When Eli Ballard hit a 10-foot jump shot at the 5:35 mark of the third period against Clarksville Friday night, it raised the hopes of the Trinity Lutheran fans of a comeback win over Clarksville in the Bollinger Athletic Complex.

However, that was Trinity’s only field goal of the third period as the Generals went on a 10-0 run, increased their lead to 49-28 at the end of the third period on the way to a 68-38 win.

Charlie Hackman ended Clarksville’s string of points with two free throws with 27 seconds remaining in the third period.

The Generals opened the fourth period on a 10-0 run.

Trinity Coach Brad Dickey said, “They shot extremely well. They’ve been playing a lot this week, they’ve had a bunch of games and we’ve been sitting out (since Dec. 17). I just think we’ve some learning to do when it comes to shot challenging and finding their shooters on the perimeter.”

The Generals (3-7) made 12 3-point baskets and shot 26-for-49 for the game. Six different players shared in the 3-pointers. Trinity shot 13-for-45 from the floor.

Dickey said, “We boxed out much better on the back side, but if they’re never going to miss it it won’t matter. We don’t get to celebrate that as often as we want.”

The Generals out-rebounded the Cougars 30-22 with Cowan Gross leading Trinity with seven.

Levi Pottschmidt opened Trinity’s scoring with a 3-point basket, and a 3-point play by Ballard put Trinity up 8-6 as the game entered the midway point of the opening quarter.

The Generals then went to work from the outside and hit five 3-pointers over the final four minutes to take a 21-14 lead into the second quarter.

The visitors opened a 26-16 lead with 6:10 left in the half, but Ballard scored two field goals, and Luke Coomler and Pottschmidt added buckets that left their team trailing 31-24 at the break.

Ballard topped Trinity (1-6) with 13 points.

Dickey said, “We handled the ball inside more often and got it off the perimeter a little more, and that’s going to help us down the road, but we’re not good at it, we’ve never done it before.”

“Now, all of a sudden we’ve got guys moving around in the lane, which is great, but now we’re not sure how it set up a shot, or make a basket off of that action. We practice it, but we’re not game-ready yet,” he said. “Hopefully that’s another step in the right direction that we handle the ball much better.”

The Cougars had only eight turnovers, and the Generals had five turnovers.

Jacob Seward, a 6-2 junior, topped the Generals with 27 points. Landon Radlein made four 3-pointers for the Generals and scored 14 points.

Seward shot all four of Clarksville’s free throws, making two, while the Cougars were 9-for-13 at the line.

Trinity will travel to Indianapolis Lutheran Friday night.

Box score

Trinity;14;10;4;10;—;38

Clarksville;21;10;19;19;—;68

Trinity Lutheran (1-6): Levi Froedge 1 0-0 2, Eli Ballard 4 5-7 13, Kowan Gross 1 0-2 2, Charlie Hackman 2 2-2 7, Luke Coomler 3 0-1 7, Levi Pollert 0 2-2 2, Levi Pottschmidt 2 0-0 5, Totals 13 9-13 38.

Clarksville (3-7): Jacob Sewad 10 3-4 27, Landon Radlein 5 0-0 14, Morgan Capps 3 0-0 7, Ashton Leezer 2 0-0 6, Kevonne Murrell 1 0-0 3, Ray McClendon 3 0-0 7, Jayedyn Johnson 1 0-0 2, Robert Lamar 1 0-0 2, totals 29 2-4 68.

3-point goals: TL (Pottschmidt, Hackman, Coomler), CHS (Seward 3, Radlein 4, Leezer 2, Capps, Murrell, McClendon, Gross).

Rebounds: TL 22 (Gross 7, Ballard 4).

Junior varsity

Trinity Lutheran 60, Clarksville 45

Trinity Lutheran: Jack Stuckwisch 15, Jake Holland 11, Kole Shewmaker 11, Kade Gillaspy 9, Trey Owen 5, John Harris 4, Josh Conrad 5.