#5 Trinity Valley defeats Apaches at Wagstaff
Box Score: https://www.apacheathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240120_gtor.xml?view=boxscore
Tyler Junior College entered Saturday's contest having not lost since Dec. 2, 2023.
No. 5 Trinity Valley, on the other hand, lost on Wednesday at No. 9 Lee — the Cardinals' first setback since a 74-70 overtime defeat to No. 8 Northwest Florida State on Nov. 21, 2023.
The loss Wednesday ended a nine-game winning streak for the Cardinals. On Saturday, Trinity Valley came in to Wagstaff Gymnasium and trailed for more than 34 minutes. The Cardinals took a quick lead with 4:47 to play, and the Apaches tied it up with 3:47 on the clock before the Cardinals grabbed the lead for good with 3:29 to play on the way to a 67-56 win, ending the game on a 13-2 run, to snap the Apaches' six-game winning streak.
"For about 35 minutes, we were in control," TJC head basketball coach Mike Marquis said. "Then they got loose on a couple of threes, and we had a mishap on our end, and it gave them some momentum back. I thought the same thing happened to us at Blinn. I just thought we looked tired down the stretch. Usually when you're tired, you don't take the one more step on defense you need to, and you don't complete the one more play you need to on offense.
"We lost the momentum, and we couldn't get it back. I thought we got a couple of really good looks out of a couple of sets for us. We didn't knock them down, and they knocked theirs down. It's a little frustrating to lose in that way, especially to lose at home."
TJC led 51-43 with 8:09 remaining after a JJ Louden steal and layup, but then a technical foul on Louden sparked an 11-2 Trinity Valley run to give the Cardinals a 54-53 lead.
After Jonah Nesmith knocked down a free throw to tie the score at 54, Phil March and Ahamad Bynum knocked down consecutive triples for the Cardinals. BJ Hooper Jr. sank a floater for TJC to cut the score to 60-56 with 1:57 remaining, but that was the last time the Apaches scored as Bynum answered with his fifth triple of the night.
Bynum, a DePaul transfer, finished with 23 points and six rebounds. Makhi Dorsey had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, and March added 9 points.
Former LaPoynor High School and Bullard High School standout Garrett Nuckolls, whose brother, Gage, starts for the Tyler Legacy basketball team, and his father, Dean, is an assistant coach for the Red Raiders, plays for Trinity Valley. The 2023 All-Rose Country Boys Basketball Player of the Year finished with 5 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Dariyus Woodson led Tyler with 13 points. Hooper scored 9. Brandon Walker had 7. Hudson Anderson, Jermontae Hill and Jacyn Jones-Taylor all had 6. Louden scored 5, Sammon Johnson 3 and Nesmith 1.
Tyler (13-5) will play Navarro (11-6, 4-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Corsicana. Trinity Valley (16-3, 7-1) is off until it hosts Navarro at 4 p.m. on Jan. 27 in Athens.
