TRENTON – For a brief moment, a Hamilton West junior was making things difficult the Trenton seniors on their Senior Night.
During a timeout, coach Darryl Young knew exactly how to scare his team back into sync.
“Coach said every bucket they get is an added sprint in practice, so we gotta turn it up,” point guard Elijah Kelly said after TCHS pulled away for a 72-45 victory over West in its regular-season finale.
The win sends Trenton (18-4) into Thursday’s Mercer County Tournament on a roll, as it has won 11 of 12. Hamilton (5-14) will either have a regular-season game with Burlington City or a play-in game on Tuesday, but for the first 13 minutes they looked like a team fighting for a high seed.
After falling behind 21-9, the Hornets bridged the first and second quarters with a 14-4 run to pull within 25-23 with 2:33 left in the half. Junior Jack Bouffard showed no fear; going aggressive to the basket and collecting 13 of his game-high 21 points during that time.
But then came the timeout and the specter of sprints, and Trenton closed the half with a 12-0 run for a 37-23 advantage at halftime. Trenton maintained its roll after intermission and built a 31-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.
“I think we were a little too hyped because it was Senior Night, and they just kind of stuck with us,” said center Jordan Williams, who had 16 points and eight rebounds. “At halftime coach talked to us and said we had to calm ourselves and try to pull away.”
Kelly felt Hamilton’s tenacity was a nice wake-up call.
“We had big heads coming into the game so it definitely humbled us going forward,” the senior said. “In the first quarter they had 17 points. That wasn’t good, but we turned it around. It was a good game for us going into MCTs.”
It was also a good scoring game for Kelly, whose season-high 16 points were one shy of tying a career-high. Kelly had 13 in the first half, including three 3-pointers in the second quarter. Usually a facilitator, he enjoyed filling it up.
“It’s Senior Night, a lot of energy,” Kelly said. “They were open for me. This was bigger than any other night. I want to keep that going into MCTs and states as well.”
The Tornadoes, who will defend their NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV as the top seed in two weeks, are looking for an improved run in the MCTs after losing to Trenton Catholic in last year’s semis. Trenton’s lone loss to a county team this season was by two points to Ewing, and their other three losses were to quality teams.
“”If we just work as a team I think we can go a little bit further than last year,” Williams said. “We’re just gonna be in the gym, working on our defense and running our plays for the next few days.”
“We’re very excited,” Kelly said. “We don’t want it to end. All energy, all positivity going forward.”
HAMILTON (45)?Domine 0-0-0, Elefant 3-0-6, Bouffard 10-0-21, Walker 1-0-2, Williams 0-0-0, Prall 1-0-2, Abreu 3-2-8, Muni 0-0-0, Alexander 0-4-4, Hall 1-0-2. Totals: 19-6-45. ?
TRENTON (72)?Williams 7-2-16, Kelly 5-3-16, Estevez 4-0-10, Molder 2-2-6, Hodge 3-0-8, Phillips 1-0-3, Davis 4-1-9, Turner 0-0-0, Bethea 0-0-0, Garita 1-0-2, Moore 1-0-2. Totals: 28-8-72.
?Hamilton (5-14) 17 6 8 14 – 45?
Trenton (18-4) 21 16 18 17 – 72?3-point goals: Bouffard, Kelly 3, Estevez 2, Hodge 2, Phillips.
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores
