Trinity Opens Sweet 16 with Win over Pulaski County
By Robert “Stats” Sampson, Trinity ‘05
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trinity returned to the state tournament for the first time in five years and advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 50-43 win over Pulaski County on Thursday night in the opening round of the 2024 UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
Senior Dre Vasser had 19 points and three assists to lead the Shamrocks. He had 7-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the three-point line. Vasser, the only Trinity player who had played in Rupp Arena previously, was playing in his second state tournament, scoring eight points in an opening round game in 2022.
After the teams exchanged the lead early in the game, Trinity built a five point lead at 21-16 on a pair of free throws by Lance Chandler with 3:27 left in the half. Trinity's defense held late in the half as they didn't score for the remainder of the half and held a 21-19 advantage at the break.
The victory was the fifth consecutive for the Shamrocks in state tournament games, dating to their 2019 run to the school’s second state title.
Trinity built a 31-23 lead midway through the third quarter before Pulaski County fought to within three in the fourth quarter at 40-37 with 5:07 remaining on a three-point field goal by Will Blankinship.
Trinity answered with a free throw by Chandler, Julius Edmond's first basket of the game and a layup by Avery Frasher to give the Shamrocks a 45-37 lead with 2:33 left.
"We are playing tomorrow and that is always a good thing," said acting head coach Bret Saxton following the game. "I wasn't overall pleased with the lack of smart basketball tonight. For whatever reason, we weren't ourselves."
“We wanted to try to impose our will - whether that is scoring in the paint with our size advanced or trying to get the tempo to a pace that could benefit us - to their credit, they were able to impose their will,” said Saxton. “They did a fantastic job of keeping this in the half court for the most part. When we were able to get out in transition, we weren't very disciplined, which wasn't like us in the last month."
Trinity secured the win in the final minutes by hitting four of their last five field goal attempts while limiting Pulaski County to just 1-of-8 shooting to end the game.
It was the first time that Trinity had ever played a Thursday game in the state tournament after playing opening round games on Wednesday in each of the past six appearances in the event.
Trinity (27-7) will face Evangel Christian (30-6) in the quarterfinals on Friday at Rupp Arena. It is the fifth state quarterfinals appearance for Trinity in school history.
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