QCIBT Roundup: Trinity boys basketball holds off Manchester Central (videos)
MANCHESTER – The Trinity High School boys basketball team is still putting together the pieces for this season.
Despite that, the Pioneers are finding ways to compete and ways to win.
In Tuesday’s opening day of the Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament, it was the veterans who led the way, as Tyler Bike and DeVohn Ellis combined for 36 points as Trinity held off Manchester Central 61-51 at Manchester Memorial High School.
Bike had a game-high 19 points and Ellis added 17 points and the Pioneers defense did enough at times to keep the Little Green at bay. After the teams went back and forth for most of the first half, Trinity held Central scoreless for the final 4:30 of the half, going on a 7-0 run to lead 29-23 at the break.
“We’re still trying to figure it out and we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Trinity coach Keith Bike said. “We’re not where we want to be. As a coach, I still don’t know what five guys I want out there at once and what five guys go together. We’re still trying to figure it out.
“This is the month (to work on it). Guys still need to know the plays. Guys still have to trust each other. We came out, got the W, and luckily they were off (Tuesday). They’re a better team than that.”
Central got 24 points from Mark Nyomah while Jason Gasana was also in double figures with 10 points, but the Little Green were just 12 of 27 at the free throw line and made just one 3-pointer in the second half.
“I thought the guys played hard,” Central coach Sudi Lett said. “They’re doing their best. We returned one person from varsity from last year, one starter, so we pretty much brought the whole JV team up. Considering all of that, I think they did OK.”
Trinity looked like it had the game wrapped up when a transition dunk by Jaiden Summers gave the Pioneers a 48-31 lead with 6:44 to play, but the Little Green were able to climb back into it, getting within six points, 56-50, in the final minute.
Central looked like it got the lead down to five on a basket by Gasana with 20.5 seconds left, but it was waved off after Nyomah was called for offensive goaltending.
Trinity got a basket at the other end from Connor Bishop to go up 59-50 and the Pioneers closed out the game from there.
“It all comes down to us, not what other teams do,” Keith Bike said. “How we perform is the most important thing, and if we take care of ourselves, we’ll be all right. Let the other teams worry about us and we’re still searching for the us.”
Trinity will play Manchester West in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, while Bedford and Salem will play in the other semifinal at 6 p.m. Bow and Exeter will start the day at 3 p.m. and Central and Manchester Memorial will face off at 4:30 p.m. All games are at Manchester Memorial High School.
Bedford 76, Exeter 54
The Bulldogs used its press to go on a 14-2 run late in the first quarter and early in the second to take control of the game and never looked back against the Blue Hawks.
Exeter had 14 turnovers in the first half, as Bedford took a 42-21 lead into the break.
“We got to the rim really well in transition,” Bedford coach Frank Moreno said. “I don’t know if they didn’t expect us to come out and press them, but the press was working well early. That kind of gets us going and gives us some momentum.”
Luke Soden led the Bulldogs with 23 points, including three 3-pointers, while Aiden O’Connell had 17 points and Nikolas Badoian was also in double figures with 10 points. Bedford was 15 of 17 at the free throw line, with Caden Brown chipping with eight points and Brady O’Connell had seven.
Ryan Luper had 11 points, with three 3s, to lead Exeter while Nate McNeff added nine points and Evan Pafford had eight. The Blue Hawks trailed 71-41 with 5:14 remaining before finishing the game on a 13-5 run to close the gap.
Manchester West 81, Manchester Memorial 58
Max Shosha and Aiden Scott Beaulac each scored 22 points, as the Blue Knights outscored the Crusaders 48-25 in the second half after going into halftime tied at 33.
Scott Beaulac hit two 3-pointers and was 8 of 10 at the free throw line and Shosha also had two 3s, while Angel Castro had 17 points, going 9 of 11 at the line. West was 24 of 30 as a team while Memorial was just 4 of 8 on free throws.
Abdalha Ramadhani led the Crusaders with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, but no one else was in double figures. Treyhaun Dunn and Jok Akol each had six points.
Salem 80, Bow 75 (OT)
The Blue Devils ended the game with a 9-0 run in overtime to get the win over the Falcons in the first game of the day.
Philip Melo led Salem with 30 points, going 8 of 8 at the free throw line, all in the fourth quarter and overtime. Ryan Morse added 22 points, including four 3-pointers, and Brock James also had four 3s and finished with 14 points; as a team, the Blue Devils hit 10 3-pointers and were 12 of 19 at the line.
Bow got 23 points from Hunter Duncan, as he hit four 3s and was 5 of 7 from the foul line. Jake Reardon added 22 points, including 6 of 7 at the line, and Mark Folsom was also in double figures with 10 points.
