Two strong defensive efforts kept the Trenton High School boys and girls basketball teams close as they hosted Savannah on Tuesday night.
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Two strong defensive efforts kept the Trenton High School boys and girls basketball teams close as they hosted Savannah on Tuesday night.
The boys held the Savages to only nine points in the second half as they won, 34-31. The Lady Bulldogs were not able to overcome a dismal first half as they lost, 57-47.
Bulldogs
After swapping the lead four times in the opening quarter and twice in the second quarter, the Trenton Bulldogs trailed Savannah at halftime, 22-16
?We rely very heavily on our defense,? Head Coach Richard Woods said. ?What we want to do is limit the number of possessions in a ballgame. Early on we were taking some quick shots, but we stayed with our plan and it worked out.?
Trenton outscored the Savages in the third quarter, 7-6. The Bulldogs began edging their way back using a match-up zone that helped limit Savannah to one shot a possession.
?Our zone was very effective. It kept them off-balance and forced them to be very patient on offense,? Woods said. ?Our kids did a great job on the defensive glass. We finished the game with 21 defensive rebounds.?
Trenton outscored Savannah in the fourth quarter, 11-3, thanks in large part to excellent free throw shooting. Trenton was six of seven in the fourth quarter. Senior Trey Held went five-for-five in the final period, including Trenton?s final four points, which gave the Bulldogs the final margin of victory.
?Trey has been playing with a lot of confidence lately,? Woods said. ?He really came up big when we needed him. He scored seven of our 11 points in the fourth quarter.
David Sager also had an outstanding game,? Woods said.
?David?s good early shooting kept us with in sight of Savannah in the first half,? Woods said.
Held finished the game with 13 points, two assists and four rebounds. David Sager finished with 6 points and four rebounds. Carey Sager wrapped up his night with seven points, five rebounds and two steals.
The Bulldogs improve to 6-4 overall and will host Macon on Monday night.
Lady Bulldogs
Poor shooting again was the Lady Bulldogs? undoing as Trenton could not find a way to string together points in the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs forced the Lady Savages into eight first half turnovers, but could not convert those turnovers into points.
?Savannah played more physical than we did in the first half, especially in the paint,? Head Coach Kris Ockenfels said. ?We did a much better job in the second half, but we were in too big of a hole.?
The Lady Bulldogs trailed Savannah at the end of the first quarter, 14-6, then found themselves down by as many as 18 points in the second period before going into halftime trailing, 28-12.
A more aggressive Lady Bulldog team cut the lead to single digits twice in the second half. The Lady Bulldogs cut the lead to seven points midway through the third quarter, only to come up empty on two straight possessions, and headed into the fourth quarter trailing, 41-26.
?The girls fought hard until the very end,? Ockenfels said. ?We cut the lead to singles digits with about two and one-half minutes to play.?
Sparked by their defense, the Lady Bulldogs went on an 8-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Aided by a pair of three-pointers from senior Lindsey Lattimore, the Lady Bulldogs cut the led to only seven points with just over two minutes to play. THS would not be able to pull any closer, losing by 10 points.
Krista Gondringer led Trenton with 13 points. Lattimore also chipped in 12 points.
The Lady Bulldogs fall to 6-4 while the Lady Savages run their record to 9-1.
?An overall good effort by our group against a very good Savannah team,? Ockenfels said.
The Lady Bulldogs will host Macon on Monday night in the THS gym.