LouisvilleCatholicSports.com

Trinity basketball coach, senior cap championship season

Trinity senior Nathan Dieudonne picked up his second statewide Player of the Year honor and Mike Szabo was named the statewide Coach of the Year on Wednesday when the Associated Press announced its annual high school basketball awards in the state of Kentucky.  

It is the first time in program history that a Trinity player has been named the Associated Press Player of the Year in basketball. Dieudonne previously was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Kentucky, also a Trinity first.  

Dieudonne, a Boston University signee, led the Shamrocks in scoring at 13.9 points per game while shooting 60.9 percent from the field. Dieudonne was named the state tournament’s most valuable player after scoring a tournament high 70 points. 

It is the second Associated Press Coach of the Year honor for Szabo. He was also named the statewide coach of the year by the outlet in 2004-2005. Szabo has now been recognized by either the Courier-Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader or Associated Press as the statewide Coach of the Year in three of the last eight seasons.

Dieudonne earned First Team All-State honors by the Associated Press and was joined on the first team by Charles Foster. Darryl Hicks was a second team selection.  Foster will attend Morehead State in 2012-2012 while Hicks will return to the Trinity lineup for his senior season.

Foster and Hicks each averaged 12.1 points per game, tied for second on the team. Foster had a team best 91 steals while Hicks had a team high 53 three-point field goals in 2011-2012. 

Josh Sewell was Trinity’s first ever First Team All-State selection by the Associated Press in 2009-2010. Sewell just completed his second season at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. 

No. 1 Trinity (35-3) won the school’s first state basketball title with a victory over Scott County in the championship game of the 2012 PNC/KHSAA Sweet 16 ® at Rupp Arena on March 17. It marked the first time in state history that a school has won the state titles in football and basketball in the same season. Trinity finished the year 32-1 against teams from the state of Kentucky this season, the lone loss coming by just one point. 

The Shamrocks enjoyed their most successful season in program history in 2011-2012.

In addition to their success at the state tournament, Trinity won a school record 35 games, including its final 18 of the season. Trinity won the prestigious Republic Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic and the Coca-Cola/Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament.

The Shamrocks also won the 7th Region Tournament by defeating Ballard in the semifinals after trailing by 12 points in the fourth quarter and defeating rival St. Xavier in convincing fashion in the regional finals. 

The graduating senior class finished their careers as the winningest in program history, posting a 104-23 mark during their time wearing a Trinity uniform. The 2012 class included Nathan Dieudonne, Charles Foster, Troy Saxton, Hunter Hepler, Damon Thurman, Andrew Perito, Chad Hartlage (support staff) and Stephen Anderson (support staff). 

Other Trinity basketball tidbits:

• Dieudonne Named Kentucky MVP in KY-OH Game: Following a 26 point performance, Nathan Dieudonne was named the Most Valuable Player for the Kentucky All-Star team in the annual Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game at Thomas More College on April 7, 2012. Charles Foster also participated in the game for the Kentucky team, who was coached by Mike Szabo. The Ohio team won the game 116-103. 
• Dieudonne Scores Eight in Derby Classic: Nathan Dieudonne became the first Trinity player in program history to play in the Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic, scoring eight points in a 130-127 win for the white team over the black team. 
• Basketball Camps Quickly Approaching: Mike Szabo will hold four sessions of his annual basketball camps this summer. Camps are scheduled for June 4-8, June 11-15, June 18-22 and July 16-20. For complete information, contact the Trinity Basketball office at 502-736-2176 or visit www.trinityrocks.com.