By Seth Herrold
After two very lopsided victories by Trenton’s high school basketball teams in the opening round of the Gallatin Tournament, against very small schools, I have heard a lot of people asking why the Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs are in that tournament.
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I will admit, it seems a little ridiculous that the Trenton girls are winning their first-round game by 70 points. There are a large number of factors that have led to this point, however, and all are beyond Trenton’s control.
Back in the day, and by that I mean a couple of years ago, the Gallatin Tournament was the perfect way for a team like Trenton to open the season. You started off with a softball matchup with the small HDC schools in the tournament. Your team could get its feet wet and basically end up having a practice in a game-like situation. Then you faced a school of similar size and really got to measure yourself up against a decent opponent. These were the South Harrisons and Gallatins of the tournament. If you won that, then you got to see how you stacked up against a giant in the sport, Hamilton.
In recent years, both South Harrison and Hamilton have left the tournament. Trenton was always the biggest school in the tournament, but with South Harrison and Hamilton there it never felt like it. Now, with Braymer and Maysville replacing those schools, it’s almost glaring.
In addition to the changing landscape, Trenton’s teams have evolved. The basketball programs are on the up and way ahead of where they were just a few short years ago. There is a chance the two teams on the floor for Trenton are the best they have had in the past six or seven years.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the small HDC schools are getting smaller. Their teams are smaller, more freshmen have to play up and you just don’t see a small school team like Newtown had in the late 2000’s and Gilman City had in the early 2000’s. With Trenton getting better and the small schools getting smaller, you end up with 85-15 first-round basketball games.
Between the changing landscape of the tournament and the widening of the gap between the bigger and smaller schools in the tournament, it appears that Trenton is outgrowing the Gallatin Tournament. So why is Trenton still in the tournament? Well, there is my Dad’s philosophy that it’s because we are north Missourians and our favorite saying is “That’s how my dad and grandad did it and it worked for them.” My philosophy is a little different, though. I say Trenton needs to stay in this tournament until they are sweeping the first-place trophies like Hamilton did. Once you do that, then you can move on.
That brings up the issue of where do you go if not the Gallatin Tournament? The state limits the number of tournaments teams can enter, but just because you are allowed a certain number of tournaments, doesn’t mean you have to be in that many. Ideally, if Trenton were to leave the Gallatin Tournament, I would like to see them try to create their own tournament. The school hosts its own wrestling tournament every year and it is a booming success.
The schools I would like to see in this tournament would be something along the line of Hamilton, South Harrison, Carrollton, Brookfield, Marceline, Lawson, LeBlond and Trenton. That would make for a pretty good tournament and there isn’t a school in that bunch that would get beat 85-15. Obviously, some of those schools would probably find themselves having to drop a tournament elsewhere to join Trenton’s tournament. If they did, however, I have some back-up options: Cameron and Kirksville, if you want to go bigger, or Meadville and Tina-Avalon, which usually have traditionally strong teams, if you want to go smaller. Higginsville, Lexington and Maryville would be other options and heck, I would maybe even invite that school just south of Trenton on Highway 65. Basically, any combination of KCI, MRVC-East and smaller MEC teams.
At the end of the day, though, I still feel like Trenton has to sweep the Gallatin Tournament titles before it makes an exit from that tournament. Trenton has a pair of teams that look pretty strong this year, though; maybe a sweep is coming sooner rather than later.