Trojans Start The Season On The Right Foot

"I'll take a win to start the season any day," Trenton head coach Rick Morrow said in the locker room following his team's up-and-down victory against Redford Thurston Tuesday night.

The Trojans, as could be expected in a team's first game, had some rough spells and were not sharp in taking care of the basketball. But they did something that so many Trenton teams in the past, including last year's squad, struggled so often to do--they found a way to win.

"Last year we lose this game," Morrow said. "We're down five in the second half, we're turning the ball over, they're knocking down shots--you could've just put it on the shelf as a loss. But you could see they wanted it."

The Trojans led 24-16 at the half and then the second half came, and whether it was an offensive shootout, a defensive letdown, or a hybrid of both for both teams, the scorekeeper had his fingers working for a combined 108 second half points between the two teams.

At one point late in the third quarter, it wasn't looking good for the Trojans. They trailed by five and were out of sync offensively. The Trojans then restorted to what looks like will be their calling card this season, post play.

"I was really pleased to see them get the ball down on the blocks (under the basket)," Morrow said. "We got size and length and we outworked them on the boards."

Outworking just about everyone on the floor Tuesday night was senior co-captain and Patch Player of the Game Chad Hamilton who had a monster night with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Hamilton, the starting quarterback in the fall, was very active all night, hit several key three-pointers and made several beautiful assists.

But the highlight of the night was an ally-oop pass from the left wing where Hamilton jumped from the opposite side of the basket cought the ball and threw it up with his left hand in midair. The crowd went crazy as the ball kissed off the glass and through the net.

"I was just feeling it at that point," Hamilton said with a smile.

Also chipping in with huge nights of their own were juniors Terez Smith (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Jason Zahran (18 points, 10 rebounds).

The Trojans will again play at home in their next game Friday night against Annapolis.