Trinity rolls past Ravenscroft, 83-60
Last year, Fayetteville Trinity Christian came up a win short of winning its inaugural HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational when the Crusaders lost to Martinsville, Va., Carlisle School.
The Crusaders (10-4) made sure they’d advance to the winner’s bracket Friday night with an easy 83-60 win against Raleigh Ravenscroft (7-4) in the John Wall Bracket of the HSOT Invite.
“We wanted to come back in and prove ourselves again,” said Trinity junior guard Dennis Smith Jr., who finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. “We fell short in the championship game last year… and we wanted to use this game as a statement game.”
The Crusaders certainly made their statement, jumping out to a 22-12 lead after one quarter, 39-23 at halftime and 61-34 after three frames.
There are 11 new players on the Trinity roster since last year’s run to the HSOT championship game.
“Last year, we had eight seniors and this year we have two,” Crusaders head coach Heath Vandevender said. “We lost a lot from last year. … A lot of valuable pieces are gone. Roles have changed and the guys are trying to figure those roles.”
Besides Smith’s impressive stat line, junior Deshaun Leftwhich finished with 18 points and five rebounds and senior Alonzo Tyson had 13 points and eight boards for Trinity.
Trinity Christian, which shot 70 percent (35 of 50) from the field, is off until Monday at 8:30 p.m., when the Crusaders will face the winner of Saturday’s Virginia Episcopal School/Athletes Institute of Orangeville Prep (Ontario).
Ravenscroft (7-4) was paced by 14 points from David Reynolds and 13 from Dubose. Ravens coach Kevin Billerman, who led Ravenscroft to back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011, had two reasons for his team’s lack of success Friday night.
“In my 15 years at Ravenscroft, we’ve never had a team shoot 70 percent from the field against us,” Billerman said. “I think it was a combination of one, our young guys being in a spotlight and the bright lights for the first time and secondly, (Trinity) is very talented.”
Ravenscroft will play at 5:10 p.m. on Monday against the loser of Saturday’s Virginia Episcopal School/Athletes Institute of Orangeville Prep (Ontario) in the consolation bracket.
