Saturday night’s 67-60 victory didn’t start well for the Red Devils. Their opponent, the Trinity Titans, came out the gate with a 9-0 run in the opening minutes of the game. Chaminade recovered with their own 11-0 run, to end the quarter up 11-9. The Devils did this without senior Luke Kasubke–who was out with an illness–which allowed for freshman B.J. Ward to make his first career start.

Ward answered the call and controlled the offense with poise. The point guard was able to dribble the ball up the court against the aggressive press of the Titans. He didn’t have any highlight dunks or long-range threes, but he did his job efficiently and got the offense going every possession.

Matteus Case was the offensive star and sent the crowd to their feet on a highlight dunk in the second half. Case has been shooting the three-point shot phenomenally all year, and tonight was no different. The Canadian native had a three-point shot in the second quarter that swayed the momentum the Red Devil’s way. He had 13 points, but he played with total control.

Chaminade’s senior guard was able to accelerate off the dribble and cut to the basket to lay the ball up. He had the highlight of the night in the second half when Chaminade had an offensive possession and he was being guarded one on one. Case was dribbling the ball next to the visitor’s bench, saw an opening, and sprinted to the rim. As Case was closing in on the basket, Jeremiah Jones slid under the hoop to take the charge, but Case took flight and slammed the ball into the bucket knocking over Jones.  Every spectator in the crowd jumped to their feet in awe.

Defensively, Tarris Reed Jr. played his best game to date. The sophomore center had the daunting task of guarding Trinity’s 7’ foot star Ryan Kalkbrenner. Reed guarded the Creighton signee by almost completely posting Kalkbrenner; however, Reed kept his far side arm free to deflect any pass aimed for Trinity’s center. The sophomore was able to deny practically every pass into the paint and that was the catalyst for many fast break points for the Red Devils.

It was a big job guarding Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Reed didn’t do it alone. Senior Frazier Ott came off the bench and supported Reed to avoid foul trouble. There was obvious tension between both #11s. The two played very physical against each other and multiply elbows were thrown. Regardless, a team effort prevented Kalkbrenner from taking over.

Damian Mayo played well through the first two and a half quarters, scoring 13 points, but he injured his ankle in the middle of the third quarter and never returned. He made two threes, grabbed offensive rebounds, and finished at the rim to contribute to the win.

Perhaps Mayo’s injury was what Trinity needed to spark their offense. At one point in the third, Trinity was down 21 points, but slowly and surely, the Titans chipped away to trail just 3 points late in the fourth quarter. A clutch bucket by Ott in the fourth separated the teams by 5, and then a big time Red Devil possession killed about 20 seconds of clock and culminated in two free throws. The game was iced. Chaminade got back in the win column.

Overall Record: 10-2

MCC: 2-1

Next Game: Wednesday January 22^nd, 6:00 at Chaminade vs. DeSmet.