Trinity’s Sarah Kirby tossed in 16 points to sweeten Melanie Pintard Hall’s coaching debut with a hard-fought 58-51 win over visiting Franklin Academy.

On the boys side, the Saints shook off some pre-season rust and rode a 27-point effort by Bobby Craig to put away a pesky Cougar squad 66-53.

The matchup featured many new beginnings for Trinity basketball, none bigger than the return of Hall on the Saint sideline

&uot;She makes basketball fun, and at every practice we love the game more,&uot; said Trinity junior Jennifer Paradise. &uot;She does a great job of building us up. We’re in great shape due to the team’s committment to our conditioning program. Coach Hall has us thinking like a team and we are looking forward to an exciting season.&uot;

Trinity’s boys are trying to deal with the los of top score Marcus Calcote.

&uot;We are searching for a go-to-guy, and we need to start thinking more like a team,&uot; said Trinity coach David King.

Early emotion propelled the Lady Saints to a 6-0 in the opener.

It could have been more if it was not for some early problems at the free throw line. Franklin’s Emily Little kept her team in the game with her 14 first half points. However, it was Trinity’s Ashley Kingsafer’s eight points that kept it close with the visitors up 34-30 at halftime.

As the second half started, things started to slip away from the Lady Cougars due to the inspired play of Kirby and Lauren Tanner who finished with 13.

A Kirby steal and bucket with 2:14 left in the third quarter put the Trinity ahead to stay.

Little finished with 20 points and Kingsafer chipped in 10 points for the winners.

A slow start plagued the boys, as upset-minded Franklin lead early 7-3.

Kris Thomson’s buzzer-beater put the Saints ahead to stay with a narrow 12-11 lead after one period.

Craig’s dead-eye shooting would consistently dash Franklin momentum as the hosts pulled ahead 24-15 with 4:25 in the half.

Cougar Donovan Bennett, who had a team-high 20 points, would keep it close for most of the game, as his team only trailed 28-24 at half.

Franklin’s Chad Carter would heat up in the second half to threaten Trinity once again, but Thomson and Craig always had an answer. Thomson finished with 21 and John&160;Bass with 10.

Trinity plays at Ben’s Ford Monday.