THESE DOGS’ NIGHT

Trenton Sweeps South Harrison In GRC Battle

Friday night in Trenton it was a battle of Bulldogs as the Black and Gold played host to South Harrison. This night belonged to the home Bulldogs as Trenton swept the Grand River Conference doubleheader, taking the girls contest 71-20 and the boys game 53-46.
TRENTON GIRLS
The Trenton girls continued to outright hammer their conference competition. Trenton opened the game on a 16-0 run and would lead South Harrison 22-4 after the initial frame. A buzzer-beating layup at the end of the first half didn’t do much for South Harrison as it only closed the gap to 41-12.
In the third quarter, Ainsley Tolson scored on a layup with 4:52 left in the frame. The inconspicuous layup, however, pushed Trenton’s five senior players to a combined 3,000 career points.
“I don’t think that happens a lot and we don’t really think about it,” senior Salem Croy said. “We’ve all been best friends since we were little, so I think when we get out there we just play so well together because we have been out there together for so long. I had no idea that it was our 3,000th point, but that’s awesome. It’s kind of shocking because you never think you will get there, but I guess we hit it.”
Trenton had no trouble closing out the win on this night and the game finished with the five seniors seated next to one another on the bench watching the younger players tie a bow on the victory.
“Obviously those girls have been a huge part of (the program),” Trenton Head Coach Brian Upton said. “A couple of them started during their freshman year and a couple of them moved up as the season went along. They really came on the scene during their sophomore year and they made a lot of things happen that year. It’s carried over and that’s a pretty incredible stat. That’s a lot of points for one class. It’s special and it’s going to be a lot different when that class graduates.”
Tolson led Trenton with 24 points, eight assists and five steals. Maci Moore had 10 points and three steals and McKayla Blackburn added 10 points as well. Croy followed with eight points and four steals, Lexi Whitaker had seven points and four steals, Mykah Hurley had six points and five steals, Chandler Lynch had four points and four steals and Sidney Lynch had two points and eight rebounds.
With the victory, Trenton improved to 8-0 overall and 2-0 within GRC play.
TRENTON BOYS
When Trenton took the court for the boys game it didn’t look promising for the home Bulldogs. Jaren Whitney and Max McNabb, both starters and key players for Trenton, made their way across the floor to the bench on crutches.
For Whitney, it was the third-straight game missed due to an ankle injury suffered in Marceline. McNabb, meanwhile, was missing his first game after an ankle injury of his own suffered in practice earlier in the week.
Despite being down the two starters, Trenton responded with a gritty effort, taking a 19-15 lead in the opening frame and holding off South Harrison through three tense quarters to get the win. Dylan Harris stepped up big in McNabb and Whitney’s absence, leading Trenton with 28 points.
“It was a huge loss having these guys sitting out,” Trenton Head Coach Jeremy Austin said. “We will just be elated when they finally have a chance to come back out and play for us. But, in the short run, I thought we had a lot of guys step up and play bigger games. Leading that charge was Dylan. He played a great game and had he not got into foul trouble there in the first half, who knows what those numbers could have been. He played very under control, passed the ball well and shot the ball incredibly well. He played as well as I have seen him play for a full game.”
Behind Harris, Trenton go 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals from Dalton Burchett. Isaac Harris added four points, six rebounds and seven assists and Chase Otto had four points as well. Carson Radcliff had three points and Carson Burchett and Royce Jackson each scored two points with Burchett adding two blocked shots.
With the win, the Trenton boys improved to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in GRC play. Both Trenton teams will be home again on Tuesday playing host to Gallatin in another Grand River Conference doubleheader. Action tips off at 6 p.m. with the girls game and the boys will follow.