Connellsville topples Trinity to remain unbeaten in Section 2
CONNELLSVILLE – The Connellsville boys basketball team remained unbeaten in Section 2 Quad-A, with a 76-42 win over the visiting Trinity Hillers to close out the first half of Section play. The Falcons (14-1, 6-0) placed four players in double figures as James Hairston’s game-high 20-points led the way. He was followed by Kevin Bell with 16, Chad Burton 14 and Chris Marsinsko 13.
“The kids did a great job of not giving up any easy baskets on defense tonight,” Connellsville coach Nick Bosnic said. “We told them to challenge everything, and they did a heck of a job playing position defense, hustling and rebounding.”
Trinity (10-7,2-3) held the lead early in the first quarter. On the opening tip, Hairston tapped the ball to Bell, who fed Burton for an uncontested layup to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
Brandon Templeton hit a three-pointer to give the Hillers the lead.
Connellsville regained the lead on a three-pointer with an assist from Shane Kovack to make it 5-3.
A three-pointer from Justin Addley, who led the Hillers with 16, gave Trinity a 6-5 lead. Two foul shots from Marsinko allowed Connellsville to regain a one-point lead, before a basket by the Hiller’s Jon Weiss, gave them their final lead on the night at 8-7.
Kovack’s basket then gave the Falcons a 9-8 lead and they would not trail the rest of the night.
“Connellsville is a very talented team. We saw them several times on film, but it’s a little different when you face them live,” Trinity coach Joe Dunn said. “I expected a better game from us tonight, but I think we’ll present more of a challenge when we see them again.”
The Falcons took a 17-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, then went on a 22-7 tear in the second. Hairston scored seven points in the quarter for Connellsville on a three-pointer, a field goal and two from the line. Burton picked up six with four from the field and two from the line, Marsinko battled his way for five points and Bell added four in the quarter as the Falcons took a 39-22 lead at the half.
“I expected them to try take Hairston away and prevent him from driving to the basket like they did last yea,” Bosnic said. “Their box-on-one defense caught us a little off guard early in the ballgame, but the other guys stepped it up, and passed the ball well, which allowed us to get some easy baskets.”
The Falcons started the second half with a 6-0 run on consecutive baskets from Hairston and one from Bell, before Addley scored for Trinity. Hairston had another basket for six points in the quarter.
Kovack, Marsinko, and Burton scored for the Falcons, as they held a 16-13 edge in the quarter to take a 55-35 lead after three.
Addley and Templeton hit a couple of three’s in the period for Trinity.
“We didn’t execute tonight against Connellsville,” Dunn said. “Turnovers and early foul trouble backed us off on what we try to accomplish with our defense.”
The Falcons continued to pull away in the fourth quarter with a 21-7 burst. Bell paced the Falcons with five points in the quarter. Hairston had four, including a crowd-pleasing, one-handed slam. Marsinko also added four in the quarter before the reserves took over the close out the contest.
“Trinity is a good physical team, nothing dirty, they just play hard,” Bosnic said. “The game is all about desire and positioning, and I felt we did a good job of that tonight.”