Guard dominates 3rd period
St. Ignatius junior Darrion Trammell had no choice but to laugh.
In front of a raucous packed crowd at USF, the 5-foot-9, lightning-quick guard missed four firsthalf layups, including one particularly embarrassing airball after his legs seemed to give way.
“I just had to let it go and remember all the work I’ve put in over the years,” Trammell said.
Trammell couldn’t recall a quarter like the one with which he responded in the third, when he made 7 of 8 shots and all four free-throw tries to score 19 of his game-high 22 points in a 64-48 wire-to-wire win over Sacred Heart Cathedral.
After Trammell drilled his only three-pointer of
“We just encouraged him to keep shooting.” Brandon Beckman, on St. Ignatius teammate Darrion Trammell, who scored 19 points in the third quarter
the period, he gave a Michael Jordan shrug to the bench. Trammell had completely turned around what started as a nightmarish evening.
Instead, he had his teammates flailing their fists and fans of the eighthranked Wildcats in a frenzy as St. Ignatius (11-1, 3-0 West Catholic Athletic League) also secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy for the fourth straight year.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, which got 18 points from Romello Dunbar, dropped to 6-6 and 0-3.
“We knew he’d turn it around,” said Trammell’s 6-1 junior teammate Brandon Beckman, who had 14 points. “We just encouraged him to keep shooting.”
Trammell has a history of scoring in bunches in big moments.
He scored 12 of his 14 points at USF last season in the fourth quarter in a 61-60 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral. On Saturday, he scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter in a 77-72 win at then-No. 7 St. Francis.
A fastbreak basket by Dunbar closed St. Ignatius’ lead to 16-14 early in the second quarter before the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to take command. Beckman had a driving layup and made two free throws, and Matthew Redmond had two fastbreak hoops in the run.
With his team up 29-18 at the start of the third, Trammell started his onslaught with a flying tip-in. After sinking a mid-range jumper, he made back-to-back threepoint plays after strong drives to the basket.
He scored all but four of the team’s 23 points in the quarter as the Wildcats took a 52-30 lead.
“I think I’ve scored 16 in a quarter before,” Trammell said. “I just didn’t want to let my teammates or fans down. I was sort of moping around the first half while everyone else was doing great. Once I got going, I just felt it. I’m just glad we got another win.”