LOST CREEK, W.Va. — A healthy Daniel Woods can make a major impact for the Trinity Warriors. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior is rounding back into form after an offseason knee injury and he dominated both ends of the floor Thursday night in a 62-41 win at South Harrison.
Playing in his sixth game of the season, Woods scored 19 points.
“Daniel is in basketball shape now and he is able to run the floor,” said Trinity coach John Fowkes. “With him in the mix offensively, it makes us a lot better. We can do everything we want to do.”
Joel Robertson also scored 19 points for the Warriors (14-5), while Briston Bennett added 12.
South Harrison (15-5) was paced by Brenten Barnette’s 15-point performance. Barnette scored the first eleven points for the Hawks in the first quarter. Nick Fenstermacher added a dozen points while former Warrior Caleb Jenkins chipped in with ten points.
The Warriors ended the first quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 24-13 after the opening eight minutes. A steal and score from Jenkins midway through the second quarter allowed the Hawks to creep within six points. Trinity would rebuild a double-digit lead by halftime, taking a 40-28 cushion into the locker room.
Trinity slowly pulled away in the second half to post their second consecutive victory. That follows a stretch where they lost four of six games.
“Teams go through little funks in the season,” Fowkes said. “It is better to have that funk at the end of January and beginning of February like we did. The kids have had a great mentality in practice and a positive mentality in practice. They want it really bad. They work hard and it is a great group of kids.”
South Harrison saw its three-game win streak come to an end. The Warriors will next play for the OVAC 1A Championship vs. Cameron (15-3) Saturday afternoon at Ohio University-Eastern.
“We just have to do what we did tonight,” Fowkes said. “We have to play defense and we have to push the ball up the court. That’s Trinity basketball.”