Tough regular-season play preps TCA to take second Mercer County Tournament title in a row
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
As a member of the Burlington County Athletic League, the Hamilton Township-based Trenton Catholic Academy boys’ basketball team sees steady competition within its own county only one week out of the year.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME.
And the Iron Mikes made the most of it again this year.
TCA claimed its second-straight Mercer County Tournament championship and third in four years on Feb. 27 when it took a, 67-53, win over second-seeded Notre Dame in the championship game at Trenton’s Sun National Bank Center. The Mikes (19-4) reached the finals by defeating top-seeded Ewing, 79-68, in the semifinals.
TCA entered as the fourth seed, as the brackets were set up strictly by record at the time of seeding.
“This was big because a lot of people said Ewing was gonna beat us, and that Notre Dame might upset us,” said Myles Powell, who earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 29 points against Ewing and 18 against ND. “We felt disrespected because we got the fourth seed. We play harder schedules than anybody in Mercer County.
“We had a chip on our shoulder and we had to look at everybody we played out there (in the regular season) as a championship schedule. That made us ready for this and that’s why we beat everybody in Mercer County.”
Veteran coach Fred Falchi knew his team would be ready.
“Honestly, we go out and we try to play everybody we possibly can, so when we come into the tournament it’s the same thing every year,” Falchi said. “There are always three, four teams with better records than us.
“Now with social media — with tweeting and all this and that — they’re always getting tweets how everybody is going to beat us. I think they just come here to show that right now they’re the best team in Mercer County.”
The semifinals were billed as a showdown between TCA’s Syracuse-bound Malachi Richardson and Ewing’s Temple-bound Trey Lowe. But it was Powell who stole the show. With TCA trailing by six at halftime, the guard scored 18 third-quarter points as the Mikes outscored the Blue Devils, 34-8.
Trenton Catholic needed no such comeback against Notre Dame (21-6) as it ran to a 7-0 lead and led for the entire contest. Powell got things started with three 3-pointers in the first quarter. In the second, point guard Marcus Floyd went from playmaker to shooter, scoring eight of his 18 points in that quarter as TCA led, 37-22, at intermission.
“The opportunities were there, and I’ll knock them down if you give them to me,” Floyd said. “We just took the lead and when we got it we stayed with it. We came out with a slow start during the Ewing game but not this time. With Myles hitting shots, with Mali (Richardson) hitting shots, with me driving … when I drive it’s just so easy playing with those guys because I can kick it back to them.”
The Mikes opened their biggest lead at 48-24, but Notre Dame deserved some credit for what came next. Rather than get disinterested, the young Irish team went on a 20-4 run to close within 52-44 with more than five minutes remaining.
Powell then took over, scoring six straight points to start the Mikes on a decisive run.
“We just stayed calm,” said Powell, who followed his father, Noel, by becoming the second 1,000-point scorer from his family in school history. “We didn’t let them get to us and we just did what we had to do.”
“We just had to turn it around and hit that switch,” added Floyd, who had five assists and three steals. “As soon as we hit that switch it was over.”
Richardson added 19 points, six rebounds and three assists for TCA, while Marquise Bell did a stellar defensive job on Notre Dame’s leading scorer Manny Dixon (9 points). Darren James came off the bench to lead Notre Dame with 13 points.
“We fought back hard and we showed we could play with anybody,” said James, one of just two seniors in the Irish’s regular rotation. “It doesn’t matter. Skill wise, talent wise, height-wise, size-wise, strength-wise. Notre Dame can play with anybody.”
Although he won’t be back, James sees good things ahead for ND.
“I’m telling you this right now,” he said, “that this right here is just the beginning.”
With states approaching, Floyd hopes it’s just the beginning for TCA, as well.
“This is a pretty big thing,” he said. “But we want more. We’re not stopping now.”
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As a member of the Burlington County Athletic League, the Hamilton Township-based Trenton Catholic Academy boys’ basketball team sees steady competition within its own county only one week out of the year.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME.
And the Iron Mikes made the most of it again this year.
TCA claimed its second-straight Mercer County Tournament championship and third in four years on Feb. 27 when it took a, 67-53, win over second-seeded Notre Dame in the championship game at Trenton’s Sun National Bank Center. The Mikes (19-4) reached the finals by defeating top-seeded Ewing, 79-68, in the semifinals.
TCA entered as the fourth seed, as the brackets were set up strictly by record at the time of seeding.
“This was big because a lot of people said Ewing was gonna beat us, and that Notre Dame might upset us,” said Myles Powell, who earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 29 points against Ewing and 18 against ND. “We felt disrespected because we got the fourth seed. We play harder schedules than anybody in Mercer County.
“We had a chip on our shoulder and we had to look at everybody we played out there (in the regular season) as a championship schedule. That made us ready for this and that’s why we beat everybody in Mercer County.”
Veteran coach Fred Falchi knew his team would be ready.
“Honestly, we go out and we try to play everybody we possibly can, so when we come into the tournament it’s the same thing every year,” Falchi said. “There are always three, four teams with better records than us.
“Now with social media — with tweeting and all this and that — they’re always getting tweets how everybody is going to beat us. I think they just come here to show that right now they’re the best team in Mercer County.”
The semifinals were billed as a showdown between TCA’s Syracuse-bound Malachi Richardson and Ewing’s Temple-bound Trey Lowe. But it was Powell who stole the show. With TCA trailing by six at halftime, the guard scored 18 third-quarter points as the Mikes outscored the Blue Devils, 34-8.
Trenton Catholic needed no such comeback against Notre Dame (21-6) as it ran to a 7-0 lead and led for the entire contest. Powell got things started with three 3-pointers in the first quarter. In the second, point guard Marcus Floyd went from playmaker to shooter, scoring eight of his 18 points in that quarter as TCA led, 37-22, at intermission.
“The opportunities were there, and I’ll knock them down if you give them to me,” Floyd said. “We just took the lead and when we got it we stayed with it. We came out with a slow start during the Ewing game but not this time. With Myles hitting shots, with Mali (Richardson) hitting shots, with me driving … when I drive it’s just so easy playing with those guys because I can kick it back to them.”
The Mikes opened their biggest lead at 48-24, but Notre Dame deserved some credit for what came next. Rather than get disinterested, the young Irish team went on a 20-4 run to close within 52-44 with more than five minutes remaining.
Powell then took over, scoring six straight points to start the Mikes on a decisive run.
“We just stayed calm,” said Powell, who followed his father, Noel, by becoming the second 1,000-point scorer from his family in school history. “We didn’t let them get to us and we just did what we had to do.”
“We just had to turn it around and hit that switch,” added Floyd, who had five assists and three steals. “As soon as we hit that switch it was over.”
Richardson added 19 points, six rebounds and three assists for TCA, while Marquise Bell did a stellar defensive job on Notre Dame’s leading scorer Manny Dixon (9 points). Darren James came off the bench to lead Notre Dame with 13 points.
“We fought back hard and we showed we could play with anybody,” said James, one of just two seniors in the Irish’s regular rotation. “It doesn’t matter. Skill wise, talent wise, height-wise, size-wise, strength-wise. Notre Dame can play with anybody.”
Although he won’t be back, James sees good things ahead for ND.
“I’m telling you this right now,” he said, “that this right here is just the beginning.”
With states approaching, Floyd hopes it’s just the beginning for TCA, as well.
“This is a pretty big thing,” he said. “But we want more. We’re not stopping now.”
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