High school basketball preview: Trinity Academy Knights (+video)
Schedule
December – 3, at Cheney, 10-12, at Garden City tournament; 15, Belle Plaine; 18, at Douglass.
January – 5, Bluestem; 8, Independent; 12, at Garden Plain; 15, Chaparral; 21-23, at El Dorado tournament (B); 26-30, at Berean tournament (G).
February – 2, at Belle Plaine; 5, Douglass; 9, Medicine Lodge; 12, Cheney; 16, Conway Springs; 19, at Independent; 23, at Bluestem.
Boys
Coach: Steve Miller, seventh season
Last season: 21-4
Top players
Mitchell List, 6-3, sr., F
Drew Thornton, 5-10, sr., G
Jarrett Counts, 5-8, jr., G
Caleb Johnson, 5-9, sr., G
Dylan Huber, 6-3, sr., F
Trinity Academy graduated seven from its team that finished third in 4A-II, providing 95 percent of the scoring in leading Trinity to its best record since 2008-09.
But Miller isn’t fretting. He’s got a chance to build around List, a returning starter, as well as three other players who are at least 6-foot-3 — Huber, Ben Adler (6-foot-4), Luke Prohaska (6-5) and Jeremy Newport (6-4).
“I want to go inside more,” Miller said. “We relied on a lot of outside shooting last year, but I want to be a more balanced attack this season for when our outside shots are not falling. We can play inside-out and get it inside, get fouled and get to the free-throw line.”
List will be a primary factor.
“He’s real thick, he’s real strong, and he’s got a nice shooting touch,” Miller said. “I have a lot of confidence in his outside shoot. He has good feet, though, so we plan on using him if we go with a smaller lineup and he takes it inside.”
Adler is especially strong around the basket, while Huber and Prohaska can score from outside. Prohaska is a shot-blocker, as well.
Thornton is a zone-breaking sort of shooter, Counts handles the ball well and Johnson will be expected to guard opponents’ top perimeter defensive player.
“These guys know we like to get out and go,” Miller said. “With the strong rebounders that we have, we can get the outlet and run the floor hard. We look to get a guy down the floor quick.”
Girls
Coach: Brett Gunderson, sixth season
Last season: 18-5
Top players
Kaleigh Schrag, 5-4, sr., G
Micala Hollingter, 5-8, sr., F
Alex Bearup, 5-8, so., F
Ellen Knocke, 5-8, sr., F
In Trinity Academy’s first 14 years with basketball — 1997-98 to 2011-12 — the Knights had two winning seasons. Their first state tournament berth came in 2013-14 in Class 4A-II, and they followed it up by qualifying again last season with a school-record 18 wins.
Schrag and Hollinger had vital roles in both state tourney trips, which Gunderson believes will be a factor.
“They’ve been part of the turnaround and they’ve seen the success,” Gunderson said. “… They see where the bar is set and where we want to get to.”
If Trinity makes a third straight trip to state, Schrag and Hollinger likely will be key reasons why.
Schgrag lacks height, but because of her athleticism and 24-inch vertical, Gunderson has run plays where she gets an alley-oop layup or even jumps the game’s opening tip.
“She’s able to freelance and make the play and find the open target,” Gunderson said.
One of those targets is often Hollinger, who plays well in the post but also is dangerous on the perimeter.
“She uses her body well to score inside and she gets key rebounds,” Gunderson said. “She led the team in rebounding, and that’s one of the key things that needs to continue, along with her being a bigger scorer.”
Bearup played quality time as a freshman when she showed her three-point shooting prowess, as well as how she can create off the dribble and catch and shoot. Knocke also is strong offensively, especially on midrange jumpers.
Gunderson’s primary worry is depth, especially because the Knights play an uptempo, in-your-face defense.
“We’re used to playing eight, nine kids, sometimes even 10, getting them in, getting them out with heavy defense,” he said. “… But we have lower numbers. I think we’ll be set up for some success, though, because we’ve got kids in the program who have been there.”
Joanna Chadwick
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 10:54 AM with the headline "High school basketball preview: Trinity Academy Knights (+video)."