Trenton’s 20-Point Win Gives Bulldogs Third Straight Title
R-T Photo/Angela Dugan
The Trenton High School girls basketball team won the Gallatin Tournament championship on Saturday with a 54-34 win over Gallatin. It was Trenton’s third-straight championship in the tournament and fifth title in the past six years. Members of the team inlcuded, from left, front row, Lexi Whitaker, Mykah Hurley, Ainsley Tolson, Ashten Whitaker, Haley Kidd, Allena Allen, McKayla Blackburn; back row, Assistant Coach John Cowling, Taylor Richman, Kendall Crowley, Sidney Lynch, Maci Moore, Saedee Jackson, Salem Croy, Olivia Roberts and Head Coach Brian Upton.
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The Trenton High School girls basketball team went toe-to-toe with the best the Gallatin Tournament had to offer on Saturday afternoon. Through four games now, the Bulldogs have yet to find an equal on the basketball court.
Trenton punished a game Gallatin squad in the second and fourth quarters of the girls’ championship game, winning its third consecutive Gallatin Tournament title and fifth in six years by a 20-point margin, 54-34.
“It was a normal, tough, grind-it-out game with Gallatin,” Trenton Head Coach Brian Upton said.
Through the first quarter, that certainly appeared to be the case.
Trenton struggled to get its offense up and running, but on the defensive end of the floor the Bulldogs suffocated Gallatin. After eight minutes, Trenton led just 7-6. In the second quarter Trenton took off offensively, but Gallatin still found points hard to scratch out against the Bulldogs’ defense. By halftime, Trenton’s lead had grown to 23-11.
Gallatin mounted a charge in the third quarter, cutting the Trenton lead to single digits, but the Bulldogs closed out the title with an exclamation point, outscoring the host school 22-13 over the final eight minutes.
R-T Photo/Angela Dugan
Sidney Lynch looks to pass during Trenton’s 54-34 championship victory in the Gallatin Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Lynch had five points, nine rebounds and two assists in the championship and was named to the all-tournament team alongside tournament MVP Ainsley Tolson and Mykah Hurley.
“Defensively, we were real good in the first half,” Upton said. “Gallatin adjusted and played better in the second half. We struggled some in the third quarter, but really finished strong in the fourth.”
Ainsley Tolson would be the tournament’s MVP, scoring 20 points in the championship tilt, needing just nine shots from the field to reach that total. She was six-of-nine from the floor including going three-of-five from three-point range and knocked down five of six free throw attempts she earned. In addition to the point total, Tolson garnered three assists and a pair of steals.
“Ainsley had a great game,” Upton said. “She hit two big three’s on back-to-back possessions on key assists from Ashten Whitaker and Sidney Lynch. That forced Gallatin to press us to try and get back into the game and we exploited their press for some easy buckets.”
Behind Tolson was Mykah Hurley, who was selected to the all-tournament team as well and finished with 10 points, two assists and two steals. Salem Croy had eight points and Lynch, Trenton’s third and final selection to the all-tournament team, went for five points, nine rebounds and two assists.
The Bulldogs would get five points and two blocked shots from Maci Moore, four points and two assists from Ashten Whitaker, and two points and three assists from Lexi Whitaker.
While the game was closer than the final score, according to Upton, the end result was a 20-point win. Trenton defeated all three teams it faced in the tournament by 20 or more points, dominating its way to another championship and keeping up the Bulldogs iron-clad grip on the Gallatin Tournament.
The win also pushed Trenton to 4-0 on the season. The Bulldogs will see their toughest tests to date this week, however, as they play host to Marceline and Chillicothe. Trenton will host the Tigers on Tuesday and Chillicothe on Thursday. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts.
