WILLOW PARK – The 2024-25 basketball campaign is off to a solid start for the Trinity Christian Academy varsity Eagles. They started off slow, but quickly found their way while hosting Nazarene Christian Academy on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Their defense forced turnovers that translated into fast-break opportunities throughout the contest, culminating in a 54-47 win in their home opener.
“They did a really good job in the first half and the third quarter of keeping up the defensive intensity,” Eagles head coach Jeff Peterson said after the game. “There was a quick start by the opponent, but we were able to shut them down and take away what they wanted and use some defense to create some offense.”
Nazarene Christian Academy leapt out to a 4-0 lead before the Eagles defense took over. TCA flocked to the ball all night, forcing countless mistakes by the Lions as they crumbled under pressure from the defense.
“That’s been one of our pillars of defense, is to be offensive,” Peterson stated. “That’s what we strive to do. We strive to make the offense uncomfortable, not let them run their stuff to the best of our ability while protecting the rim. The guys did a good job of that tonight.”
Fast-break scoring opportunities came in bunches for the Eagles, with guards Reed Robinson, Sam Carson and Scott Smith taking turns scoring easy buckets. The few times TCA ran their offense in the first quarter, Jonathan Overholt and Cole Massey muscled their way to high-percentage shots down in the paint as the Eagles took an 18-10 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter was much the same, with the lone exception of TCA adding in the long ball as Massey and John Chrane both knocked down shots from beyond the arc. The Eagles extended their lead, as they outpaced NCA in the second stanza to take a 33-17 lead into the break.
Coming out for the second half, the Lions managed to find a groove late in the third as the defensive pressure from the Eagles waned. A scoring flurry towards the end of the frame left the margin at 16 points with TCA holding a 47-31 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Scoring for both teams slowed in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter with NCA outscoring the Eagles 8-7 down the stretch. The Lions managed to get hot from behind the 3-point line in the final minute with Aiden Adams hitting three of the four Nazarene 3-pointers in the last 60 seconds of the contest.
The last-ditch scoring blitz closed the gap, but wasn’t enough to overcome the Eagles’ lead as the final buzzer sounded.
TCA will be back in action on Friday when Christian Life Preparatory Academy comes to town. Tipoff for the matchup between the Eagles and Knights is slated for 7 p.m. at Barber Gym.
NCA 10 7 14 16 - 47
TCA 18 15 14 7 - 54
Sam Carson 14, Cole Massey 13, Jonathan Overholt 8, John Chrane 7, Reed Robbins 6, Scott Smith 6.
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