By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Very few athletes can say they have reached the mountain top, and even fewer can say they did it in the final game of their career. Needhamite Will Dorion is one of those athletes. The standout basketball player finished his collegiate career with a win in the Division III National Championship with Trinity College.
Dorion, the captain of Trinity’s basketball team, led his roster to a 30-3 overall record, NESCAC Championship and the eventual national championship.
After falling just short of the championship in his junior season, Dorion approached his final year with a completely different attitude.
“That motivation of getting there and falling short definitely changes your mindset the following year,” said Dorion. “Making it to the Final Four was a great accomplishment but with the guys returning for senior year, we believed we could do it again. We had the majority of our team back.”
Trinity blew through competition in the regular season leading up to the NESCAC tournament. It continued with dominant wins over Colby and Tufts in the first two rounds, advancing to play Wesleyan in the championship – an opponent they had lost to earlier in the year.
“We were fired up,” said Dorion on playing Wesleyan. “There’s a deep rivalry, in my opinion, between Wesleyan and Trinity. They came into our place earlier in the season and kind of handed it to us, so when you see them again, you want to make a statement.”
That it did, defeating its rival 75-67 en route to its second consecutive conference championship and a guarantee to compete in the national tournament.
With the previous season’s experience and a sour taste lingering, Dorion and his teammates took on the tournament like a business trip.
“As we were walking through the coliseum, all these other teams were playing music and for us, it’s no music. The only voices we were hearing were our coaches and our own. People there even said it. It felt like we had a different mentality.”
Trinity backed it up with convincing wins in the first four rounds, consisting of its closest game being a 16-point win over Neumann and its largest victory coming over Western New England by a 37-point margin in the third round.
Waiting in the semifinals was a familiar foe: Weslayan. Although the conference rivals gave Trinity a run for its money, Dorion and his team ultimately prevailed with a win and a ticket to play New York University for all the marbles.
In a back-and-forth affair, Trinity found itself trailing by five with under two minutes to go. Clutch shooting and locked-in defense led to a quick comeback and victory for the local’s team.
“It’s the definition of being on cloud nine. You realize – all the work you’ve put in, all the struggles and ups-and-downs – you finally did it.”
Although Dorion’s competitive career has come to an end, he can bask in the glory he was able to finish it with.
