4-AA opener

By

ADAM DAIGLE

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ &045; The learning curve officially began for Trinity Episcopal Tuesday night in its District 4-AA opener, but it’s hard to tell who may have learned the most.

The rest of the district may have found out what kind of weapons the new team has.

Yet it was a dogfight for both sides as Trinity had nearly let it slip away at the end before downing Bowling Green 60-59 Tuesday in the district opener for both teams. The Saints got two key turnovers on defense in the final six seconds of the game after holding a 10-point lead earlier.

But it wasn’t the ending that left Buccaneers head coach Richy Pearson wondering what might have been. With Gervoni Ware putting up 37 points and Stevan Ridley accounting for 13, the coach was left wondering what else he could have done.

&uot;We told them we’ve got to stop Ware and Ridley, and we didn’t stop them all night,&uot; Pearson said. &uot;It didn’t matter which defense. We just didn’t defend very well. I threw everything at them &045; combination, played a man to man on Ware and Ridley and zone everybody else, a triangle and two. We did it all. We threw it all at them, but we didn’t execute like we needed to execute.&uot;

Give credit to the Buccaneers for making a run in the fourth quarter late after being down by 10 on the road this early in the season. The Saints got hot with Ware accounting for 10 points in the fourth quarter, and the point guard canned a 3-pointer with 4:13 left for a 58-48 lead.

But some breakdowns followed, and Bowling Green got back in it. Just over two minutes later, the Bucs trailed by just two. They eventually cut it to one when Adam Thomas nailed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, but they lost it on possessions with six and three seconds left.

&uot;We made a couple of turnovers, and with me not being in organized basketball, I’ve never been in that situation,&uot; Ware said. &uot;But we still pulled a win out. They’re a very good ball team, too. We feel good about 1-0 in district, but we’ve got to play all the others teams. We’ve got to go back to Bowling Green. We’ve got to take it in stride, that’s all.&uot;

Thomas was the other big spark in the game as the guard finished with 28 points by hitting just about every shot he released. The Saints applied pressure on the blocks against Bowling Green’s sizable front court with Ridley and Tripp Bryant, but Thomas got hot from the outside.

The Buccaneers put together that 8-0 run to get back into the game with Thomas accounting for seven before he hit the big triple. He had 14 in the fourth quarter.

&uot;We just didn’t handle the pressure very well,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;With everybody still being football players, we’re still trying to iron out some things. We haven’t worked enough on handling the ball, and they were able to capitalize on that. That’s something we’ll get better at. I’m just proud of how we hung on. We could have folded our tents.&uot;

Ware got hot in the third quarter from behind the 3-point line when the Buccaneers went to a zone defense with the emphasis on stopping Ridley. Most of his looks were wide open, and Ware hit two right off the bat in the third quarter before he broke a 43-43 tie with 26 seconds left with his fourth 3-pointer of the quarter.

Then in the fourth quarter he hit two jumpers inside the arc to give the Saints a 54-45 lead at the 6:33 mark.

&uot;They played real good defense,&uot; Ware said. &uot;I got a lot of good looks, and Zach (Rogel) was setting some good screens. I was able to get good shots &045; that’s all. I didn’t do it without my teammates. If my team is needing a big shot, I’ll take it. But I’m not a selfish player.&uot;

Bowling Green had its biggest lead in the second quarter when the Saints got out of rhythm a bit offensively. Robbie Crain converted on a fast-break layup to stop an 8-3 Trinity run and spark a 9-2 Bowling Green that Thomas ended with a 3-pointer at the 2:22 mark for a 30-24 lead.

But the Saints answered right back in the final 1:30 with a free throw from Ridley, a Ware 3-pointer and a bucket from Wyatt Craig at the buzzer off a steal to tie the score at 30 at half.

&uot;You can’t miss shots right underneath the basket, for one thing,&uot; Spears said. &uot;We gave up too many offensive rebounds. We weren’t very aggressive on offense. We didn’t want it down low.&uot;