Trinity girls basketball eyes perfection after dominant performances

After finishing the first half of district play unblemished, the Trinity girls basketball team has its sights set on perfection.

The Lady Trojans began their second stroll through 7-6A last Tuesday with a 63-28 domination of Richland, a team Trinity defeated by just two points when they first met way back on Dec. 15. The team looked so good that coach Sue Cannon gave the players an extra day off on Saturday.

“I think we’re improving really well and improving every single game,” Cannon said. “As a coach, that’s what we strive to do.”

Aside from the narrow win over Richland in the district opener back in December, the Lady Trojans have been overwhelming district opponents, save for one oddity against L.D. Bell on Jan. 8. In that game, the team was 0-for-18 from the floor in the first quarter. Still, they managed to rally and win the game 57-49.

“We were doing a lot of good things but we just couldn’t shoot the ball,” Cannon said. “It would roll around the rim and, I don’t know, I’ve never been involved in a game like that where we had good looks and the ball just wouldn’t drop. It was a really strange game.”

Intent on not repeating that performance, the following game against Southlake Carroll on Jan. 12 was the best of the year, Cannon said.

“Everything clicked that night,” she said. “We were on offensively, defensively, rebounding and causing turnovers.”

Three days later, though, the team suffered a setback in its victory at Coppell. Freshman guard Tamariyae Battle suffered ACL and MCL damage on a flagrant foul late in the game. Battle had laid claim to the team’s ‘sixth man’ role.

“She was really starting to learn our complicated offense and defense. I hate that for her and hate how the whole thing happened,” Cannon said.

Battle’s role is now being filled by committee, but with players like Trinity Oliver, who is among area leaders in both points and rebounds, and Haleigh Talbert, who is near the top in assists, the Lady Trojans’ core is as solid as there is around Fort Worth.

“When you have a guard/forward as good as Trinity [Oliver] is, and a point guard, then it makes life a lot easier and you fill in the pieces with some players who are really good high school players. So I’m really not surprised that they’re playing as well as they are.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 9:16 AM with the headline "Trinity girls basketball eyes perfection after dominant performances."