Trinity boys basketball holds off Goffstown to win first D1 title since 2013 (video)

DURHAM - It was happening again, but this time the Trinity High School boys basketball team knew how to respond.

After seeing Goffstown make a second-half comeback to hand the Pioneers their only regular-season loss, Trinity players and coaches knew the Grizzlies were capable of doing it in Sunday's Division I championship game, no matter how big the deficit.

When Goffstown ended the third quarter on a 15-3 run to take a four-point lead, the Pioneers were able to answer.

No. 1 Trinity held No. 3 Goffstown scoreless for the first 4:11 of the fourth quarter, scoring seven straight points to take the lead for good, and the Pioneers held on late for a 64-62 win over the Grizzlies at the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gym. The title is the first for Trinity since 2013.

Tyler Bike led the way for Trinity (19-1), as he scored 23 points, including four straight free throws during that 7-0 run after a foul and a technical foul on Goffstown with 4:29 left in the game. Bike also came up with a steal on the Grizzlies' final possession to secure the win for the Pioneers.

"They ran a double screen the other time and Aiden O’Connell got a 3," Bike said. "When I saw them take a screen, I said switch. We had a great switch and I was able to jump the pass and make a great steal."

It's the kind of play Trinity coach Keith Bike has seen his son make all season on the defensive end.

"Tyler, that’s him," Keith Bike said. "He’s played his butt off on defense all year, so it was just a fitting way to end it.

"Our kids didn’t quit. When we went down, they went on a great run and we were down by four. Our kids believed and they’ve been believing all year."

Mark Nyomah had 12 points and eight rebounds for Trinity and Andrew Politi also added 12 points and five rebounds, as the Pioneers took advantage of Goffstown's miscues, scoring 25 points off 15 turnovers by the Grizzlies. DeVohn Ellis was in double figures with 10 points as the Pioneers shot 51 percent from the field for the game.

Aiden O'Connell finished with 23 points for Goffstown (18-4), which was playing in a final for the first time since winning back-to-back Class I championships in 1999-2000. Peyton Strickland came off the bench to add 12 points and Mason Blondeau had 11 points while Rob Baguidy had six points, 10 assists, four rebounds and three steals.

"It hurts," Goffstown coach Ryan Cowette said. "Our guys were doing the best they could, unfortunately sometimes the ball doesn’t go through, especially up here. I couldn’t be any more proud of their effort."

Goffstown outrebounded Trinity, 24-20, and shot 59 percent from the floor, including 73.3 percent in the first half. Despite that, the Grizzlies still trailed by as many as 12 points, going down 27-15 early in the second quarter.

"We just talked about sticking together, continuing to trust each other," Cowette said. "We talked before the game that no matter what happened, we had to find a way. There’s going to be stretches, there’s going to be runs, that things are going to go against you. We can’t let it bother us."

Goffstown responded over the final six minutes of the half, outscoring Trinity 17-10 to get within five points at halftime. Both Nyomah and Ellis picked up their second fouls and came out of the game during that stretch, as O'Connell scored 11 of the 17 points for the Grizzlies.

Trinity led 43-35 on a basket by Politi with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter when Goffstown made it's move, scoring 10 straight points and going in front 45-43 on a layup by Ryan Strand. The Pioneers took the lead back on a 3 by Ellis, but a putback by Strickland gave the Grizzlies a 47-46 advantage with just under a minute to go in the third.

After Trinity missed on its end, Baguidy found Strand in the corner for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, giving the Grizzlies a 50-46 lead going into the fourth.

"Goffstown is a great team," Tyler Bike said. "We were up and then they went up, then we had to come back. We knew we had to lock in at the start of the fourth quarter. There was eight minutes left and that is a lot of time. We had to creep back slowly."

The Pioneers did, as neither team scored for more than three minutes to open the quarter. A 3-poiner by Ellis cut the Goffstown lead to one with 4:58 remaining, and on the Grizzlies next possession, Bike came up with a steal and looked like he might score in transition.

But Goffstown's Jonah Lopez was able to get back and fouled Bike, sending the sophomore to the free throw line. As players from both teams were lining up for the foul shots, Strickland and Bike collided, and the Trinity player ended up on the ground, while the officials called Strickland for a technical foul.

Bike then hit all four free throws to put Trinity on top for good, 53-50, with 4:29 left to play.

"What happened with all the free throws, that was a big moment in the game," Cowette said. "I thought we battled back from it right after that."

It looked like Trinity was going to pull away, getting a three-point play on a put back by Nyomah and a 3-pointer from Max Shosa to go up 61-55 with 1:50 remaining. But the Pioneers were just 3 of 8 at the line in the final 90 seconds and Goffstown took advantage, getting a layup from Strickland to make it 63-62 with just under 30 seconds to play.

After a Goffstown foul, Nyomah missed two free throws, Blondeau grabbed the rebound and Cowette called a timeout with 10.9 seconds remaining. With two fouls still to give, the Pioneers committed one on the inbounds play, taking almost two seconds off the clock and forcing the Grizzlies to put it in play again.

"We knew we were going try to burn a foul and then we just had to bear down," Keith Bike said. "I wish we were up three (points), because we were going to foul if we were up three."

Instead, Goffstown tried to set up for a final shot, but Baguidy's pass to Strand on the wing was stolen by Tyler Bike and time ran out before the Grizzlies could foul.

"Goffstown is a great team and it was a great battle. We got lucky they missed a couple of shots. We made enough good plays. Shosa hit a huge shot and Mark got a huge rebound, made a layup and got fouled. It was a great game. To walk away with a W is amazing."