The Trenton Lady Bulldogs, for the second time in three weeks, beat the Penney Lady Hornets for a tournament title, with Saturday’s triumph done in impressive style on the Hornets home floor in Hamilton.
Holding Penney’s offense to single digits on the scoreboard until 3 minutes into the third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs won a low-scoring affair, 50-29, in action heard on Hot Country Z 101.7. Playing the best basketball of her young career, freshman forward Maci Moore earned Most Valuable Player honors at the Hamilton Tournament, finishing off her week with a 16 point, 12 rebound performance.
With both teams knowing each other’s game plans well, scoring proved difficult in the first quarter, with a pair of Moore baskets, and a field goal and free throw by Sidney Lynch enough to give Trenton a 7-4 lead. The second quarter was dominated by the third-ranked (MBCA Class 3) Lady Bulldogs, as a 16-5 edge pushed the halftime lead to 23-9. Moore added three more baskets in the second stanza, with Lexi Whitaker hitting a pair of two point-shots, and Salem Croy helping a generally cold-shooting Trenton perimeter attack by swishing a three-point shot from the right wing.
Senior small forward Ashten Whitaker scored all nine of her points in the third quarter as Trenton extended its lead by outscoring the hosts, 17-7. In one of the most positive signs of the season for THS, the Lady Bulldogs were able to dominate with the “Big 3” of Ainsley Tolson, Mykah Hurley, and Croy generally held in check by Penney, with that trio scoring 16 of Trenton’s 50 points. In this contest, defense and team balance proved to be the deciding factors for Trenton.
Sophomore guard Nora Ford led Penney (14-4) with 12 points, including a trio of made three-point shots. Tegan Bruce added six points for the Lady Hornets, all coming in the fourth quarter.
The championship at Hamilton is the second in as many years for Trenton, who ended an 11-year drought at the annual event by winning the 2017 Hamilton Tournament.
Next on the goal chart for Trenton is defending their Grand River Conference championship from a season ago. Tonight (Monday night), the Lady Bulldogs host Polo, needing a victory to clinch the GRC East title, and a Friday night trip to once-beaten, GRC West champion Stanberry in the conference title game. On Tuesday night, THS will host the Lady Midgets of Putnam County High School.
The boys title game at Hamilton, in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, went to the host Penney Hornets, 64-63 over the KCI rival East Buchanan Bulldogs. A shot attempt from East Buchanan sophomore Ethan Kilgore was defended successfully by Hamilton senior LaTroy Harper at the regulation buzzer, giving the Hornets the victory. Harper finished with 24 points and Cale Whitt 17 for Hamilton, while Kilgore had a game-high 30 points for the Bulldogs, with Kolton Griffen adding 14 points.
In the boys third place game, broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, the Trenton Bulldogs, for the second consecutive game, started fast offensively in a closely contested 12 minutes of basketball, but failed to keep up with talented offensive teams from Hamilton and Lathrop, as the Bulldogs fell to the Mules 73-53.
Lathrop, in improving to 14-7 on the season, was led by Blake Gordon with 18 points, with Grant Lewis scoring 17, and Brock Lewis 12 points. Trenton, falling to 9-10, had 16 points from Lathan Croy, while Carson Radcliff had 10.
The Trenton boys will have three GRC games this week, with the Bulldogs still alive in their bid for a second consecutive conference title. On Monday night, the Bulldogs host Polo (101.7 FM), with Putnam County visiting THS on Tuesday night (7:30 PM / 101.7 FM). The “Crossover” game against a GRC West opponent will be Friday night. In order to claim their second consecutive GRC title, Trenton needs to win Monday and Tuesday, and hope for a Gallatin win at Milan on Tuesday. In that scenario, the Bulldogs would travel to either St. Joseph Christian or North Andrew to play in the GRC title game on Friday night. If Milan beats Gallatin on Tuesday night, or Trenton loses either games to Polo and/or Putnam County, the Wildcats get the GRC East crown, and a spot in Friday night’s championship game.
The girls third place game at Penney High School, played early on Saturday afternoon, was won by the East Buchanan Lady Bulldogs, 64-41 over the Braymer Lady Bobcats.
Photo credit – John Cowling (Facebook) / Hamilton, MO
