Trinity boys basketball beats Alvirne in OT to avoid D1 playoff upset

MANCHESTER - When the game is on the line, there’s nobody else Trinity High School boys basketball coach Ray Farmer would rather have the ball than Jamar Gregory-Alleyne.

The senior guard missed a shot that would’ve given his team the win late in the fourth quarter, but he delivered in overtime.

Gregory-Alleyne delivered a floater from near the free throw line that dropped through the hoop with six seconds left in overtime as No. 3 Trinity came from behind to defeat No. 6 Alvirne, 62-60, in Saturday’s Division I quarterfinal.

It was far from a flawless outing and mistakes were made by both teams, but Trinity (17-3) made more plays when it counted down the stretch. Gregory-Alleyne missed a shot with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation with the score tied 55-55, but it didn’t rattle him.

“He came to the bench when he missed the one to win the game, everybody came around him and gave him a hug and said ‘Don’t worry brother you’ve got the next one,’” Farmer said. “That right there was the win. That was the win for me. It came together. Everybody made mistakes, but nobody got down on each other.

"Jamar is our guy. We like the ball in his hands late because we know he gets to the basket at will. He gets to the rim and he makes the play.”

Although Trinity punched its ticket to the final four, where it will play No. 2 Bedford (18-2) on Wednesday night at the Rochester Rec. Center, the Pioneers played most of the game from behind.

Junior forward Jordan Torres (team-high 17 points) led Trinity to an early 7-2 lead, but four different Alvirne (13-7) players connected from 3-point land in the first quarter to give the Broncos a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Junior forward Angel Kanger (14 points) had some pretty finishes around the rim, sophomore guard Sam St. Clair (13 points, three 3-pointers) was sharp behind the arc and senior forward Garrett Hall (18 points, four blocks, three steals) had a monster game on both ends of the floor to give Alvirne its biggest lead, 28-15, in the middle of the second quarter and hold a 30-22 lead at halftime.

Alvirne matched its biggest lead, 39-26, in the middle of the third quarter before Trinity junior guard Collin Charbonneau (14 points) sank his first of four 3s to cut Alvirne’s lead to 10. Then, senior forward Connor Cote scored six of his 10 points in the final four minutes of the third frame to cut the Pioneers’ deficit to 48-46 heading into the fourth.

Alvirne still had a 53-48 lead with 3:17 remaining in regulation. Senior guard Connor Bishop (10 points) had a pair of free throws, Charbonneau made another 3 and Cote tied the game on a layup with 1:02 remaining to force overtime.

Farmer credited his players for maintaining their composure late in the game.

“I like to think I stay calm on the sidelines and keep them even keeled,” Farmer said. “I told them ‘the playoffs is going to be that way. Emotions fly.’ You saw in the first quarter, that was all off emotions. We just got a little rattled.

"I kept reminding them that ‘We’ve been here, we’ve been here, we’ve been here. This is our last time on this court. We’re not going out the same way we did (against Keene in last year’s quarterfinal).’ I think we did that well. Things didn’t go our way the entire time, but we stayed calm.”

Last year, the Pioneers were the No. 3 seed, but fell to No. 6 Keene, 59-58, in the quarterfinals, and Trinity wasn’t going to let that happen again.

Both teams had opportunities to finish off the game in regulation. Torres stole the ball near midcourt with 11.7 seconds remaining and nothing but open court in front of him, but the officials called a foul on Torres.

That whistle set up an inbounds opportunity for Alvirne in Pioneer territory. Torres knocked the ball out of bounds, but the referee determined the ball went off an Alvirne hand at the last moment, ending the Broncos possession.

Hall shot 5 for 6 from the free throw line in overtime, lifting Alvirne to a 58-55 lead, but a Torres layup and a Charbonneau 3 gave Trinity a 60-58 lead. Hall tied the game with a pair of free throws with 46.6 seconds left.

Although Gregory-Alleyne (eight points) had four buckets, his last one was certainly the biggest of the night.

While his game-winning shot sparked a wild celebration in the Trinity High School gym, it meant a devastating heartbreak for the Broncos, who were one possession away from reaching their first final four since 2011, where they also lost to Trinity.

“We shot ourselves in the foot," first-year head Sam Bonney-Liles said. "It came down to turnovers that made the difference. These guys competed their butts off. I’m so proud of them. At the beginning of the year nobody thought we’d be here.

"Nobody thought we’d be one possession away from the final four. These guys have ruined coaching for me in the best way possible. From the moment I took over they’ve worked hard. They’re so close. There’s no BS. Just basketball. I’m so proud of them.”