The Trenton Bulldogs opened the basketball seasons, and the THS coaching careers of Kameron Cool and Corbin Coe, on Friday night, traveling to Gower, Missouri for a varsity doubleheader with the East Buchanan Bulldogs. In action broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, the host Bulldogs beat Trenton in both ends of the season-opening contests.
The girls game went to East Buchanan 49-46, with the inside power game of 6’1′ freshman Gracie Kelsey much of the difficulty for Trenton’s defense. Kelsey gashed Trenton for 27 points, including 16 in the opening half. Foul trouble throughout the contest would short-circuit the visitors chances of getting a victory, as senior Lexi Whitaker and junior Maci Moore both fouled out in the fourth quarter, and foul trouble throughout the contest kept that duo either on the bench, or hesitant, wary of committing a game-changing foul.
Moore scored a team-high 25 points for Trenton High School, a squad coming off a third-place finish in Class 3 in the 2019 Show-Me Showdown, but also attempting to re-invigorate its graduation-hit program under first-year coach Kameron Cool. McKayla Blackburn had eight points and Whitaker six for Trenton.
Addisyn Ishmael had seven points and Erin McPike six for East Buchanan.
The Trenton boys varsity program has plenty of new faces for 2019-2020, including first-year Coach Corbin Coe, who took the opening created by the departure of Jeremy Austin to Scotland County last spring, moving to Trenton from his former job at King City.
The combination of Trenton’s inexperience with East Buchanan’s size, talent, and experience proved to be a difficult one for THS, as University of Idaho commit Ethan Kilgore, a 6’5″ senior forward, led EBHS with 26 points, part of a 71-28 pasting of Trenton by the KCI Conference’s preseason favorite. Owen Fortney had 16 points for East Buchanan, while Chase Otto had eight points to lead Trenton.
Both Trenton varsity teams are now idle until opening night of the Gallatin Tournament, with the Lady Bulldogs playing Gilman City (4:30 PM) and the Bulldog boys playing Hardin-Central (5:45 PM) on Monday, December 2nd.
