By Coach Brandon Johnson and Michael Roy
While the JWP boys’ varsity team is having a potentially historic season as a state-ranked squad, the Trinity Boys’ A squad team has been making some noise as well.
The Cardinal A squad returns only 2 players from last year’s national tournament team. 8th Graders Lofton Johnson and Nathan Leiding look to lead the Cardinal Crew this season. The Cardinals lost 7th-grade point guard Louis Ziemke to a fall football injury, sidelining him for the 25/26 basketball season. Malachi Benson, Trey Boyd, Cole Stenger, and Regan Olson all look to be key contributors this year to help the Cardinals have a successful season.
The Cardinal A Squad has gotten off to a hot start, going 3-0 to open the season. The Cardinals opened their season against Dan Erdman’s Courtland squad. A hot start, shooting from Benson and Leiding, opened up a quick 9-0 lead to start the game. It was a balanced scoring attack the rest of the way, and the Cardinals cruised to a 40-21 Victory. Benson and Leiding had 9 points each, Boyd had 8 points, Lofton Johnson had 6 points, and Stenger chipped in 4 points. Olson and Brewer Johnson each had 2 as well.
The Cardinals’ second game of the year was against Immanuel Mankato. The Cardinals fought foul trouble for much of the game, having two starters fall out midway through the second half. Reagan Olson and Brady Johnson both stepped up to help the Cardinals secure the win. Lofton Johnson had the go-ahead bucket with less than a minute to go, and the Cardinals held on to a 28-26 victory. Malachi Benson led the Cardinals with 12 points, Trey Boyd had 9 points, and Lofton Johnson had 7 points.
The game leading into the break was against the Spelling All-Stars of Truman. The Cardinals were “locked in” defensively and held Truman to 11 first-half points. Leading 25-11 at halftime, thanks to Malachi Benson going off for 16 first-half points, the Cardinals were able to trade buckets with Truman in the second half and win the game 39-30. Lofton Johnson cleaned up the glass and finished the game with 13 points. Benson led all scorers with 18, and Trey Boyd ran the floor well and scored 8 points.
A balanced attack will be needed with limited depth this season. The A boys looked to take their winning streak to Courtland with their second meeting of the season on Monday, January 12.
Courtland defender for the layup shot.
It was the first time this reporter covered a winter sport for Trinity Lutheran. And boy, was it one to remember.
The Cardinal boys’ basketball A team faced the Braves of Immanuel Lutheran-Courtland. A coach was ejected from the game, the Cardinals were struggling to get anything going in the first half, and suddenly, they went from nearly trailing by double digits to winning by double digits.
The first half saw Trinity struggle offensively. They also had a few turnovers, including one that resulted in a fast break for Immanuel Courtland. However, what really hurt them was the Braves’ three-point shooting ability.
In the middle of the first half, play stopped. One second, the teams were playing like normal. The next second, Trinity Head Coach Brandon Johnson was ejected by the officials. Allegedly, he tried to stick up for his players a bit too much for the referee’s liking. Assistant Coach and Pastor, Tim Contreras, was left to coach the rest of the game.
After falling behind 15-8 at halftime, Trinity tried to catch up, but they struggled to defend in the paint. However, Cards player Malachi Benson put the team on his back, and he kept finding ways to score layup after layup. When Immanuel Courtland tried to stop him, they drew a foul. Trinity went from a 24-17 deficit near the middle of the second half to tying it 26-26 in a few minutes. In total, the boys went on a 23-3 run to upset the Braves, earning a 40-27 road victory.
The boys are having a great season so far, and they are looking forward to adding to the win column. They defended home court against MCL on Tuesday, January 13. The A boys will join the A girls for a road trip to Truman for a tournament this weekend, and will go on a road trip to Immanuel Lutheran of Mankato on Tuesday, January 20.
