Second straight rout propels Louisville powerhouse to Sweet Sixteen semifinals
Trinity toyed with the Tomcats out of Ashland Blazer for a half, but a third-quarter blitz ended any thoughts of a shocking upset in the 102nd Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen quarterfinals Friday as the Shamrocks advanced with a 60-30 win.
“I thought our guys did what we needed to do today,” said Trinity Coach Mike Szabo. “Here we are: the final four. This is exactly where we want to be.”
Stan Turnier led three players in double figures for Trinity with 16 points. Louisville commit David Johnson added 13 and Kolton Rice had 11. Ethan Sellars and Devaunte Robinson had 10 and nine points, respectively for Ashland.
BOX SCORE: Trinity 60, Ashland Blazer 30
Ashland (18-17) got off to a promising start, hitting a three-pointer from Ethan Hudson on its first possession. The Tomcats didn’t score again for four and a half minutes as Trinity built a 13-3 cushion.
Falling behind 18-8 after one quarter, Ashland significantly slowed the pace to work for better opportunities in the second. The Tomcats were successful to an extent, Trinity only scored five points in the second, but Ashland could only get four points on the five shots it put up.
Trinity (28-8) seemed content to play Ashland’s pace, perhaps looking ahead to a possible two more games over the next two days, but Szabo said some unforced errors by his team in the first half contributed.
“It’s hard to press if you’re not scoring,” Szabo said. “I think we had, what, five points in the second period? We need to do a better job.”
The Rocks responded in the third period by putting on the full-court press, speeding up the game and pressuring Ashland into turnovers in their own end. A halftime lead of 23-12 exploded into a 48-21 margin at the end of the third.
Ashland got off 10 shots in the third making three, including one of seven three attempts and committed five turnovers. During the same stretch, Trinity went 10-for-15 with three threes.
Ashland came into the quarterfinals thanks to a torrid shooting display in the second half against Owensboro on Wednesday, but Trinity limited Ashland’s ability to drive into the paint. Without being able to get the ball inside, they couldn’t kick it out for the open threes they enjoyed against the Red Devils.
“Trinity’s really good,” Ashland Coach Jason Mays said with a slight laugh. “We just didn’t have anything for their length, their skill level, their strength. … They are really hard to drive on and we’ve had success here recently against a ‘not-top-three team’ if you will by getting to the rim. And that was just taken away today.
Saturday, Trinity faces 10th Region champion Campbell County, a 49-42 winner over Walton-Verona in Friday’s first quarterfinal, which is riding an 18-game win streak.
“Very impressed with their team,” Szabo said. “Every player they put out there is a very good basketball player, fundamentally sound. They play hard. They’re unselfish. It’s going to be a great game.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 3:36 PM.
