The Anthem Prep Eagles hosted the Trivium Prep Crimson Knights in the final game of the regular season, losing 67-61.

 

Both teams opened up the game very slowly, as the Eagles led the Crimson Knights by a score of 9-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter.  The Eagles and the Crimson Knights were missing easy shots and turning the ball over at a high rate.

 

The one bright spot of the first quarter was the Eagles 6-foot-9 senior forward and Portland State commit, Trey Wood, blocking four shots.  But he couldn’t seem to get going offensively, as the Crimson Knights double and triple-teamed him, forcing the ball out of his hands.

 

With head coach Ryan Nelson not in attendance at Thursday’s game due to surgery, the Crimson Knights rallied together and and performed for their coach.

 

“With our coach being down, I just rallied the boys and told them, ‘Hey, let’s do this for coach, do it for yourselves,” Trivium Prep interim head coach Jarrett Randle said.

 

The Crimson Knights kept playing their game and came out firing in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 27-16 in the quarter and taking a 34-25 lead into the locker room.

 

“I just told them to keep getting shots, keep working the offense, and the shots would come,” Randle said. “And we started knocking some shots down.”

 

Knock shots down they did, as senior forward Tommy Roberts caught fire, scoring 12 points in the second quarter while knocking down three triples.  He went into the half with 15 points and went on to score 29 points, with 18 of them coming behind the three-point line.

 

Wood led the Eagles with 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks, even with the defense hounding him all night.  This was thanks in large part to his patient yet aggressive play.

 

“You’ve just got to be patient with it,” Wood said. “If I drive into the paint, everybody crashes in on me and I can pass it out for a three.”

 

Even through the third quarter, the Eagles had a tough time getting Wood involved offensively, and it showed.  The Crimson Knights kept knocking down shots and widened their gap, taking a 52-38 lead into the final quarter.

 

Trivium Prep came out in the fourth quarter with the intention of holding onto the ball as much as possible.

 

Anthem Preph head coach Alex Curry employed a full-court press to try and get the ball back and shrink the Eagles’ deficit. 

 

“They had a game plan and they were trying to drain the clock,” Curry said. “When we started trying to work against that, it really worked in our favor.”

 

The Eagles were able to close the margin to just three points to make the score 60-57 with just over a minute left, but the Crimson Knights' poise and free throw shooting earned them the win, as Trivium Prep pulled away to win the game by six points.

 

It wasn’t too bad of a loss for Anthem Prep, as they have already locked up a spot in the regional playoffs.  They take on Salome Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the 1A West region semifinal.

 

Anthem Prep might already looking past Salome.

 

“I feel confident.  We should be able to crush this team.  We’ve got a good team to play on Saturday,” Wood said. “But first thing’s first, we’ve got to win tomorrow.”