Saturday, December 22, 2018

COLLINS 60, TRINITY 58

No.12 Collins pulls off the shocking upset of No.2 Trinity in our opening semifinal of the night to end the Shamrocks bid for a fourth consecutive tournament championship appearance. It did not take long for the Titans of Collins to get things going in their first ever King of the Bluegrass semifinals with an early steal and basket from Dayvion McKnight giving them their first lead at 4-2. The Titans lead quickly swelled to 14-4 as they held Trinity to just one field goal over the next six minutes. A late basket by Trinity's David Johnson cut the Collins lead to eight at the end of the first quarter. A basket by Collins' Dane Kidwell extended the Titans lead back to 10 points two minutes into the second quarter. An 8-4 run by the Shamrocks cut the lead to 16-22 on a Kolton Rice three-pointer. Seven straight points by Johnson pulled Trinity within 24-28 with two minutes to play in the first half. A Stan Turnier putback in the closing seconds of the half held the Shamrocks within four points at 26-30 at halftime. Despite losing University of Louisville signee Johnson to a knee injury in the opening minute of the second half, Trinity pieced together a 9-2 run to take an early 35-34 second half lead. The Shamrocks lead extended to as many of five points following a Kamari Kenemore bucket with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Colby Eades' three-pointer in the final minute of the quarter pulled the Titans even at 40-40. Midway through the fourth quarter Trinity got a pair of free throws from Zach Stahlman to push back ahead 51-47. A pair of quick buckets by Kidwell put Collins back ahead 53-51 with just over three minutes to play. The Shamrocks couldn't shake their offensive woes though as they went nearly five minutes without a field goal watching the Collins lead grow to 58-53. A Jamil Hardaway basket with 9 seconds remaining in play pulled the Shamrocks within a single possession. It was a pair of free throws by Kidwell with six seconds to play that put the game out of reach with Collins claiming the 60-58 victory and advancing to their first King of the Bluegrass championship. Trinity was led by David Johnson's 18 points, all in the first half, and Kolton Rice added 15 for the Shamrocks. Dayvion McKnight led Collins with an outstanding 26 points 11 rebound effort. Dane Kidwell added 12 points for the Titans.


Up Next
  • Collins will play South Shore in the Championship Sunday at 7:30pm.
  • Trinity will play Ballard in the 3rd place final Sunday at 6:00pm.

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