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2 3 | Friday, D ecem ber 9, 2 0 1 6 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Kevin Nagel Oakville Beaver Sports Editor knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports "Connected to your Community" D eep and de Gaudy 30-6 record over past three seasons hasn't resulted in Halton title for Holy Trinity By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff The Holy Trinity Titans are four games into the Halton high school basketball season -- they'll hit the halfway mark of the season next w eek -- and coach Andrew Saulez has yet to settle on a starting line up. If that makes it sound like the Titans are a team in disarray, well, that' s certainly not the case. With Tuesday' s 70-39 w in over the Cor pus Christi Longhorns, Trinity im proved to 4-0. Saulez' s problem locking down a starting lineup is that there are only five spots. Twelve Titans chip in with points "We've got depth with a lot of guys of similar calibre," the Titans' coach said. "The challenge is get ting guys enough playing time. W e'll work on it and as opportuni ties present themselves, som e guys will separate them selves." If he w as looking for any clar ity Tuesday, he didn't get it. Twelve players scored for the Ti tans, eight of them scoring five of more. The leading scorer was the youngest on the team, Dante Richards. The Grade 10 student was the only one to reach double figures, scoring 10 points, in clu d ing a pair of three-pointers in the opening quarter. The Titans' depth is remarkable considering there are 11 former Trinity students playing for prep schools, including Ignas Brazdeikis, w ho is among the top five Canadians in this year' s recruiting class. "A lot of guys have m oved on, but I don't know where w e w ould have found space for everyone," Saulez said. Even with the departures, there' s a deep pool of talent that again has Trinity among the contenders for the Halton title. "E veryone' s really com p eti tive," said Elijah Lostracco, one of tw o returning starters from a Trinity team that w as edged 75 73 by A ssum ption in last year' s sem ifinals. "W e've got a lo t of fast, athletic guys and every b od y' s ou t to prove them selves and earn m in u tes." And w hile every player w ould like to m aximize their m inutes, they see the benefits of having fresh legs on the court and hope that will ultimately help Trinity achieve its goals. Trinity has five Grade 12s, but Saulez still characterizes the Titans a young team. Griffin Dubbeld and Matt Marzetti are looking for big ger roles after com ing off the bench last season and Tevin Doyley made his first high school basket Tuesday. He had hoped to play last season but broke his leg playing football. Matt Marzetti (7) of the Holy Trinity Titans studies his options during Tuesdays Halton senior boys basketball game against the Corpus Christi Longhorns at Holy Trinity. The Titans won 70-39. | Jayson Mills photo The remaining 10 players on the roster are Grade 11 or younger. "The kids are w illing to learn," Saulez said. "A lot of them are still getting used to the senior game -- the speed, the physicality" Lostracco said that' s where it' s up to him and fellow returning Grade 12 Diego N unez to set an example for the younger players. "We have to play and practise like w e're the best," he said. "Teams know us for being a fast, aggressive defensive team. It' s 100 per cent in practice. We get on guys com ing up from junior, but you can get on them and push them and still be a good teammate." They push for more because for all Trinity' s success -- the Titans are 30-6 over the previous three regular seasons -- they have come up just short of their goal since w inning back-to-back Halton ti- tles in 2012 and 2013. Trinity lost in the final in 2014 and has been knocked out in the sem is the past two seasons. "You don't want to take any thing for granted. It com es with hard w ork," N unez said. "It' s good to know w e're always one of the teams in there, but you never want to settle. My first year w e w on (the junior championship). You get a taste and you want to get it back." LIV EY O U RW IL D E S TB A S E B A L LD R E A M S Mon-Thurs: Classes: Power Hitting, High Velocity Pitching, Infielding, Hitting and Pitching Mon/Wed: High Performance Clinics with former AA and AAA MiLB pro players Tues/Thurs: High Performance Softball Clinics with former NCAA D1 softball players Fri: Baseball and Softball Hitting Clinics Contact Fieldhouse for Lessons, Classes, Clinics and Training Programs. Fieldhouse provides the best baseball training with professional full-time baseball coaches and a first class indoor training facility for year-round training. Contact us: info@fieldhouseathletics.ca · Phone: 905-639-3421 · 5230 Harvester Road fie ld h o u s e a th le tic s .c a