Frenship, Trinity Christian boys basketball fall to top-tier teams in Caprock Classic
A marquee doubleheader at Monterey High School went against the local teams on Friday afternoon.
Frenship and Trinity Christian, both victors in their opening games of the 63rd annual Caprock Classic basketball tournament, were pitted against perhaps the best two boys teams in the entire field for their quarterfinal games.
Dallas Carter, the top-ranked team in Class 4A, and DeSoto, ranked 19th in 6A, proved to be tough challenges the Tigers and Lions were unable to keep pace with.
After a tight first quarter between Frenship and Dallas Carter, the Cowboys opened up the second period with 13 straight points and never led the Tigers back into it, rolling to a 78-46 victory.
Chance Puryear, a three-star recruit with multiple Division I offers, was the catalyst for Dallas Carter's game-breaking run. The 6-foot-7 forward hit three 3-pointers and totaled 13 points in just the second quarter on his way to a game-high 26 points.
On the other side of the floor, Puryear was the primary defender on Frenship's Patton Pinkins, who has made high-scoring affairs a regular occurrence to this point of the season.
Pinkins was held scoreless in the first half as the Tigers went into the break down 47-27. He finished with 15 points, 13 of which came in the third quarter.
"We're a tempo team and we like to control the tempo with the press and that kind of gets us going," Frenship head coach Paul Page said. "And it's important if (Pinkins) is scoring, then that helps us do that. And tonight we really couldn't get him looks. One, (Dallas Carter is) so long, so the passes that are normally there were not there. The actions were a little bit different.
"That's just something we can use. It's good for us to play these teams now."
Dallas Carter used a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter and held Frenship to four points in the final frame to close out the victory.
In the next game, it looked as if Trinity Christian would suffer a similar fate against DeSoto.
The Lions found themselves down eight at the end of the first quarter but went into halftime facing a 38-18 deficit. Trinity players were often hesitant to make a move against the rangy opposition.
"I don't know why we were but we just came out so flat after about the six-minute mark in the first quarter all the way pretty much until the end of the half," Trinity Christian head coach Spencer Sutton said. "I mean, we were just flat. And it's not because they're tired. It's not because we're fatigued. I don't know what it is, why it's like that, but for some reason we came out flat."
Sutton said he doesn't like to challenge his players very often, but he did on Thursday, telling the team that he would fight for them in the second half, but they had to fight for themselves, too.
The Lions fought and held Desoto scoreless in the third quarter. That 20-point deficit was trimmed to five, and Sutton said there were chances to get it even closer.
Unfortunately, the steam ran out in the fourth. DeSoto opened the final frame with 12 quick points and wound up with a 57-40 victory.
Kieran Elliott had 22 points for Trinity Christian to lead all scorers. Arrington Cooper had 14 points for DeSoto.
Caprock Classic
Dallas Carter 78, Frenship 46
Frenship 14 13 15 4 — 46
Dallas Carter 20 27 14 17 — 78
Frenship — Jalen Braziel 5, Chase Campbell 6, Tate Beeles 6, Patton Pinkins 15, Armani Gacanica 11, Ose Olumese 2, Daniel Gedeon 1
Dallas Carter — Daniel Thomas 14, Chance Puryear 26, Kyle Givens 14, Reece Belle 6, Devin Lewis 18.
DeSoto 55, Trinity Christian 40
Desoto 19 19 0 17 — 55
Trinity Christian 11 7 15 7 — 40
Desoto — Deshawn Crawford 11, Nakia Smith 8, Arrington Cooper 14, Ahmir Wall 2, Jaxxon Williams 6, Jaxson Davis 11
Trinity Christian — Kieran Elliott 22, Marcus Ramon Edwards 6, Jack Robinson 7, Brady Watson 3, Dax Trout 2
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Frenship, Trinity Christian boys basketball fall to top-tier teams in Caprock Classic
