BENTON — The ride is over, but there is still life after loss.

Trinity dominated in all phases and ran away with a 68-48 victory over Porters Chapel on Friday night, ending the Eagles’ unlikely run at the MAIS Class A championship.

Trinity outrebounded the Eagles 45-28 and did most of its damage inside the paint, attempting only eight outside shots. The Saints disrupted PCA’s patient half-court offense and wore down the Eagles with their depth, as they switched out lineups in hockey-like complete shifts.

“That was easily the best team we’ve played all year,” PCA coach E.J. Creel said. “We went in the underdog, we were outmatched, but we never quit.”

Although PCA was defeated, all is not lost. It can still advance to next week’s MAIS Overall tournament in Clinton by beating Heidelberg in the consolation game tonight at 6. The top three teams from each classification advance to Overall. Trinity and Greenville Christian, who will play for the Class A title tonight at 7:15, have already punched their tickets. Greenville Christian beat Heidelberg 72-51 in Friday’s other semifinal.

PCA lost to Heidelberg in the consolation game of last week’s South Central tournament, but were itching for a shot at revenge.

“They beat us last week, but we’ve just got to play smart and play like we’ve played for the past couple of games,” said PCA center Talbot Buys, who finished with eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocks against Trinity.

Kawayne Gaston led the Eagles (16-10) with 21 points Friday, 12 of which came from the foul line, but little went right for them. Guard Ted Brisco received a quick technical in the first quarter and went to the bench. The Saints zoomed out to a 5-0 run and kept piling up points as steals turned into easy transition buckets. The quarter ended with PCA down 23-8 and having more turnovers (seven) than field goals (four).

The closest the Eagles came was in the beginning of the second quarter, as Jake Boyd’s layup cut the deficit to 13 at 23-10. But two steals led to easy layups by Givonni Dent and Tanner Cage, and Trinity’s lead ballooned to 18.

The Eagles, who rely on a six-man rotation, didn’t get any closer against Trinity’s human wave.

In the second half, the Saints slowed the pace to a crawl, PCA’s preferred pace, but the Eagles could do little to dent the advantage. The Eagles would get a quick bucket here and there, but couldn’t string a run together to whittle down the gap.

“We’re very deep for the single-A level and we were able to keep bringing new bodies,” Trinity coach David King said. “I think that ended up being the difference. Just about everyone on this team is on the football team that won back-to-back (state titles), so these guys know how to win the big game.”

Brisco added 10 points despite sitting for most of the first quarter. Boyd added eight points off the bench.

Tip McKenzie paced the Saints with 15 points, while Kent King added 12, Dent contributed 11 and Cage chipped in 10.