MANCHESTER, NH — Tyler Bike drained 14 of 15 free throw attempts in the 4th quarter, helping Trinity High held off Central, 64-58, Friday night.
In all, Bike scored 18 of his game-high 36 points in the final 6:30 of the game.
Trinity built a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but had to withstand a spirited rally from the Little Green. The defending Division I state champs have won five of their last six games to improve to 8-5 on the season.
“It wasn’t pretty. But sometimes you have to win ugly,” said Trinity Coach Keith Bike. “We’re a young team, we’re still maturing, getting better. Coming (to Central) to play is always tough. If Tyler doesn’t make those free throws in the fourth quarter, maybe it turns out differently.”
Devohn Ellis added 12 points and eight rebounds for Trinity.
Central, mired in a frustrating campaign, dropped to 2-11. But five of the Little Green’s losses have been by six points or less.
Jason Gasana led the Little Green with 18 points before fouling out with 44 seconds remaining. But Gasana was also hit with a pair of technical fouls for arguing foul calls in the fourth quarter, leading to four of Tyler Bike’s made free throws.
Trailing 50-37 with 5:30 to play, Central refused to roll over. Guard Wesley Olmeda (15 points, 3 steals) hit three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, helping the Little Green stay within striking distance. He was fouled while sinking one of his treys and hit the free throw to complete a four-point play, cutting the Trinity lead to 58-53 with 56 seconds remaining.
Bike responded by sinking four straight free throws to put the game away.
Central got off to a fast start, building a 7-0 lead behind the play of Gasana, forcing Keith Bike to take an early timeout.
Trinity was able to pull itself together, dominating the rest of the quarter to take a 17-10 lead. The Pioneers built the lead to 23-10 early in the second quarter before Central began to find the range from behind the arc. Dawon Tyler-Fulse (12 points) had two of his team’s 3-pointers in the second quarter, helping pull the Little Green to within 35-30 at intermission.
The third quarter was a battle of attrition, as both teams went ice-cold from the field. The first basket of the quarter came on a 3-pointer by Tyler Bike with 3:05 remaining, pushing Trinity’s lead to 39-31. Central got it’s first hoop of the quarter on a 3-pointer by Gasana with 2:22 remaining, That was followed by a trey from Tyler-Fulse, slicing the deficit to 41-37.
