Trinity Catholic falls to Hope Academy

Trinity Catholic High School basketball coach Tim Ryan talks to his team during a time out in Monday night’s game. [Photo by Mark Pinson]

There hasn’t been much precipitation in Ocala lately, but it was raining threes—as in 3-pointers—in Monday night’s tilt between Hope Academy and Trinity Catholic. The two teams combined for 14 buckets from behind the arc, but it was Hope Academy that made 11 of those shots as the Trojans knocked off the Celtics by a score of 58-43.

With the win, Hope Academy (Groveland) which drained eight 3-pointers in the first half, evened its record at 2-2 on the season, while Trinity Catholic, which also gave up a lot of size in the paint, dropped to 1-1.

“Those first-half 3-pointers killed us,” said first-year Celtics coach Tim Ryan. “Hope Academy was quicker than us and we really couldn’t stay in front of them. When they hit the 3-pointers to open the game it made it really tough. We’ve got some kids that go really hard, they work hard and are fun to coach.”

Hope Academy looked right at home in Trinity Catholic’s gym as the Trojans started off hot from behind the arc with sophomore Dwayne Foreman III netting three treys, Nehemiah Rapael knocked down a pair and Xavier Shine added one as the Trojans stormed out to a 17-4 lead midway through the first quarter.

After a time out, Trinity Catholic rallied as senior guard Jadiel Jiminez scored five of his team-high 10 points, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key and senior Jack Weichens added an inside basket to pull the Celtics within 21-11 heading to the second period.

Trinity Catholic went cold from the floor and Hope Academy capitalized as Prince Portfield scored five points, including a 3-pointer from the left baseline, Rapael added a trey and Foreman III, a smooth-shooting guard, scored seven points, including a long 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Trojans a 36-19 lead at the half.

Hope Academy used its superior height to dominate the paint and scored on several second-chance points. Foreman buried a pair of 3-pointers and scored 11 of his game-high 30 points as the Trojans extended their lead to 47-23 with 3:04 left in the third quarter. Trinity Catholic could only manage six points in the period and trailed by a score of 54-25 heading to the final eight minutes.

The Celtics, who committed 12 turnovers, had their best offensive output of the game in the closing minutes as Julian Mendez scored seven points and Javier Montero added nine as both teams utilized their benches to finish the game out.

“This is a loss we’ll learn from and get better,” said Ryan, who coached the men’s basketball team at the College of Central Florida for 17 years until the program was disbanded two years ago. “We want to run and get up the floor but we’re not there yet.”

Trinity Catholic is back on the hardwood on Nov. 29 when the Celtics compete in a tournament in Tampa.