grooms and Carter Lee kept it a competitive game early in the second. 

But eventually the size, speed and depth of CFCA took control of the game. The Lancers outscored Trinity 20-15 in the second and 22-14 in the third to take a solid 57-40 lead.

The Crusaders were able to match the Lancers’ pace in the fourth with 17, but could never get closer. 

George led the way again with 23, and Will Foskey added 13. Shaheem Barbosa led four CFCA scorers in double digits with 21. Josh Sanders finished with 18, while Sirron Chambers and Abram Austin added 12 each.

West Laurens girls 43, Aquinas 25

Brooklyn Jackson came to the verge of a personal milestone with 16 points (to run her career total to 999), joining Maddie Ridgway (12) and Ja’Halee Snead (10) in double digits as the Lady Raiders (9-8, 7-5 region 4-AAA) brought their fourth-straight win home from Augusta. 

West Laurens led by five at the half, then re-started on a 13-0 run while holding Aquinas to just a free throw as its lead exploded in the third quarter. 

West Laurens boys 43, Aquinas 39

The Raiders held a steady lead from the second quarter on, but had to fight off a late surge by the Fightin’ Irish, who crept within two with about three minutes left, then tied the game on the front end of an and-one opportunity by Aiden Newman with 1:29 to go. 

But he missed the go-ahead free throw, and West Laurens answered immediately as Ezekiel Floyd hit a mid-range jumper, then a handful of stops and free throws in the final minute closed it out. 

Dublin girls 66, Dodge Co. 52

Khalil Maddox led scorers with 21 points, and Keasia Jackson posted a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double to help the Lady Irish (8-8, 3-4 region 2-High A) make it back-to-back road wins, in the continuation of their strong play from Saturday’s 59-28 win at Johnson County. 

They impressively overpowered a strong Dodge County front court with four blocked shots and 34 rebounds, turning the tide of the game after a slow start to outscore the Squaws in every quarter. 

Jordan Renfroe and Rainna Wyatt added 15 and 10 points respectively. 

Dodge Co. 67, Dublin boys 52

The Irish (3-12, 0-7 region) overcame a tough first half to outscore Dodge 17-11 in the third quarter, making up a solid chunk of their 12-point halftime gap. 

But the Indians, led by the 26-point effort of Kyler Johnson and three others (Galvin Hilburn, Jerimiah Burns and Jayden Stephens with between 10-11 each) who added double digits, outran them 25-16 in the fourth to put the game away. 

East Laurens girls 46, Brentwood 45

The Lady Falcons (14-3, 6-1 region 2-High A) scored four points in the game’s last 16 seconds to snatch their fifth-straight victory from the jaws of defeat. 

Brentwood’s Cadence English sunk a pair of free throws, then knocked down a contested bank shot to put the Lady Eagles up 45-42 early in the final minute. Zahmaria Robinson drew a foul on a made basket to cut the deficit to one, but missed her tying free throw, only for Deanna Lowther to swoop in down the left lane line for an offensive rebound and go-ahead putback. 

Brentwood lost control of possession before a chance to get up a shot on its return possession as time expired. 

Lowther and Bing co-led the scoring with 14 points apiece. Lowther doubled up in rebounds, with a team-high 22, while Garyunna Mitchell added 15.

East Laurens boys 85, Brentwood 59

The Falcons (14-3, 6-1 region) also returned the favor from December’s loss to the Eagles, but this time to hand them their first loss in 17 games this season. 

A series of massive runs in the second quarter to take a single-digit lead to 22 at the half, and more than double Brentwood’s point total in a 43-21 count at the break, put gave East a commanding upper hand that it wouldn’t yield at any point from there.

Major Floyd (25 points), Skyler Snead (15), Jeremiah Rozier (12) and Zion Dixon (10) all reached double-figures for the Falcons.