The Trenton Bulldogs, by virtue of Tuesday night’s victory over the Putnam County Midgets, and a win by the GRC East champion Milan Wildcats over Gallatin, have locked up the #2 seed in the GRC East for Friday night’s “crossover game”, guaranteeing themselves a trip to play one of the best “small-school” boys basketball teams in northwest Missouri, although the opponent remains unknown.
In a see-saw affair from the THS gym, Trenton lost a 36-27 halftime lead in the midst of a 20-7 Midget uprising in the third quarter, but Trenton turned the tables on the Unionville visitors in the final quarter, as Carson Radcliff and Max McNabb scored a combined 19 points to surge the Bulldogs to a 69-63 win, heard on Hot Country Z 101.7.
Radcliff led THS with a game-high 20 points, while McNabb, quickly becoming an interior force both defensively and offensively for the Bulldogs, adding 14. Lathan Croy, coming off a 21 point, 7 three-pointer night just 24 hours earlier, added three more three-point shots in a 13 point effort for Trenton. The Bulldogs, with the win, improve to 11-10 overall, and 5-2 in the Grand River Conference.
Putnam County falls to 12-9 overall and 4-3 in the GRC East, with Levi Fowler pacing the Midgets with 18 points. Carson Quint added 14 and Evan Harlan 13.
Trenton’s Friday night opponent will be either St. Joseph Christian or Stanberry. Tonight (Wednesday night), St. Joseph Christian’s boys finish GRC Western Division play with a road game at Braymer. A Lion triumph would send THS to St. Joseph on Friday night, with a Bobcat victory sending Trenton to Stanberry.
The Trenton girls are already locked into a Stanberry trip on Friday night, in a showdown of one-loss, state-ranked teams battling for the GRC title for the second year in a row. The Lady Bulldogs hammered Putnam County on Tuesday night, 70-29, improving to 20-1 on the season, and a perfect 7-0 in GRC East play. Thirteen girls played for Trenton, with ten in the scoring column, led by Ainsley Tolson with 18 points. Both Maci Moore and Sidney Lynch had 10 points, as Trenton was able to continue developing depth that should be a huge factor in a potential playoff run in a few weeks. Mykah Hurley had eight points and Ashten Whitaker seven for THS.
Putnam County, falling to 5-15 overall and 2-5 in GRC East play, had eight points from Sydney Tomlin, with Jade Durfey and Jaylee Knowles both tallying seven.
The Trenton at Stanberry GRC girls championship game will be played on Friday night at 6. If the Trenton boys also play at Stanberry, the doubleheader will be broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7. If the Trenton boys travel to St. Joseph Christian, the Trenton girls championship game will be aired on KTTN FM 92.3, followed by the Milan boys title game at North Andrew at 7:30.
