Sports
Trimble Enters Second Straight Sweet Sixteen
< < Back toIt was a battle for the boards with so many missed short-range shots for both teams. Trimble brought out its full-court press with corner traps, and the Tomcats ran away with the game, picking up the 78-68 win over the Waterford Wildcats. This is the second consecutive season Trimble have been crowned district champions.
The second quarter is what sealed it for the Tomcats, going on an 8-1 run to widen the gap to 11 in the opening minutes, but Waterford’s Jordan Welch gave the Wildcats the spark they needed with a three-pointer from the top of the key. It gave them some energy, but Trimble came out strong under the boards, not allowing second shots. The Tomcats outrebounded the Wildcats defensively 23-16 on the afternoon.
In the final two minutes of the first half, Waterford did find some energy to limit Trimble’s time of possession. Although they didn’t capitalize as they wanted to, the Wildcats still kept the ball out of Trimble’s hands. In the final two minutes, Waterford limited Trimble to just four points. Trimble, however, still led going into the locker room, 40-26.
Trimble came out with the same intensity and physicality to start the second half. Justice Jenkins calmed down and got back in his rhythm, putting up 19 points on the afternoon. Waterford just couldn’t find anything to get past the quick hands of Trimble’s defense or Guthrie’s total post domination. The Wildcats continuously missed breakaway layups, short bunnies, and wide-open three pointers. When they did rebound, they couldn’t sink their second, third and sometimes fourth shot. Trimble widened its lead to 13, leading 57-44 to end the third quarter.
Waterford made fundamental mistakes, and the Tomcats would capitalize on every single one. They used speed and a spread offense to get the ball down low to either Bryce Guthrie or Tyler Sayre, who had a combined 22 points of Trimble’s 78. Individually, Guthrie had 15 points, six assists and eight rebounds. Sayre had seven points on the afternoon. Three straight steals by the Tomcats led to six points and a flustered Waterford offense in the opening quarter.
Trimble continued its domination into the final quarter, sealing the win for the Tomcats. Waterford’s three point shot was just awful, shooting 7-20 all afternoon. The only Wildcat who was able to put up a decent game was Jordan Welch with 13 points and four boards. Behind Welch was Andrew Theiman, who had 10 points and five rebounds.
Waterford finished its season at 16-5. Trimble is heading to regionals. The opponent, time is to be determined, but it will be at the Convocation Center.