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Boys basketball

Team effort leads Eagles to victory

TCA in midseason form

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Just 11 games into the 2024-25 hoops season, Trinity Christian Academy’s varsity basketball team appears to be in midseason form. After handing Nazarene Christian Academy a loss earlier in the week that was not nearly as close as the final score would indicate, the Eagles ran roughshod over Christian Life Prep on Friday, Dec. 6., to pick up their eighth win of the season.

Trinity Christian (8-3) put together an excellent team performance at both ends of the court. Utilizing head coach Jeff Peterson’s philosophy of using defense to create offense, the Eagles locked down the visiting Knights at one end of the floor while five TCA players finished the game with double-digit scoring in the 75-43 win.

“I’m really excited to see us come out and do what we set out to do,” Peterson said after the game. “Our full-court attack was a lot better tonight than it has been. Still trying to get over the slow start [on offense], but we’ll get there eventually. Overall, the guys played really well tonight.”

Similar to the contest against NCA earlier in the week, several minutes passed in the opening quarter before the Eagles got on the board with their first score. However, once the scoring started, it didn’t stop. Led by senior John Chrane, TCA’s offense was relentless. Even in the instances when the first shot didn’t fall, Trinity Christian continued to fight for rebounds, putting up second and third attempts when necessary to make each offensive trip down the floor a successful one.

“We struggled at the rim,” Peterson acknowledged. “We’ve been highlighting attacking the rim more and relying on the three-ball less. I’m going to consider it a little bit of a baby step in the right direction. We were a little inconsistent at the rim. It’s certainly something to address in the coming weeks.”

One of the things that made TCA so successful on Friday night was ball distribution. By ensuring all five players on the floor were a scoring threat, the Knights weren’t able to key in on one specific player. In the first quarter four of the five starters made shots, as TCA took a 15-10 lead through the first eight minutes of play. 

The second quarter was much the same as the Eagles outpaced their foe 19-13 to take a 34-23 lead into the break, with all five players tacking on points.

Coming out of the break Chrane went off, scoring 10 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter. While Chrane did the bulk of the scoring for TCA in the third, he was by no means the only one finding the net. Once again, all five Eagles on the court scored, while TCA’s defense shut down CLPS en route to a 23-3 run. Through three quarters, the Eagles held an insurmountable 57-26 lead.

TCA kept the hammer down in the fourth quarter despite the big lead. Shane Palmer, TCA’s resident sharpshooter, knocked down two of his three long balls in the game during the final stanza. Chrane, Sam Carson, Cole Massey, and Scott Smith all put up points in the fourth quarter, as the Trinity Christian outscored the Knights, 18-17, to close out the game and produce the final.

“I felt like our offense performed pretty well,” Peterson said after the game. “It was a lot more full-court attack than we usually see. We didn’t have too many times when we got into half-court sets. But when we had time to execute and had opportunities to execute, the guys did a good job doing that.”

Eagles vs. Christian Life Prep – Dec. 6

CLPS 10 13 3 17 - 43

TCA 15 19 23 18 - 75

TCA scoring - John Chrane 19, Sam Carson 16, Cole Massey 14, Scott Smith 14, Shane Palmer 10, Jonathan Overholt 2.

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