The Trinity basketball team wanted to defend their state championship in the Sweet 16, but their run came to an end when they lost to rival Ballard 57- 46 in the Seventh Region final Saturday at Valley High School. The “SlamRocks” were led by senior Darryl Hicks, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Trinity started out neck and neck with the Bruins, with junior Trey Ivory scoring 13 of the team’s first 15 points. The game was more Trinity’s style of play — a defensive, physical game. With the first quarter ending with Ballard leading 10-9, and Ivory scoring all 9, Trinity then went on an 8-2 scoring run to start the second quarter. The Bruins showed resiliency as they came back with a 7-2 run of their own, which ultimately led to Ballard still leading at halftime 24-23. The Bruins showed they would not look back as they went into the third quarter with a 15-7 run. Trinity struggled from the field, shooting a mere 30 percent compared to Ballard’s 45 percent. The poor shooting was something Trinity struggled with all year. Shamrocks head coach Mike Szabo said, “We’ve been struggling all year. We’ve been good enough defensively all year to compensate for the lack of our ability to knock down jump shots, to hit a few threes, but to play the No. 2 team in the state, you’ve got to hit some shots. “We couldn’t make a shot from start to finish, (going) 4-27 from 3. Defensively, we played good enough to win. We only had 12 turnovers, so we were getting shots, and they only had 8 offensive rebounds. The ball just didn’t go down.” The Bruins were led by junior Quentin Snyder, who had 21 points and 9 rebounds and junior forward Kelan Martin, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds. They were an extremely lengthy team as well. Szabo commented on their height, saying, “Their athleticism and size is always tough to deal with. Then you throw in the fact that they’re making jump shots — it’s a tough combination.” Reflecting on the season, the Rocks won the LIT for the third time in the last four years, beat Ballard 53-52 without Hicks, and did well in the Marbito STOP- DWI Holiday Classic, as well as the King of the Bluegrass Tournament. Of the season, Szabo said, “It was great. I told the guys in the locker room that they earned respect all year long. They were ranked No. 1 from start to finish because of the body of work they put night in and night out and the way they battled. We also dealt with some injuries and some sickness, and other guys stepped up in those situations, so I’m incredibly proud of the way our guys went about and handled our business and their season. I thought it was a really good year; it was just a tough way to end it.” Assistant coach James Torra said, “The guys were awesome. The seniors were great. To be No. 1 in the state the whole year, a great senior class that you can be proud of and great guys on the team, it was a 10 out of 10.”