Trenton girls, Winston boys repeat as GIT champions

The Trenton Lady Bulldogs and Winston Redbirds claimed double-digit victories on Saturday afternoon, returning to the top of the Gallatin Invitational Tournament for the second consecutive year.

The championship for Trenton is the fourth in the last five years for the Lady Bulldogs (a streak interrupted by Braymer’s title in 2014).  THS burst out of the gates quickly, attacking Gallatin’s pressure defense in the first quarter and racking up 24 points in claiming a 14 point lead.  Despite only scoring two points in the second quarter, Trenton’s hallmark defense held tough, and THS led 26-14 at the half.

Trenton extended the lead in the third quarter with an 11-7 edge before cruising to the win in the final quarter.  The back-to-back GIT champions, now 4-0 on the season, were paced by 11 points from tournament MVP Whitley Richman, 10 points from sophomore center Sidney Lynch, and nine points from sophomore guard Mykah Hurley.

Gallatin, suffering defeat for the first time this season (now 3-1), had three girls score nine points each, with Cora Stout, Courtney Shubert, and Taylor Sloan all reaching that plateau.

Trenton Head Coach Brian Upton was pleased with his team’s intensity level, particularly early:

Trenton had three girls named to the six-player Gallatin All-Tournament team, led by MVP Richman.  Sidney Lynch and Ainsley Tolson were named to the team, along with Gallatin’s Cora Stout and Karley Salmon, and Hardin-Central’s Julia Finley.

The boy’s championship game followed almost the exact same storyline as the girls contest, with a title game rematch (Winston vs. Trenton) featuring the defending champions cruising to an early lead and coasting in the second half for a win.  The Winston Redbirds used outstanding floor play and knock-down shooting ability of senior guard Craig Lewis and sophomore guard Jacob Lewis to outscore Trenton 23-8 in the first quarter, and win the GIT title 63-38.

The Lewis brothers combined for eight made 3 point shots (4 each) and 40 points (Craig 22, Jacob 18) in the Redbird victory.  The starting backcourt are sons of Winston High School boy’s basketball coach Eric Lewis.

While Trenton knew that slowing down the Lewis’ would be challenging, the belief coming into the game was that the Bulldogs strength and size, particularly on the front-line, would help to balance the match-up, but Winston’s underrated speed and tenacity below the free throw line frustrated THS, leading to a handful of missed opportunities for Trenton, or steals and fast breaks for Winston.

Before the recent two-year run of titles, Winston’s only other boys championship in the GIT was claimed in 1996.

Connor Cotton led the Bulldogs with 10 points, while Spencer Harris had eight (all in the second half), Lathan Croy seven, and Carson Radcliff seven.

The loss is the first of the season for Coach Jeremy Austin’s ball team:

While Winston repeats as GIT boys champion, Trenton will wait for a title that as eluded the Bulldogs since taking the Gallatin title in 2013, one of three all-time championships in the 40 year old event (1999 and 2000) won by THS.

Connor Cotton and Spencer Harris were named to the Gallatin All-Tournament team, joined by Braymer’s Austin Hall, Gallatin’s Jett Simmons, and Craig Lewis of Winston  Jacob Lewis, the Winston sophomore, was named the tournament’s MVP.

Winning girls third place on Saturday afternoon were the Lady Bulldogs of Hardin-Central, 43-26 over Braymer.  The Braymer boys salvaged a third place game split for the Bobcat teams, taking down the host Gallatin Bulldogs in the third place contest, 50-45.

On Friday night at Gallatin, the Polo Panthers swept the consolation finals, 39-33 over Winston (girls) and 47-46 over Maysville (boys).  The Hardin-Central boys won the 7th place game over Gilman City, 74-41, while the Maysville girls beat Gilman City, 42-38.