GOSHEN — Bethany Christian erased a 17-point deficit, but the Bruins could not take a lead and lost their final home game of the 2025-26 regular season.
Trinity Greenlawn beat Bethany 42-38 Friday, Feb. 20 in Hoosier Plains Conference boys basketball on Buller Court.
The Titans led 14-2 at the end of the first quarter and 22-13 at halftime. The visitors were ahead by as many as 17 points at 20-3 until the Bruins ended the first half on a 10-2 run.
Trinity took a 28-25 advantage into the fourth quarter. Bethany pulled even at 28-all on two free throws by senior Trey Caffee at 6:37 of the fourth. Trinity took the lead right back and never relinquished it.
“Credit to Trinity,” Bruins coach Daniel Mast said. “They’re playing really well right now.
“They are a really disciplined team.”
Bethany (10-12, 5-1) were kept from running the table in the HPC, but they had already wrapped up an outright conference title.
The visiting Kyle Anderson-coached Titans snapped a six-game losing streak and improved to 6-12 overall and 3-3 in the HPC.
It was senior night at Bethany Christian. Players in the Class of 2026 include Caffee, Sawyer Beachy, Toby Mast, Gideon Miller, Jude Miller, Zane Parson and Josh Rassi. All were recognized.
Scoring points for the Titans were senior Ian Abbott (15 points), junior Nathan Palmer (10 — eight in the first half), sophomore Thomas Wilson (8 — six in the second half), senior Max Busk (4), junior Elijah Badertscher (3) and junior Jack Cressy (2). Palmer (2), Abbott (1) and Baderscher (1) connected on 3-pointers.
Adding to the point total for the Bruins were Caffee (a career-best 27 — including all 13 of his team’s points in the fourth quarter), Beachy (6 — all in the third quarter), Rassi (3) and junior Jacob Bontrager (2). There was a three for Rassi.
“He played really well,” Daniel Mast said of Caffee. “He’s a really good offensive player and a tough match-up for a lot of teams.
“He was able to get to the paint and finish strong.”
Trinity made 14-of-32 shots from the floor and 10-of-12 from the foul line while Bethany was 14-of-47 and 9-of-10. In first-half shooting, Trinity was 7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-4 at the foul stripe while the Bruins were 4-of-18 and 4-of-5.
“Generally speaking, we got good looks,” said Daniel Mast, who saw his team drop its fourth straight. “The problem is sometimes it’s real early and you’re not giving yourself a chance to maybe get a better one.”
Led by Palmer (7), Busk (7) and Abbott (5), the Titans grabbed 29 rebounds. Topped by Coffee (7), Bethany gathered 16.
Trinity committed 14 turnovers and Bethany seven.
Bethany lost 49-41 to the Titans in South Bend on Feb. 21, 2025.
In Friday’s junior varsity game, Bethany beat Trinity 49-26. Desmond Lind (17 points), Judah Miller (12) and Orion Nice (8) led the JV Bruins. Sean Scoope (9), Aiden Abbott (7), Dan Burks (5) and Cole Sweikar (5) paced the JV Titans.
Knox plays at Trinity Saturday, Feb. 21 and Bethany Christian goes to Fremont Saturday, Feb. 27. It will be the regular-season finale for the Bruins.