The Lady Eagles have been crowned the champions of the 4th Annual Bible College National Invitational Tournament. Being the host team and after a successful regular season, the Eagles were slated to do well. The wins over the weekend will be a good predicter for the rest of TBC’s post-season as they only have two tournaments remaining. Trinity Baptist has clearly found a dynamic team flow that utilizes its’ defense and dominant offense to achieve stunning victories.
The Eagles’ first win over Appalachian Bible College went as expected. The final result was 85-19 in the NIT semifinals. Senior guard, Jaela Green, led the team in scoring while also notching six assists; this combine helped her contribute to over a quarter of the team’s points. Teammate Selena Perez went 5-10 beyond the arc, forcing the defense to the perimeter. As a team, Trinity Baptist achieved it’s season high in scoring.
TBC Eagles’ win over Appalachian Bible pushed them into the Women’s Championship game for the tournament. The Championship is the second consecutive Bible College National Championship for the team. Don’t let the Eagles’ success fool you; it was a true battle for the title between TBC and the Chargers of Southeastern Baptist. The back-and-forth started early in the game and the Chargers held a narrow lead of 47-44 going into the fourth quarter.
The Chargers were led by Cardrina Nolen, who scored 21 point for Southeastern. By the fourth, Southeastern Baptist was up 51-46 and help an aggressive defense before the Eagles took over with many games changing plays.
With less than 5 minutes left on the clock, Selena Perez, whom was a powerful playmaker throughout whole tournament, drew a foul allowing her to score two points to begin extending the Eagles’ one-point lead. Teammates Justin Vedrine and Oceane Tabbak both scored on layups, bringing the score to 62-59. Finally, to secure the win for the team, Green and Perez got in two more foul shots and Vedrine got in one last point. Vedrine and Green combined put up 46 of the 67 points scored by the Eagles accounting for much of the team’s explosive offense.
The women of Trinity Baptist played at an elite level proving their effective teamwork. The strength of the team will be essential moving forward as the Eagles look forward to the NCCAA South Region Tournament. The tournament will kick-off on Feb. 25 in Toccoa, Georgia.
