John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
DONNELLSON — Holy Trinity’s boys basketball team has been shutting down opponents lately, and Central Lee found that out on Friday night.
The Crusaders shut down the Hawks 59-22 for their third consecutive win, and sixth win in the last seven games.
Holy Trinity (8-3 overall, 5-2 Superconference South Division) kept pace with division leader West Burlington — the two teams play next Friday at Shottenkirk Gym — with a defense that kept Central Lee (5-4, 3-4) from mounting any sort of attack.
Holy Trinity opened the game with a 19-3 run, led 19-6 at the end of the first quarter and 26-10 at halftime before pulling away in the second half.
“The defense was spot on,” Hellige said. “Outstanding.”
The start to the game, Hellige said, was the key for the win.
“What we talked about was even against Fairfield (a 69-44 win on Tuesday), we came out a little slow offensively,” Hellige said. “But we talked about having a high energy level, being focused defensively, and that’s going to carry you on the offensive end.”
Holy Trinity pushed the lead to 40-15 in the third quarter, eventually forcing a running clock under the IHSAA’s 35-point rule late in the game. The Crusaders held the Hawks to just four field goals in the second half.
Luke Hellige led Holy Trinity with 25 points. Conner Gehling added 17.
“Conner was super active,” John Hellige said. “He had a high energy level tonight, and he just had a great game. He had a quiet, nice, 17 (points), had a bunch of rebounds, and just played great in the middle of the zone.”
Hellige was glad his team was able to get a game on Tuesday to get rid of the rust from the week-long Christmas break of no games.
“It really helped us get our jitters out, really helped us get a feel for the speed of a varsity game versus going against our varsity reserve guys (in practice),” Hellige said.
Holy Trinity plays at Danville on Tuesday.
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