Trinity Coach Mike Szabo Talks About No. 1 Trinity's 79-70 Win Over No. 5/4 PRP

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- No. 1 Trinity hit all nine of its fourth quarter free throw attempts en route to a 79-70 win over No. 5/4 Pleasure Ridge Park on the road.
Senior Nathan Dieudonne had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Shamrocks. Dieudonne was one of four players to score at least 16 points for the Shamrocks, including 16 from Troy Saxton, who came off the bench for the first time this season.
Trinity has now won 13 of its last 14 games and are 16-1 this season against teams from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Each of the Shamrocks' in-state wins in 2011-2012 have been by at least nine points.
Junior guard Darryl Hicks hit a three-point field goal with 2:16 left to give Trinity a 69-66 lead and the Panthers never got closer than one the rest of the way. After the Hicks three, the Panthers cut the score to 69-68 before the Shamrocks scored six straight points on free throws by DeMarcus Page and Charles Foster and a basket by Saxton. After a Panther basket with 0:58 left, Dieudonne and James Quick each hit two free throws to seal the win in the final 30 seconds.
It is the third time in the last four meetings between the teams that at least one of the programs was ranked number one in the state of Kentucky. Previously, Trinity upset the top-ranked Panthers 64-47 in the quarterfinals of the 2004 King of the Bluegrass and the top-ranked Shamrocks beat PRP 52-46 in the semifinals of the 2005 Republic Bank/Coca-Cola Louisville Invitational Tournament at the Louisville Gardens.
Trinity has won all three meetings since 2004 when at least one of the teams was ranked number one in the state.
Trinity coach Mike Szabo improved to 3-1 during his career in games against Pleasure Ridge Park's Dale Mabrey, one of the state of Kentucky's all-time winningest coaches. Pleasure Ridge Park, ranked fifth in the Louisville Courier-Journal Litkenhous ratings and fourth in the Lexington Herald-Leader's Dave Cantrall ratings, had won nine of its last ten games entering the matchup with the Shamrocks.
Trinity improved to 5-0 on the season against teams from the sixth region. Trinity has now won 31 of its last 35 regular season games.
1 2 3 4 Final Records
No. 1 Trinity 16 18 17 28 79 18-3
Pleasure Ridge Park 20 12 19 19 70 18-5
Trinity (79)- Hicks 18, Foster 16, Saxton 16, Perito 2, Dieudonne 20, Quick 3, Page 4.
Pleasure Ridge Park (70)- McDonalds 19, Taylor 10, Thomas 5, Clemons 18, Mackin 5, Harris 13.
Three-Point Field Goals- McDonalds, Hicks 3, Foster 3, Saxton 2.

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• Troy Saxton
• Mike Szabo
• Nathan Dieudonne
• Darryl Hicks
• Trinity
• Basketball
• KHSAA