BY ROB DAVIS
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — It was a memorable night for the Trinity Christian School girls basketball team, as the Eagles defeated The Oaks School 42-10 on Jan.6 to earn their first victory in just the second year as a varsity program.
Trinity guard Emma Miller drained a three-pointer to begin the contest as the Eagles never trailed. Miller led all scorers with 15 points on a night that displayed the progress and determination of a team still evolving.
“I told the team before the game that we’ve gotten better each week and to keep playing hard and good things will happen,” Trinity head coach Ruth Ketcham said. “They were so excited to play this game tonight. They played so hard and it was encouraging to see some shots go in for us.”
Every shot the Eagles took in the first half seemed to go in. Multiple players including Miller, Anna Kate Railey, Molly Peatman, Ella Miller, Sadie Wood and Abby Meroney all contributed points that led to a lopsided 27-2 lead at the break.
“I told them at the half that it’s zero to zero,” Ketchem said. “I said if we keep playing the way we are we should win, but we still need to work harder on some things like rebounding and limiting turnovers.”
Taking their coach’s words to heart, the Eagles came out on fire in the second half. Switching between man-to-man and zone defense, Trinity held their opponent to zero points in the final period.
“This was a big win and a confidence builder for the girls,” Ketcham said. “I’m just so proud of the team and happy that they got to experience a win today.”
Boys
Trinity’s boys basketball team earned a 36-33 region victory over Edgewood Academy. Eagles guard Reid House hit a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch to ice the victory as Trinity improved to 8-5 overall and 2-1 in the region.
In the low scoring defensive battle, points were at a premium. Trinity led by a point at the half as both teams couldn’t seem to find the basket. Trinity head coach Noah Gardner credits his team’s ability to adjust when the shots were not dropping.
“Like always, I told them to play hard on defense and fight for rebounds,” Gardner said. “When we aren’t hitting our shots we have to be good in other areas of the game. We still have things we need to improve on but I’m proud of the way we were able to fight for the win.”
