The Blessed Trinity boys may have a new coach, but they’ve picked up where they left off a year ago.
Blessed Trinity went 23-7 last year and reached the second round of the playoffs. This year Patrick Hughes, who played at the school, took over as head coach when Brian Marks stepped down and the team hasn’t missed a beat. B.T. has raced to a 9-2 start.
The Blessed Trinity boys are the only Class AAA team competing in the Southeast Basketball Association’s Hoop Festival today at Pope High School. The Titans will play Sprayberry at 2:30 p.m.
The quick start includes a pair of Region 4-AAA wins over Decatur and Washington, as well as wins over Southwest Atlanta Christian and Marietta. The losses have come against Campbell and Chapel Hill, both in the Thanksgiving tournament at Marietta.
Blessed Trinity is led by 5-foot-10 point guard Cam Johnson and forwards Keishawn Binion (6-6) and Cody Pelitera (6-7), who have shown strength around the basket.
“It’s definitely a different team,” said Hughes, who graduated six seniors, including the team’s top three scorers. Guard Patrick Lamar made the Georgia Tech team as a walk-on. “What has happened is we have different guys stepping up. It’s not a committee of one. We’ve had four or five different guys who have been our leading scorer. It gives us the ability to not let the other team focus on one guy.”
Johnson has been the iron man. He averages 30 minutes and last week played 35 of 36 minutes of an overtime win against Riverwood. He averages eight points, four assists and three steals, with a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“He’s our facilitator,” Hughes said. “He gets us started.”
Junior guard Jackson Svete leads the team in scoring at 12 points. He’s an excellent penetrator and is shooting 45 percent on 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Kyle Swade averages 10 points and has been in double figures four straight games.
Pelitera and Binion offer some inside muscle. Pelitera averages nine points and six rebounds and Binion averages five points and five rebounds.
“They’re both physical guys and clean up things on the defensive end,” Hughes said.
(Coming Tuesday: A look at the No. 1 Dawson County girls.)
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