St. X basketball battles back to beat Trinity in OT and remain unbeaten vs. Kentucky teams

Posted by author January 27, 2025 Basketball

Spread the love

St. Xavier boys basketball battled back from a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat Trinity, 77-67, in overtime at Knights Hall on Sunday evening.

Trailing 63-61 with three seconds remaining in regulation, Will Hanke made the game-tying shot for St. X as time expired to extend the contest.

“That left side of the floor was wide open, and so right when I caught it, I knew I was taking one dribble and going up with my left hand,” Hanke said. “I thought they were going to foul me too, but they didn’t. I got a clean look off.”

St. Xavier basketball: Kevin Klein on OT win vs. Trinity High School

St. X basketball coach Kevin Klein talks about his team’s late rally vs. Trinity to send the game into overtime and pull away for the 77-67 victory.

Sam Upshaw Jr.

He finished the night with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“I’ve hit one buzzer-beater in my life, but there were about 30 people in the gym,” Hanke added. “So it was nothing like the magnitude of that shot. That was incredible.”

The Tigers (18-2) started the overtime period on a 7-0 run and they never relinquished the lead.

“Trinity came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of fight, and I don’t think we matched that early, and we were not being us,” St. Xavier coach Kevin Klein said. “It was a matter of just trying to chip away possession by possession and get back to how we like to play.”

St. X, coming off a win over Male on Friday, is now 15-0 against in-state competition.

The Tigers’ win in the rivalry showdown came one week after they beat Trinity by 24 points to win their second straight Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament championship.

“Just super proud of how we just kept coming and staying together,” Klein said. “It’s always been different guys in different tough moments.

“… They continued to play unselfish and they believed so much in themselves and the guy next to them.”

Trinity (8-10) got off to a strong start on Sunday at Bellarmine, leading 8-1 early, before the Tigers fought back and tied the game at 10-10 with a 3-pointer from Bryce Johnson. The Shamrocks scored six unanswered points to end the opening quarter on top.

Trinity’s rebounding edge (19-13) and 26 points in the paint to St. X’s four helped the Shamrocks grab a 10-point lead at the half.

“I think we got a little tight when they started making a run,” Trinity coach Bret Saxton said. “I thought offensively, we got away from what we had been doing so well throughout the game. And then, you know, even still, with all of those things, we had opportunities down the stretch to really sort of make them come foul us, and we just weren’t able to make those plays when we needed to.”

Sophomore Garrison Gilvin led the Shamrocks on defense with four steals to go with 16 points and nine rebounds.

At the end of the third quarter, the Tigers trailed, 49-40, and their leading scorer Jeremiah Jackson was 0 for 7 from the field.

Jackson came out firing in the fourth with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Tigers’ deficit to three points. He finished the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“My mindset was, keep coming,” Jackson said. “Coach Klein said, keep coming at halftime, and keep playing hard. When you keep playing hard, good things come.”

St. X’s Chance Dillingham had a game-high 26 points and was 16 for 22 from the free-throw line. The Tigers shot 37 free-throws to the Shamrocks’ 14.

“We needed this experience,” Klein said. “Recently, we’ve had a lot of one-sided games where it’s great to win, but you don’t learn as much as maybe you would want to learn about your team.

“I just think that the Ballard LIT game, and tonight, when we were in a very uncomfortable situation, we had an opportunity to lay down or grow, and this team has such a growth mindset and tremendous belief in this program and one another that they’re never going to back down.”

Trinity 16 18 15 14 4 – 67

ST. XAVIER 10 14 16 23 14- 77

Trinity (8-10) — Garrison Gilvin 16, Xavier Cosby 16, Jayden Johnson 13, Lance Chandler 9, Julius Edmonds 8, Avery Frasher 3, Thomas Hornek 2.

St. Xavier (18-2) — Chance Dillingham 26, Will Hanke 12, Jeremiah Jackson 11, Chief Cameron 10, Brandon Dayes 9, Bryce Johnson 3, Connor Klein 3, Josh Lindsay 3.

Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.