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TRINITY ATHLETICS

January 17, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Trinity Stakes Claim For Top Ranking in Kentucky, National Attention After Claiming Three Tournament Titles

Leading Mr. Basketball Candidate, Miami (Ohio) Signee Josh Sewell Leads Shamrocks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After completing a historic “Trinity Trifecta” on Saturday night in the finals of the Louisville Invitational Tournament by winning its third tournament title of the season, Trinity has positioned itself for a top ranking in the state of Kentucky and potential national attention for its recent accomplishments on the hardwood.

Trinity became the first team to win Kentucky’s three most prestigious in-season tournaments in the same season, the 2009 Canfield Development
King of the Bluegrass at Fairdale High School, 2009 Republic Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic High School and the 2010 Republic Bank/Coca-Cola Louisville Invitational Tournament.

Trinity is currently 16-2 on the season and 38-10 over the last two years.

In winning the Louisville Invitational Tournament, Trinity defeated Ballard, Eastern and Jeffersontown in a 29-hour period. The trio of teams, along with the Shamrocks, are generally considered the top four teams in the Seventh Region in the state of Kentucky, one of the toughest leagues or regions in the nation this season.

“I am so proud of this group,” said ninth year head coach Mike Szabo. “They continue to fight and work hard every day. They approach every game with a great mindset of coming out to win. I knew coming into this season that we would have a good team, but I don’t think any team expects to face this type of schedule over the last month like we have and win the three top tournaments in the state of Kentucky.”

The Shamrocks have now won 14 consecutive games, the state of Kentucky’s longest active winning streak and a school record for Trinity. Bowling Green, a team the Shamrocks defeated on Nov. 14, 2009 in a preseason scrimmage 64-47, has the second longest streak at 13 games. Trinity has not lost since Dec. 15, 2009 against Ballard, a team the Rocks beat 69-63 in overtime when the teams met again on Jan. 16, 2010. Trinity has won 16 of its last 17 games.

“We just want to try to win every game and were going to try to approach every day with the mindset that we want to get better,” said Szabo. “We have about five weeks before the postseason begins and some tough games left. They will provide us with more opportunities to improve on a daily basis and put ourselves in a position to be successful in the postseason.”

Szabo led Trinity to the 2004 National City/KHSAA Sweet Sixteen Boy’s State Basketball Tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. It was the first trip to the state tournament in program history for the Shamrocks, who were celebrating the school’s 50th anniversary that season. The Shamrocks won an opening round game against University Heights on March 17, 2004 before suffering a 66-59 setback to Chris Lofton and Mason County in three overtimes on March 19, 2004. Over 30,000 people saw the two games in person in one of the nation’s most historic venues.

Szabo was an assistant coach at Northwestern under current USC head coach Kevin O’Neil.

A trademark of the Szabo era, Trinity continues to win with defense. Trinity has won 27 consecutive games when holding their opponent to 55 points or less, dating to Feb. 22, 2008. Trinity has held 15 of their 18 opponents to 60 points or less this season and rank in the top ten in the state in scoring defense at 52.3 points allowed per contest.

The Shamrocks impressive defensive efforts have come against the state’s most challenging schedule. Including two preseason scrimmages, Trinity has played nine games involving teams ranked in the top 15 of the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Preseason Coaches rankings (#2 Scott County, #3 Eastern, #5 Clark County, #8 Lexington Catholic, #9 Jeffersontown, #11 Ballard-twice, #14 Bowling Green and #15 Shelby County). The Shamrocks have also defeated #25 Male and Seneca, a team unranked in the preseason that has emerged as a consensus top ten team in the state. Trinity has also defeated two teams from outside the state of Kentucky, Chaparral (Arizona) and McEachern (Georgia). Both teams are ranked among the top 30 in their respective state.

Senior Josh Sewell has established himself as the leading candidate for the Mr. Basketball award in the state of Kentucky. He has been named the Most Valuable Player of the Canfield Development King of the Bluegrass, Republic Bank Holiday Classic and Republic Bank/Coca-Cola Louisville Invitational Tournament this season.

Sewell signed a national letter of intent to play for Coach Charlie Coles at Miami on Nov. 11, 2009.

Sewell reached the 1,000 point mark for his career earlier this season and has risen to second on the school’s all-time scoring list. He stands as 1,249 points entering the Jan. 19, 2010 game at Christian Academy of Louisville. Lee Morrison, a 1991 Trinity graduate, is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,317 points in 77 games.

Senior Taylor Epley is second on the team in scoring while senior Daniel Corbett has had a solid season at the point guard position for Trinity. Senior Dylan Kupper, who has appeared in the state football championship game each of the last three season, winning two, has been vital off the bench.

The emergence of a sophomore quartet has also helped the Rocks climb the ranks in the state of Kentucky this season. Guard Troy Saxton, guard Charles Foster, guard Andrew Perito and forward Nathan Dieudonne have been key to Trinity’s success. Junior Chancellor Armstrong has also seen time in the post.

The Shamrocks are off to their best start since the historical 2004-2005 season that saw the Shamrocks record a school record 29 wins and achieve the school’s first top ranking in the state of Kentucky in program history. The Shamrocks were 17-1 through 18 games that season. The team was ranked as high as 26th nationally (ihigh.com) that season on Jan. 25, 2005, the highest rank in school history.

Trinity returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 at Christian Academy before taking on rival St. Xavier on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, the home of the University of Louisville Cardinals. The most recent meeting between the teams drew over 10,000 fans to the historic venue that is in its 54th and final season of use for the Louisville Men’s Basketball team.

For More Information:
Robert Sampson
Trinity Sports Information Director
[email]rssamp2@gmail.com[/email]