Owen Trinidad

More Than the Underdog

A first-year player brings an overtime memory—and a growing understanding of who he is trying to impress.

Owen Trinidad remembers nine points in overtime. He remembers the opponent, too: St. Mary’s High School, in a Grade 10 quarter-final between two strong junior varsity teams.

His Notre Dame group entered as the underdog. Owen finished with 27 points, including those nine in the extra period, and his team won. The season eventually brought a banner and a lesson in what practice and mutual accountability could accomplish.

It was a long way from community basketball at age five, when his parents taught him rules and showed him NBA highlights. He liked the game, then tried soccer, baseball, and hockey before returning to basketball at nine with a stronger appetite for competition.

Being smaller than other kids didn’t stop him scoring. Hearing the crowd and his family cheer gave him a feeling he wanted again.

He had tried several sports between the first community season and his return at nine. Basketball had to earn his attention among the others. Once he found himself scoring against real competition and enjoying the response around him, the game became something he wanted to pursue with more intention.

The Grade 10 banner offered a later version of that feeling. Owen remembers the practices and the accountability teammates expected from one another. The overtime quarter-final was spectacular; the preparation that made the season possible was much more repetitive. He values both parts of the memory.

Now in his first year of eligibility with the Lightning, Owen is ready for the difficulty of moving from high school to university basketball. His goals are to learn, grow, and use mistakes to improve.

Coach Nathan Ruff’s offer confirmed that someone trusted him to take the next step. Receiving the John Townley Scholarship also mattered, recognizing basketball achievement alongside academics and contribution to his school community.

The scholarship told him that people had noticed work beyond scoring. The offer told him a coach could imagine him doing that work at a new level. Those forms of recognition matter because the transition itself is something Owen expects to find difficult. He knows there will be mistakes and parts of the game he does not yet understand.

He wants to learn responsibility: know his job, understand the expectations, and follow through on and off the floor. His faith helps him stay with that process when a situation feels uncomfortable. Improvement may arrive gradually, but he believes staying with it is how the goal becomes reachable.

His dad remains his biggest example. Coach Dave Singleton helped him understand that making an impact can happen through scoring, passing, defending, or rebounding.

Owen has used doubters as motivation, but sees that changing with age. Eventually, the person he most wants to prove something to is himself.

He also admits there may be more trash talk in his game than appearances suggest. “Look Alive” sets the game-day tone.

The overtime performance is a memory he’ll keep. At St. Mary’s, he wants to build the responsibility and confidence to be ready when another opportunity arrives.