'Foxhole guy' C.J. Walls lifts Trinity basketball over DeSales in season opener

C.J. Walls may not be the top prospect on a Trinity High School basketball team loaded with talent, but he plays an invaluable role.

“C.J. is a foxhole guy,” Shamrocks coach Mike Szabo said of his 6-foot-2 senior. “He’s in the trenches, doing all the dirty work. He plays so hard. He does a lot of the little things that are needed.”

Walls was a scorer Tuesday night as the Shamrocks – ranked No. 3 in the state in The Courier Journal’s preseason poll of coaches – made their season debut. Walls scored a team-high 18 points and added seven rebounds as host Trinity beat No. 18 DeSales 54-49.

Walls certainly isn’t an unknown after averaging 11.5 points and 5.2 rebounds last season. But with the return of top scorer Cam McClain and the additions of Drae Vasser and Jayden Johnson to the Trinity roster, Walls likely won’t be the No. 1 scoring option most nights.

“My mentality is team-first,” Walls said. “I want to win state. It’s not all about points. I just play for the team. I get the team involved, and then I get involved.”

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Johnson scored 10 points and Vasser added eight points and a team-high 13 points for

DeSales got big games from bothers Crew Gibson (20 points) and Will Gibson (15 points).

Here are three observations from the game:

Walls hits several big shots

Walls hit big shot after big shot to keep Trinity in the lead most of the night.

His 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave the Shamrocks a 29-27 halftime advantage. He scored five points – including a 3-pointers – during a 9-3 run to open the fourth quarter that gave Trinity a 43-34 lead.

“I just try to make the tough plays a lot of guys won’t make,” Walls said. “Some of the younger dudes, they were struggling a little bit. It’s the first game, so you can expect that. I just tried to pick them up and follow my energy since I’m a senior.”

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DeSales coach Damien Anderson said Walls’ big night was the result of Trinity’s depth.

“They can all shoot it well, so sometimes it’s like, ‘Which one do you want to shoot?’” Anderson said. “You can’t stop everything. He definitely shot it well and did it in some big moments.”

Rebounding a key

Szabo said DeSales was the aggressor in the first half but was pleased with the way his team regrouped in the second half.

Trinity won the rebounding battle 38-22 and took advantage of several offensive rebounds to score second-chance points over the final two quarters.

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“I thought the emotions of playing our first home game got the best of us in the first half, and we did a lot of things out of character,” Szabo said. “The emotions zapped our energy. We looked tired. Once we settled in, I thought we looked a little better with our effort and toughness. The fact we outrebounded them by 16 was huge.”

DeSales starting with tough schedule

DeSales opened its season Monday with a 60-56 victory over No. 6 Male and will host No. 17 Ballard on Friday. The Colts will close their week Saturday with a game against traditional West Virginia powerhouse Huntington Prep in the Body Armor Classic at Charlestown (Ind.).

“It’s a big week for us,” Anderson said. “But if we want to do anything at the end of the season, this is what the schedule is like.”

Brady Cummins’ 3-pointer pulled the Colts within 51-49 seconds with 31 seconds left, and they had a chance to tie in the final seconds but couldn’t convert.

“We probably lost our legs a little bit late in the game after playing last night and some guys playing some big minutes,” Anderson said. “But I’m pretty encouraged about where we are right now."

DESALES             13          14          4            18 - 49

TRINITY              16          13          5            20 - 54

DeSales (1-1) – DaVon Martin 1, Tyler Klein 3, Logan Tharp 2, Will Gibson 15 Crew Gibson 20, Brady Cummins 8.

Trinity (1-0) – Drae Vasser 8, Cam McClain 6, Jayden Johnson 10, Alex Johnson 5, David Pfeifer 7, C.J. Walls 18.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 'Foxhole guy' Walls lifts No. 3 Trinity basketball over No. 18 DeSales