Trinity boys hit nine 3-pointers, rout Central in opener
Dec. 12—MANCHESTER — We're only one game into the Division I season, but we know this much about the Trinity High School boys basketball team: If you allow the Pioneers to take open shots from the perimeter, you may regret it.
When Trinity scored against visiting Manchester Central during the Division I opener for each team Friday night, much of the time it did so three points at a time. The Pioneers tossed in nine 3-pointers during their 81-57 victory, and five of them came from senior guard Andrew Politi.
"My father always told me, 'When the ball goes in, it solves a lot of problems,'" Trinity coach Keith Bike said. "When you shoot it and it goes in, you look good."
Trinity looked particularly good at the start of the second half, scoring the first 12 points in the third quarter and then extending its lead to 50-30. Politi and Quinton Pincoske each made a 3-pointer during the 12-0 spurt.
"I think a lot of those 3-pointers came after they penetrated and then kicked the ball out," Central coach Sudi Lett said. "We have to do a better job cutting off that penetration first. We didn't play very good five-man defense."
Politi led all scorers with 20 points. Trinity received 17 from Mark Nyomah, 16 from Tyler Bike (Keith's son) and 13 from Devohn Ellis.
Trinity's lead peaked at 31 points (79-48) in the fourth quarter.
"I'm pleased with our weapons," Keith Bike said. "We have some good guys who can handle the ball, and we have some scorers — and we have some guys who can play defense. It's a pretty balanced team. We have no height, but we have to make up for it with our athleticism and all five guys rebounding."
Central struggled at the start of each quarter, but had its biggest problems early in the second and the third. The Little Green trailed 14-8 after eight minutes, and didn't score again until 4:07 remained in the second quarter.
After cutting Trinity's lead to 36-30 late in the first half, Central allowed Trinity to score the next 14 points, including that 12-0 spurt at the start of the third.
Junior guard Kuel Akot (15) and junior guard Angel Castro (11) were the only Central players who scored in double figures. Sophomore Asher Segno finished with nine.
"We can only go up," Lett said. "At least I hope we don't play this bad again."
The Pioneers are young — they have one senior in the starting lineup — but reached the Division I semifinals with much of the same cast of players last season.
"We're gonna stress sharing the ball and playing hard," Keith Bike said. "Every game our focus is going to be to play hard and play together. If we can put our egos to the side and share the ball, I think we're pretty dangerous."
