Trenton Girls Defense Shines, But Bulldogs Fall

Offense Missing In Regular-Season Closing Game

Entering district play, the Trenton High School girls basketball team will hang its hat on its defense. Defense, after all, is Trenton’s strong suit.
That was evident on Friday when the Bulldogs closed out the regular season against the Hamilton Hornets in Trenton. Though the end result was a 34-26 loss, Trenton displayed a defense capable of carrying it through some tough moments that may lay ahead.
“If we can defend like that, we will be tough to beat at districts,” Trenton coach Kameron Cool said.
Trenton had a right to be pleased with itself in spite of the defeat. Hamilton was a team entering the contest with an 18-4 overall mark on the season. In the two teams’ lone previous match-up, Hamilton defeated Trenton 64-51 for the Lawson Tournament championship. By drastically cutting the score from that loss, Trenton gave itself a shot.
Twice in the fourth quarter Trenton possessed the basketball with a chance to tie the contest, trailing by just three points. Hamilton, after jumping out to a 16-9 first quarter lead, never tallied double-digits in a single quarter again. The Hornets were limited to three points in the second quarter, nine in the third and six in the fourth.
“Last time (we played Hamilton) they scored 64 on us, so we really wanted to focus on the defensive end of the floor – which we did,” Cool said. “I’m really proud of our girls’ effort. I think (Hamilton) also scored 16 in the first quarter and we held them to 18 the rest of the game. So I was proud of our effort defensively; just offensively we could never get it going.”
Offensively, Trenton did not have enough. Only three players scored in the contest for the Bulldogs. With opportunities to tie or draw within a single possession in the fourth quarter Trenton continually came up empty. As a result, Trenton was forced to foul and the Hornets stretched the final margin to eight points.
“I don’t feel like we sprinted through our cuts as hard as we normally should,” Cool said. “Shots didn’t go in, but ultimately that is a really good Hamilton team who can guard really well.”
Maci Moore had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Lexi Whitaker followed with nine points, three assists and three steals and McKayla Blackburn added three points to round out Trenton’s total.
With the loss, Trenton dropped to 13-11 overall on the season.
The Bulldogs are the two seed at this week’s Class 3, District 14 Tournament in Chillicothe. Trenton opened play in the tournament on Monday night, facing seventh-seeded Richmond in the opening round.