BULLDOGS BACK IN ACTION

The Trenton High School varsity basketball teams saw their first action of the 2013-2014 season Tuesday night. The night was a split for Trenton and the visitors from East Buchanan as the Lady Bulldogs picked up a 47-41 win in the girls game and the Trenton boys fell 52-43 in the boys contest.
Lady Bulldogs
The Trenton girls overcame several obstacles to get to 1-0 on the season. Trenton wasn’t able to find the basket very often in the first half and point guard McKinley Hurley spent a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble. At the break, Trenton trailed the visitors 22-14. With Hurley still sidelined for the majority of the second half, Trenton’s seniors stepped up in a big way.
Madi Trump scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half and Makaila Capeder scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half. Behind the duo Trenton roared back to outscore East Buchanan 33-19 in the second half, earning the six-point win in the process. Trump added seven steals and four rebounds to her 18 points and Capeder finished with eight rebounds and three steals along with her 13 points. Cassidy Cotton finished with six points.
“We got shots that we wanted in the first half and probably only made five,” Lady Bulldogs’ Head Coach Brian Upton said. “We were 4-for-10 from the free-throw line. McKinley being on the bench was an issue, but the real issue was we were not making shots we are capable of making.
“As it got into the third and fourth quarter those girls who have had a lot of playing time really stepped up, especially Madi. She was just kind of relentless. She took the ball to the hole, if they left her open she hit a nice little shot and she made them honor her. Capeder got real active in the second half, especially on the boards. She had a few stick backs and she had a big three-point play at a critical time on a nice back-door cut from Cassidy. So, those three seniors really stepped up and carried the team when we really looked lost.”
Trenton rebounded at the free-throw line in the second half as well, going 17-for-24 after the 4-for-10 start in the first half. Behind the senior trio, Trenton got five points and six rebounds from Ally Ockenfels, two points each from Hurley and Lexie Tolson and one point from Daryain Otto.
With the win, Trenton established a 1-0 record to start the season.
Bulldogs
The Trenton boys struggled to find offense in their first trip out of the season and it cost them in a 52-43 loss. Trenton fell behind 14-7 in the first quarter, but reeled East Buchanan in somewhat in the second quarter and trailed 28-23 at the break. Trenton closed to within four points entering the final frame, but couldn’t find the necessary offense to overtake the visitors. East Buchanan hit its free-throws down the stretch when Trenton was forced to foul and pulled away for the nine-point win.
Trenton held East Buchanan to just five-of-22 shooting from the field in the second half, but the visitors went to the free-throw line 18 times in the half, connecting on 13 of those free throws.
Trenton was led by Chase Tolson and Chris Kurtz in the loss. Tolson had a team-high 18 points and Kurtz finished with 16 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Chris Flowers had four points, two assists and two steals and Wilson Utley had three points and two steals. Trenton also got a point from Chanse Houghton, a point from Colton Neff and four steals from Charlie Hoffman.
“We played hard,” Bulldogs’ Head Coach Jeremy Austin said. “We just didn’t have enough offense. Kurtz and Tolson played well, but we are looking to improve our scoring after that. I thought both teams played great defense and we really rebounded well. I see a lot of positives and a few glaring problems that we will work on and hopefully be ready for a great week next week at Gallatin.”
With the loss, the Trenton boys established an 0-1 start to the season, something they will look to move past next week as they travel to Gallatin for the annual Gallatin Tournament.
Both Trenton squads will return to action next week at the tournament. The Trenton boys, seeded first, will take on eight-seed Gilman City on Monday at 5:45 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs, also seeded first, take on eight-seed Tri-County on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Semifinal action will be played on Thursday. If the Trenton teams take care of business in the first round, the Lady Bulldogs will play at 7 p.m. and the Bulldogs will follow at 8:30.