The Trenton High School girls and boys basketball teams stumbled in the first round of the Putnam County Tournament on Tuesday.
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The Trenton High School girls and boys basketball teams stumbled in the first round of the Putnam County Tournament on Tuesday.
A poor start by the Lady Bulldogs proved too much as they fell to Putnam County, 41-37.
Turnovers and poor free throw shooting cost the THS boys as they lost to Scotland County, 42-41.
Trenton Girls
Putnam County exploded out of the gate as the Lady Midgets outscored Trenton in the first quarter, 12-0. The Lady Midgets led 18-0 before Trenton finally connected on its first basket.
?It was 18-0 before we scored a basket,? Head Coach Kris Ockenfels said. ?So we were in an uphill battle all night.?
The Lady Bulldogs finished the half by outscoring Putnam County 10-6, and trailed at halftime, 24-10. The Lady Bulldogs tried to inch closer in the third quarter, outscoring Putnam County, 11-9.
The Lady Bulldogs finally pulled themselves back into the game in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 37-37 with just over a minute to play.
?We tied the game with 1:04 to play on a steal and basket by Krista Gondringer,? Ockenfels said. ?Putnam went ahead, 39-37, with 48 seconds left. We had three shots at tying the game and couldn?t convert.?
Putnam County then hit a pair of free throws to hold off Trenton and win by four points.
Taron Brewer led the way with 10 points for Trenton. Lindsey Lattimore and Gondringer both added eight points.
Cari Brummitt led Putnam County with 12 points. Katie Fowler added 10 points.
?The girls displayed excellent character and heart coming from 18 (points) down,? Ockenfels said. ?Taron had a nice second half offensively and Lindsey played excellent man-to-man defense.?
The Lady Bulldogs fall to 2-3 and will play Schuyler County in the consolation semifinals tonight at 6 o?clock.
Trenton Boys
Like the girls, the Trenton boys suffered a tough loss. The Bulldogs led for all but 6.2 seconds of the game. Scotland County connected on four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, the last of which gave the Tigers a one-point victory.
?We just didn?t get out on their three-point shooters in the fourth quarter,? Head Coach Richard Woods said. ?They hit four in the fourth quarter and one in the first three quarters.?
THS also hurt its cause by turning over the ball 23 times. Trenton also converted only 17-of-45 shots from the floor. Trenton?s struggles did not end there as the Bulldogs also hit only 4-of-15 from the free throw line, including 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter.
?We really hurt ourselves. Holding a team to 42 points should be enough to get you a victory,? Woods said. ?We committed too many turnovers and did not take advantage of our time at the free throw line.?
The Bulldogs led at the end of the first quarter, 9-2. The Bulldogs led by as many as 16 points before Scotland went on a 5-0 run to end the half with Trenton leading, 18-10.
?We really didn?t come ready to play,? Woods said. ?Defensively, we played well enough to win. Offensively, we really struggled.?
Scotland County trailed in the third quarter, 29-22, but outscored Trenton in the fourth quarter, 20-12.
Trey Held led Trenton with 14 points. Cary Sager chipped in with a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs fall to 2-3 overall. THS will play Milan tonight at 7:30 in consolation semifinals.