Swift leads Cardinals

It was a five point lead heading into the locker room at half for the Trinity Valley Cardinals who were paired up against the Midland Chaparrals. Trinity Valley was up 41-36.

The second was all Cardinals as they poured in 47 second half points, being lead by 6-foot-8 freshman Melvin Swift. It was raining threes for Swift, as he connected on four out of his five three-point attempts in the half.

The Cardinals were able to penetrate the Chaparrals defense and kick the ball out to the perimeter or score at the rim. Trinity Valley was able to convert on 15 out of 28 second half attempts (2-FG 10/17; 5/11 3-FG).

Things didn't start off great for the No.2 ranked Cardinals, as they struggled from both the free-throw line and behind the arc. Trinity Valley was 4-for-8 from the charity stripe, while going only 3-for-15 from three-point land.

"We really came out and didn't do the things that we needed to do to win," said head coach Kris Baumann of Trinity Valley. "The things we couldn't do was rebound, take care of the ball, and hit free throws. We have a tough start to the season having to play the three West teams. We got by Midland, and they are a really good team. We can't make the same mistakes when we play Howard and South Plains."

Coach Baumann did give credit to his young forward, Swift.

"Melvin was great for us in the second half. We don't win without his shooting performance. It says a lot for Swift who came out here in the first game and impressed with his shooting ability."

The former Houston Yates high school standout, Swift finished with a game high 29 points, with 15 of those points coming from behind the arc (5-for-7 on the game).

Swift who played in the run and gun offense of Yates, looks to be a more disciplined player in just his first few weeks of junior college basketball.

"I have come in here with the mindset of just trying to learn," said Swift. "I have worked hard and have been learning how to be a complete basketball player and show discipline. My teammates did a great job of finding me off penetration."

Player Notes:

- Trinity Valley's Shelton Hagigal (St Francis-Brooklyn transfer) also got into the act of hitting threes, draining 2/5 attempts. He was also good at going hard to the rim and pulling up for mid-range jumpers. Hagigal finished with 20 points.

- Midland was lead by Missouri transfer Torren Jones. The 6-foot-8 paint player seemed to always be around the ball and at the free-throw line. Jones showed his strength and toughness by getting the ball on the block or off the glass and taking contact. For the game, Jones finished with 20 points.

-Also for midland, guard Tyler Whitehead finished with 19 points of his own. Whitehead was great on the defensive end which lead to easy points for him ad his teammates in transition. He showed a soft touch and a nice balance on both ends of the ball.