Feb 5, 2003 By Pete Riddell For The 3 min read

WASHINGTON – Attribute Connellsville’s 66-49 win over Section 2-AAAA foe Trinity Tuesday night to good plumbing. The Falcons removed a six-foot-eight clog from the paint early in the fourth quarter when Trinity big man Ean Miller picked up his fourth foul with 7:42 left. At that point, Connellsville clung to a 41-38 lead.

With Miller on the bench, Trinity’s hopes promptly went down the drain as Connellsville’s James Hairston turned a good night great, scoring 21 of his 44 points in the fourth to blow open a close game.

“Our No. 1 goal was to get (Miller) in foul trouble,” said Hairston, who nearly topped the school-record, 45-point effort he notched against Peters Township last Friday. “We wanted to get him out of the middle.”

With good reason.

The only major concession Trinity coach Joe Dunn made to try and stop Hairston last night was to plant Miller in the paint to contest lay-ups. For three quarters, it worked well. Miller blocked five shots, and altered many more. However, he was ineffective after picking up his fourth foul, eventually fouling out with 3:06 left.

With the win, Connellsville improved to 12-0 in the section, 22-2 overall.

Trinity (5-6, 12-10), meanwhile, needs to beat Canon-McMillan Friday night at home to make the playoffs. The Hillers will carry momentum into that game, despite last night’s loss.

“We played the first three quarters as good as we’ve played all year,” said Dunn, who saw marked improvement from the team’s first meeting, a 76-42 Connellsville win Jan. 7. “It’s nice to do that against a good team at this time of the year.”

The Hillers came out the hungrier team in a sloppy first quarter. Justin Adley’s steal and coast-to-coast lay-up off a nifty behind-the-back dribble sparked Trinity to a 9-6 lead. A minute later, he converted another steal into a lay-up to make it 14-9.

“They took us out of our offense early and got some easy baskets,” said Connellsville coach Nick Bosnic.

It was 16-11 Trinity early in the second quarter when Hairston took over the game for the first time. He scored 10 points and assisted on another basket in a 15-6 run to send Connellsville into the locker room with a 26-22 lead.

“If there’s a better player in Western Pa., I haven’t seen him,” said Dunn.

Connellsville pushed the lead to 30-22 to start the third before the Hillers rallied behind Adley again. He scored the first seven points in an 11-2 run that gave Trinity a momentary lead, 33-32, with 2:30 before the half. And it was Adley’s offensive rebound off Tom Drakeley’s missed three-pointer, and subsequent assist to Brandon Templeton beyond the arc that knotted the score, 38-38, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Hiller senior finished with 11 timely points, trailing only Jon Weiss’s 18 and matching Templeton’s 11 for top team honors.

Hairston, the lone Falcon in double figures, took over once again down the stretch. He practically took up residence at the foul line in the fourth quarter, converting 10 of 12 freebies.

The long-armed Connellsville junior rounded out his night with nine rebounds, eight steals, and three blocks. All in a night’s work, according to his coach.

“I expect this from him game in and game out,” said Bosnic. “Not necessarily the points, but the domination.”

Hairston now owns the top two single-game scoring marks in school history. The previous record was 41 points shared by Tim Beeman in 1962 and Mike Hardy in 1975.