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This season: The Bulldogs steamrolled their way to a 30-2 record and the Mid-Piedmont 3-A championship. Their two losses: a three-point defeat at Ragsdale in early January and a 60-58 setback to Kinston in the state title game. "Coach tells us we were five points away from a perfect season, which is pretty awesome," guard Josh Pittman said.

A special class: Trinity had four seniors -- Eric Potts, Zack Williams, Josh Jones and David Grant -- who essentially had been starters for four seasons. The group won 96 games in their careers. "It would have been picture-perfect for those kids if they could have won it," Kelly said, "but that they had the opportunity to get there and play for it was most rewarding for me."

Turning point: When Trinity played Ragsdale a second time and won by 16, "that was the game where it really kind of clicked that hey, we've got a shot to do what Coach has been saying," Kelly said.

At peace: "I'm still pretty animated, if you've ever seen us play," said Kelly, who has won 380 games in 19 seasons. "But I think I'm much more patient than I used to be, which I think is a good thing.

"It took me a long time as a young coach to realize that kids don't make mistakes on purpose.

"In all honesty, people were worried about me after the championship game. But really, I was at peace. After that shaky start, we played as well as we could. I was really so proud. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to win. But I think 10 years ago, I would have been just devastated over that loss. I was content with our effort. As a coach in the long run, that's all you can really be."