BY ROB DAVIS
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — The second time around proved to be a much different story and result for the Trinity Eagles. After dropping a 53-44 game to The Mighty Oaks on Jan. 6, the Eagles regrouped and put together a stellar performance to claim a 52-44 victory and even the season rivalry.
Trinity senior Nate Riddle had 20 points and guard Reid House added 18 as the Eagles used a tenacious defense and clutch shooting down the stretch to ward off a late comeback attempt by The Oaks.
“I always tell our guys to play aggressive defense, rebound and look for the best shot and good things will happen,” Trinity head coach Noah Gardner said. “The difference tonight was our shots were dropping and we were able to hit our free throws down the stretch.”
Led by Joey Allen, who had 18 points on the night, The Oaks took the early lead and went up by as many as five points in the second period before Riddle hit back-to-back threes to put the Eagles ahead. Riddle nailed another three-pointer at the end of the first half to give the Eagles a six point advantage.
“I told them at the half to keep up the intensity and keep fighting for rebounds,” Gardner said. “This is a great team we played tonight and we knew they would give us all we could handle in the second half.”
Allen and Elisha Hallmark hit back-to-back jumpers to bring the Mighty Oaks to within two points with just over three minutes remaining in the game. With the pressure mounting, the Eagles defense proved up for the challenge and held The Oaks to just three points in the last two minutes of the game. House scored six points down the stretch and was clutch from the free throw line along with William Dooley. Dooley came off the bench and helped the Eagles with his ball handling and passing skills as well as hitting valuable free throws down the stretch.
“They were switching defenses on us and trying to confuse us,” Gardner said. “I thought we did a great job of distributing the ball and looking for the open man. We had some players come in and really help us tonight. William Dooley is a tough young man. He was key for us handling the defensive pressure and he played great defense tonight.”
Trinity sits at 11-6 overall and 3-1 in the AISA A Region 1 Area 2 and hopes to secure a No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Oaks finished the season with a record of 11-9 overall and 2-4 in region play.
