The Trenton boys basketball team has struggled with slow starts this year.
But on Thursday night in Lake Butler, the visiting Tigers built a 20-point first half lead and held off a late Union County rally to snap a 3-game losing streak with a 55-48 win on the road.
“We came out of Christmas and have ramped up the intensity and the competitiveness in our practices, which led to a really, really good start tonight so that was really key for us for sure,” said Trenton coach Eric Bullis.
Trenton freshman Mason VunCannon, who finished with a team-high 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, hit a basket late in the second quarter to give the Tigers (6-6) their biggest lead of the night, 33-13.
“He’s a really good player,” Bullis said. “He’s 6’3 and growing, true freshman. He’s got a very, very bright future. I challenged him last night in practice to rebound the basketball. He’s been getting us four rebounds per game, which for a kid that big and good, is unacceptable. I think he had 14-15 rebounds tonight so I’m glad he responded well to that challenge and played a great game.”
Sophomore Nathan Ridgell helped set the tone early by scoring seven of his 11 points in the opening quarter as Trenton built a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“Again, another really good player,” Bullis said. “He looks like he’s 30 but he’s an age-level sophomore. He doesn’t turn 16 until July. Really, really bright future, really good player.”
Despite trailing by 17 at the half, 33-16, the host Tigers (7-5) clawed their way back into the game thanks to an 18-point third quarter.
“You’ve got to be mentally tough and play through that, fight through,” said Union County coach Alvin Merriex. “And it’s just something you’ve got to have at home. You’ve got to have some type of gut check. There’s something that has to happen that a coach can’t give you.”
That came in the form of senior guard Thomas Williams, who led all scorers with 25 points.
Williams hit a pair of free throws with 1:56 to play in the third quarter to bring Union County within single digits at 41-32. He scored six points in the third quarter and seven in the final quarter.
“Thomas is probably the most consistent player I have, a returning player, varsity player,” Merriex said. “He’s a senior, always plays hard. He’s a guy that has a dog mentality…he latches on and never let go. He knows how to just go get it with no motivation, self-motivator.”
Defense helped Union County get within single digits.
“We had to switch our big man out (center Jayden Jenkins) just because of not being as confident, we didn’t match up well with him in, so we had to switch him out,” Merriex said. “That took away offensively from us, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. We were right there. Our leading scorer (Gavin Jenkins), that normally averages around 20 points, only had four tonight…if he just gets half of his average we were right there, so it’s tough. You have these types of nights, you just have to bounce back.”
Junior Kendal Henry was the third player in double figures for the visiting Tigers, adding 10 for Trenton, which will host Chiefland at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
Union County will host rival Baker County (Glen St. Mary) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night.
