Sports blog: Stamford Sports Scene
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By JOE RYAN

Times Correspondent


STAMFORD -- The Trinity Catholic boys basketball team was like a fancy sports car in past years.

It gleamed as it flashed on by you on its way to a win. This year's team is more of an SUV. It may be pretty on some days but more than most days, it's rugged and will do anything it has to do to win.

It was one of those more rugged performances that got the Crusaders a 57-44 victory over Stonington in the second round of the CIAC Class M state tournament on Tuesday, March 9 at Walsh Court.

Trinity sophomore Tyler Walston scored 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds while senior point guard Remy Pinson tossed in 17 and fellow senior Mike Scaturchio added 11. The 14th-seeded Crusaders (13-9) played at No. 3 seed Bloomfield in the second round of the tourney on Thursday, March 11.

"The defense played very well early, but we missed a lot of lay-ups and free throws, which I think shows the rust of 10 days off since we played St. Joe's (in the FCIAC playoffs). We did scrimmage twice but it's not the same," said Trinity coach Mike Walsh. "Tyler came on strong as the year went on and we are going to need him and everybody on Thursday (against Bloomfield)."

The offensive formula that has carried Trinity throughout this season has been about clock management and putting the ball in Pinson's hands. The Crusaders' captain is gifted as both a solid perimeter performer and an aggressive attacker of the rim, who generally handles the ball outside until a teammate comes open or uses forays into the lane for easy points or assists.

"Tyler has been great. It's indescribable and all the other guys are hitting big shots. I know to trust them," said Pinson. "All year, we've adapted, so I don't feel any extra pressure now. I'm just going to pass the ball to the open man and have some fun and try to win the game."

Trinity raced out early and led 9-3 after Pinson went coast-to-coast for a lay-up with just over two minutes left in the opening quarter. Stonington closed the gap to 10-9 as the first quarter ended behind 3-pointers by sophomore Sam Donahue and junior Jake Berkowitz.

Walston was a force in the second quarter, scoring seven points, which led the Crusaders to a 10-point advantage at 19-9. The Bears got to within five points as Donahue canned two free throws and a long 3-pointer. Then Walston closed out the first half with a pretty baseline move for a 21-14 lead for Trinity at intermission.

"The second quarter we got the momentum, even though we were not hitting our shots, but we still had confidence and knew eventually we would start to score," said Pinson.

Stonington closed to within 21-17 after a 3-pointer by Donahue but Trinity responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Pinson and Scaturchio to push the lead back to 10 points. A few minutes later, Pinson drove into the lane and found Walston with a behind the back pass for a traditional three-point play and a 32-21 bulge. The quarter was finished off with another Pinson venture into the key for a lay-up and a 38-23 lead.

Trinity finished off their win with Walston, Pinson and Scaturchio leading them down the stretch, even though they were outscored 21-19 in the quarter, with Donahue scoring 12 points in the frame.

The Crusaders, however, had too much of a lead for the Bears to overcome and closed out a comfortable 57-44 win. Stonington was only that close because of Donahue, who scored 28 for the night. As great a night as Donahue had, Walston was able to slow him down early while Trinity put the game out of reach, according to Walsh.

"He (Walston) did a good job early when it counted," said Walsh. "Tyler is very athletic and quick and his defense has improved as the year went on."

Stonington coach Mike Reyes said that his team had reached expectations this year. Donahue was the lone starter to return with varsity experience. The Bears have a young squad that has a lot of potential and should only get better.

"Sam is a great player who lives and dies with basketball. He is a one-sport kid who plays AAU, too, and is a tremendous scorer," said Reyes. "In the second quarter, they stepped up their defense and we did not execute our offense the way we could have. We needed to be more patient than we were and they stopped us with only 14 points for the first half."

For Trinity, it has another rugged assignment ahead but maybe it is built more for those types of assignments after the year it has survived already.

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