Trinity hits triple digits in blowout win

Published 12:02 am Saturday, January 25, 2014

NATCHEZ — The final three quarters were merely a formality.

After jumping out to a 30-8 lead at the end of one, the Trinity Episcopal Day School boys cruised the rest of the way against Tensas Academy, with the only thing in question being whether they could score in triple digits.

The Saints finally did so with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter when Darius Demby sank a layup to put the Saints ahead 101-36, which they ended up winning by. It was the first game this season Trinity scored at least 100, and head coach Edwin White said reaching the triple-digit mark was special for his players.

Tensas Academy’s Sam Kirby tries to block Trinity Episcopal’s Tommy McCoy as McCoy goes up for layup in the first half of their game Friday. Trinity defeated Tensas, 101-36. (Brittney Lohmiller \ The Natchez Democrat)

Tensas Academy’s Sam Kirby tries to block Trinity Episcopal’s Tommy McCoy as McCoy goes up for layup in the first half of their game Friday. Trinity defeated Tensas, 101-36. (Brittney Lohmiller \ The Natchez Democrat)

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“For the kids, it’s a big momentum creator, and it’s a special thing for the young kids, because they’ve never seen it before,” White said. “As far as our team, it’s not a point of beating a team down, but my thing is, it’s just about scoring points, putting them up, playing consistent and playing team ball.”

The closest Tensas ever got was trailing 3-2 with 6:34 left in the first quarter. After that, Trinity strung off 22 unanswered points to put the Chiefs away early. Tensas was hurt by turnovers all night, yielding the ball 11 times in the first quarter alone.

“You can’t turn the ball over against them,” Chiefs head coach Tyler Pere said. “They’re way too fast. They live off the fast break. On defense, we ran a 2-3 and tried to box it in on the inside and make them beat us on the outside, because they’re going to get their breaks. They’re just too athletic and too fast.”

Tommy and Arzell McCoy tallied 22 points apiece for the Saints, combining for 19 points for the Saints in the first quarter to help Trinity get a large lead early.

“The main concept of this thing is to play aggressive defense and work on our defense as far as the press goes,” White said of his team’s strong first quarter. “Whether it’s half-court or full-court, just keep the momentum going.”

Michael Whitley led the Saints in scoring with 23 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Demby pitched in with 13 points, including his field goal that put the Saints over the 100-point threshold. Wyatt Boothe finished the game with 12 points for the Saints.

Trinity led 63-15 at intermission.

A bright spot for the Chiefs was Seth Brown, who accounted for 27 of Tensas’ 36 points and played aggressively all night.

“He’s our best player,” Pere said. “He’s our leader; he’s our scorer. We just try to get him the ball and set him up, and he’s our star. He’s our horse — we have to ride him.”

Trinity (16-0, 5-0) will host Central Private Monday, while Tensas (0-5 in district play) will host Franklin Academy Tuesday.

Tensas girls 46, Trinity 44

The Lady Chiefs had three double-digit scorers as they edged Trinity late, 46-44, in Friday night girls basketball action.

Katy Irby led the way with 13 points for Tensas, and Hali Matthews chipped in with 12 points. Maddison Keyes had 11 points for Tensas.

Tensas led 26-17 at halftime.

Marty Lewis and Sloane young both led the Lady Saints with nine points each. The Lady Saints fell to 6-13 overall, 2-3 in district play.