Trinity Challenge 2022
TRINITY BASKETBALL
Upcoming Year 7 Trials
We look forward to finishing off the Year 7 Trials this Saturday commencing at 8am sharp in the Sports Centre. Currently, Year 7 has 115 budding basketballers enrolled and there will be ten teams (A-J). Usually we only cater for 110 boys due to the ability of giving boys enough game-time, arranging weekly games against other Schools and court restrictions during the week for training, as Year 8 also train at the same time. But this season we will have higher numbers across the teams, so if we lose boy through protocols, we can shuffle players around to ensure we have enough players each Saturday for the five CAS games.
The School Clothing Shop will open Saturday for parents to purchase a Basketball uniform (9am–12pm) if their son has not already got one.
22nd Annual Trinity Challenge – 1sts Teams
The Annual Trinity Challenge was held for the twenty-second time in the last week of the summer break, featuring fifteen Independent Schools (CAS, GPS, ISA). Schools are broken up into four Pools, with each School competing for either the Championship or Plate divisions, which depends on where they finish in their prospective groups
With the first half of the season cancelled the First Squad were looking to build some combinations and consistency heading into the CAS season. The opening game against last year’s Plate winners Moriah saw Trinity down early unable to get back going down by double digits (43-69). A focused Trinity cam out strong against Riverview in the next pool game, on the back of great play from seniors Jayden Woods (12Ar), James Andrews (12La) and James Arthur (12WH). Trinity looked to have the game won with seconds remaining up by two points before a dubious 3-pointer from Riverview which it looked as though the player was out of bounds amazingly went down to see the Greens go down on the buzzer (73-74). The final pool game saw Trinity thump Cranbrook by forty points (70-30) to finish third in their pool and bracketed in the Plate Division.
Moving into Finals Day of the Challenge, Trinity’s came up against another CAS School in Waverley and delivered a solid performance at both ends of the court (84-41) to earn a spot in the Plate Semi-Finals. Another CAS rival awaited the Greens in the form of a very tall St. Aloysius’ team. An eight-man Trinity tried to stay with Aloy’s but they proved too hot nailing shots from everywhere to see Trinity bow out of the tournament (70-86).
In the Championship Division Grand Final, Newington earned their spot by putting an end to Moriah’s dream run (69-36). On the other side of the draw Kings defeated Scots (66-62) but couldn’t compete with Newington in the Championship game going down comfortably to the GPS powerhouse by 45 points (93-48). This was Newington’s eight time they have captured the Trinity Challenge Championship Trophy.
In the Plate Division, Sydney Grammar earned a spot in the Grand Final for the first time after disposing of St. Augustine’s (54-50). St. Aloysius’ after defeating Trinity continued their good form defeated Grammar by twelve points (76-64) in hard fought match to capture their first ever Plate Division title.
19th Annual Newington Classic – 2nds Teams
2nd V Squad Report
The opening game for the Seconds was against CAS rivals Cranbrook. From the jump the boys dictated the tempo, forcing Cranbrook to attempt difficult shots. However, this did not translate to control on the scoreboard. It was not until Eden Tauok (12WJ) took part in the contest that he sparked the Greens offence on route to a game high of 23 points ensuring Trinity would finish victorious (57-38) in a convincing manner. The following game was a thrilling contest against GPS powerhouse Scots. Though Scots took a marginal halftime lead, momentum swung in the second half thanks in part to the defensive hustle from Trinity. Unfortunately, the Greens demise was a result of being significantly undersized which was vastly apparent in the closing minutes as Scots escaped with a one-point win (37-36).
Despite the loss Trinity managed to earn the top seed in their Pool which resulted in a Quarter-Final showdown against St. Aloysius’. Sam Payne (11WJ) perimeter shooting resulted in Trinity being on the front foot in the opening quarter. Aloy’s showed great fight to claw their way back as the game was tied in the final minute. Trinity then fell down by two points before an insane three-pointer at the buzzer from Anson Zhou (12Ke) gave Trinity the victory (48-47) and a spot in the Championship Semi-Final. Despite a slow start offensively against Riverview, the Greens held a narrow lead. Heading into the second half, the wear and tear on the Trinity boys was apparent being down on personnel. The boys gallantly pushed through before being edged out by ten points (58-48) in a solid effort at the Newington Classic.
Development Squad Report
Trinity’s Basketball talent across Years 9-12 once again played in the Newington Classic tournament. Despite the Greens being tremendously outsized in the opening game against Riverview, they still put forward a strong performance to only go down by 10 points (59-69). Harrison Lyttle (9Ar) used his diverse offensive arsenal which included his shooting and driving ability to give Trinity the halftime lead. Peter Tanevski (10 WH) maintained this momentum by hitting three consecutive three pointers in the third quarter, however this wasn’t enough to keep up with the strength of Riverview. The boys took confidence from their opening game into their match against Waverley, as their extreme intensity sparked an early 10-point lead. Caleb Leao (10 Mu) lead the team with his defence, by getting in the lanes, creating stops and deflections. This enabled Henry Mansfield (10 Ke) to capitalise offensively by running the lanes resulting in easy fast-break baskets. Denis Petrides (11Yo) kept the Greens intensity high, generating scoring opportunities for teammates as well as himself in the late stages of the game. This collective team effort allowed Trinity to beat Waverley (68-42).
Finishing second in their Pool put the Greens in the Championship Quarter Final against host Newington. The Greens knew this would be a difficult game, and all the boys truly stepped up to deliver their best performance of the tournament. Felix Leckie (12La) played his best game, by hitting threes and doing his job defensively, which allowed for Jed Moor (10WJ) to use these stops to his advantage by taking over offensively scoring a quick 8 points in the second quarter. At half time Trinity were down by three, the boys were eager to get into the second half and attempt to beat out this strong Newington team. Paris Karakikes (11He) came out firing with several stops and assists which helped get Trinity up by as much as 4 points in the third quarter. However, Newington showed their depth and resilience, by outplaying Trinity in the fourth to win the game (61-48).
The boys were deflated and disappointed after Newington and it showed against their next opponent, Barker. However, Nicholas Protopsaltis (11Yo) showed his maturity and experience by keeping morale high through his relentless effort on defence. Unfortunately, Trinity fell short finishing with a loss (28-41). The Development team showed plenty of strength, potential and toughness during the tournament competing extremely well against tough 2nds teams.
7th Annual The Kings School Cup – Junior Teams
Year 9 Squad Report
The Junior team in the Year 9 division featured eight boys from Trinity’s A/B teams. The team played five games over the two days, finishing with a 1-4 record. Day one started well with a win over Newington. It was a tight game most of the way with the score tied midway through the second half, but Trinity pulled away at the end winning 34-24. Down the stretch the team had great success with our full court pressure and scored repeatedly off our inbound plays, especially Zach Rice (9Ho) who ended with 19 points. The second game was against a very tough Scots team that hadn’t lost a game in two years and it showed, as they got out to a super quick 12-0 lead and finished up with a convincing victory over the Greens (84-35). The final game of day one was much the same, as Barker got out to an 8-0 lead and Trinity couldn’t claw back going down by double digits.
Day two saw Trinity suffer hard fought losses to St Joseph’s (28-42) and St. Augustine’s (28-42). The highlights were the performances of Jedd Sheehy (Du) and Harry Pliatsikas (Ho) who ended with 9 and 8 points respectively.
It was a tough tournament for Trinity with multiple strong players missing and several others picking up minor injuries throughout. The team didn’t make the Finals, but the boys learned where they need to improve and stuck together through the process supporting each other well.
Year 8 Squad Report
A team featuring players from Year 8 and two players from Year 7 competed in this year’s Kings Cup, finishing with an overall record of 4-1-2. The boys were able to rally back from some disappointing outcomes at the back end of Pool play to take out the Shield.
The first match with Newington saw Trinity jump out to an early lead and hold that throughout the match. A great team effort with everyone contributing (49-19). Our next match saw a tougher Scots group. With energetic defence ignited by Angus Mansfield (8Ke), helped by Jacob Chong (7Hi) allowing Trinity to hold on and win (35-30). Barker presented the boys with their hardest match of the tournament. Cody Ramanaukas (8Ke) and Jozef Cluff (8Ar) provided a punch at both ends with their size, playing well on the Barker bigs which led to a later run by Trinity. Unfortunately, Trinity weren’t able to get over the hump going down by 4 points (41-45).
Against St. Joseph’s the boys adjusted well to the fast-paced style of play. This was led by Bailey Herden (8He) and livewire Ezekiel Kho (7Ar). For the second straight game Trinity just fell short (24-27). The final match up of Pool play was St. Augustine’s. The boys were looking to shift the momentum going into the Shield Division Finals. After an amazing effort in the full court on defence, Ezekiel Kho was able to seal the tie after the buzzer when he was fouled while shooting a three. Sinking all three free throws (28-28).
In the Semi-Final the boys did a great job of pressuring Aloy’s to force mistakes, then executing in the half court led by Malakai Sinisa (8We) as they advance to the Grand Final of the Shield with an exciting 2-point win (38-36).
All the boys were locked in for the rematch with Barker and were able to control the game throughout. The group implemented the necessary adjustments to slow down Barker’s key players from the previous game. Steven Lee (8Ho) and Jonathan Orr (8Ho) provided the tough defense required as Trinity capture the Year 8 Shield for the second straight year with another close victory (40-38).
