Fourth-quarter free throws lead Trenton to Hamilton Tournament title, 43-28 over South Harrison

The Trenton Lady Bulldogs and South Harrison Lady Bulldogs met for the first of two games in five nights, with the #6 seeds out of Bethany fighting hard, but running out of steam late, in a 43-28 THS victory that moves the 7th-ranked Lady Bulldogs (MBCA Class 3) to 17-2 on the season.

South Harrison played stifling defense to frustrate a Trenton squad playing without starting small forward Salem Croy, who spent the game in street clothes, the result of a sprained ankle suffered in a semifinal win 48 hours earlier.  The teams played a low-scoring back-and-forth game for three quarters, with the squads tied at 23 through 24 minutes of action.

In the fourth quarter, South Harrison got in foul trouble, putting Trenton in the bonus, where the #1 seed, and in particular, sophomore guard Ainsley Tolson, made the Bethany squad pay for its excess fouls, as Tolson hit 10-of-10 fourth quarter free throws, part of an 18 point night, to surge THS to the win.  Whitley Richman grabbed 15 rebounds for Trenton and finished with nine points, while Mykah Hurley added nine.

South Harrison, looking to beat the top-3 seeds in the Hamilton Tournament, came up one win short, but completed one of their best weeks of the season with wins over Lathrop and Gallatin, and an overall record of 11-8.  Katey Wilhelm had 12 points and Neiley Karns 10 for SHHS, however all of Karns points came in the first quarter.  Ainsley Tolson of Trenton was named the tournament’s MVP.

Both South Harrison and Trenton have three-game weeks in conference play approaching, with Trenton at Putnam County on Tuesday night (on KTTN FM 92.3), while South Harrison hosts Polo.  Trenton hosts South Harrison in a girls/boys doubleheader on Wednesday night, with ‘cross-over’ games against the GRC West scheduled in both Trenton and Bethany on Friday night.

The Trenton boys showed continued strong effort in Saturday night’s championship game against Hamilton, but a six-foot bank shot by LaTroy Harper gave the host Hornets the lead with 45 seconds to play.  A controversial ‘non-call’ on a Trenton lay-up attempt, which the referees ruled was blocked by Penney with 20 seconds to go, tipped the scales to PHS, in a 59-54 final inside the Penney High School gymnasium.  

After trailing for most of the first 29 minutes of play, Trenton took the lead with three minutes remaining on a three-point shot by Lathan Croy.  The teams fought back-and-forth for the remainder of the game, with the Harper shot, made on a quickly-thrown in-bounds pass from the Hornet baseline, proving to be the decisive score.

Harper, the dynamic multi-sport star from Hamilton, led the Hornets with 20 points, while Cale Whitt may have had the most important night for either side, providing 18 points to give the hosts good scoring balance in the game.  Jaran Richman was held to nine points by the Bulldog defense.

Trenton Coach Jeremy Austin spoke about his team’s effort after the contest:

On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs travel to Unionville to play the Putnam County Midgets, where high-scoring forward Calvin Heidenwith will test the Trenton defense.  Austin spoke about the similarities in trying to slow Harper one night, and Heidenwith 72 hours later:

Connor Cotton led Trenton in the Hamilton title tilt with 15 points, with Corbyn Guile adding 12, Spencer Harris 12, and Lathan Croy nine. For Trenton’s boys, focus went quickly to the trip to Putnam County, where the winner of Tuesday night’s game will clinch the Grand River Conference’s eastern division championship, and earn the right to host the GRC West champion in the first-ever GRC championship game on Friday night at 7:30. The Penney boys are now 14-3 on the season, with Trenton dropping to 15-6.

The Hamilton Tournament’s third place boys winner was Lathrop, as the Mules rolled past the Braymer Bobcats, 79-55.  The East Buchanan Lady Bulldogs won third place over the Gallatin Lady Bulldogs, 61-58.

The East Buchanan boys won the consolation final at Hamilton, 60-45 over South Harrison on Friday night, while the Lathrop Lady Mules won fifth place honors, clipping Hamilton 33-32.

The championship games of the Milan Tournament, postponed two weeks due to the icy weather from January 14th, were won on Saturday night by the Green City Lady Gophers and Milan Wildcats.  The Green City girls beat Milan 69-51, with the Wildcats beating Novinger, 53-45.