North Dakota Preview: Trenton
***Photo Credit: Nick Nelson/Forum News Service*** The Trenton Tigers started the year with 24 straight wins on their way to the state tournament. At state, Trenton lost to Hettinger-Scranton in overtime and Kidder County before finishing the year with a…
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Continue Reading***Photo Credit: Nick Nelson/Forum News Service***
The Trenton Tigers started the year with 24 straight wins on their way to the state tournament. At state, Trenton lost to Hettinger-Scranton in overtime and Kidder County before finishing the year with a win over Shiloh Christian. With all five starters back including all state guard Kaity Hove, the Tigers are on the short list of contenders in Class B.
GO-TO PLAYER: Kaity Hove
Hove averaged 16.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 5.5 steals per game last season on her way to earning all-state honors. She eclipsed the 1,000 point mark last year and makes everything go for this group. She’s terrific at creating shots for herself and for her teammates and she’s elite at controlling the tempo of the game. She’s awesome on the defensive end of the floor, supplying endless pressure on the ball while also being a terror off the ball. She’ll take a rebound and turn it into a scoring opportunity. She’s the engine for the Tigers and they’ll win a lot of games because of her.
KEY RETURNERS: Alexa St. Pierre, Jacee Turcotte, Alyssa St. Pierre, Kella Norby
Trenton is far more than a one-player outfit as the St. Pierre sisters, Turcotte and Norby all started a year ago and had their share of big moments.
Alexa St. Pierre started as a sophomore and joins Hove to form one of the best backcourts in Class B. She’s an excellent secondary ball handler and perhaps the team’s best perimeter shooter.
Alexa St. Pierre also started as a sophomore and is a versatile forward who can defend multiple players, rebound, shoot from the perimeter and create her own offense in a complementary role.
Turcotte is one of the top forwards in the area heading into her sophomore year and showed last year that she can provide scoring inside. She’s a strong finisher in the paint and rebounds her area at a high rate.
Norby is a presence inside at 6-foot-2, keying one of the state’s best defenses from the back-end. She’s a solid athlete who can also step out and space the floor at times.
QUESTION: Can the defense be dominant again?
Trenton was a dominant team last year in large part thanks to its stifling defense. The Tigers surrendered 33 points per game and only allowed three teams to eclipse 50 points all season. They used that strength to win a number of close games particularly late in the season where they advanced through regionals with four wins by single-digits. If the Tigers are going to continue to win close games, the defense will need to continue to be dominant.
OUTLOOK
Trenton is one of several teams that can legitimately go into the season with state title aspirations. The Tigers have that kind of talent. The Tigers have experience as they start four upperclassmen and plenty of firepower to go along with strong defensive culture. They’ve got size, shooting, athleticism; they’ve got all the components to win a ton of games and possibly hang a banner.