Defeat doesn’t devastate Trinity’s playoff hopes
MOON TOWNSHIP – The decision by the WPIAL to have a tournament within a tournament has produced some interesting revelations. Judging by Tuesday night’s play-in game between the girls basketball teams from Trinity and Beaver, which ended in a 41-36 win for the Bobcats, it’s a mixed bag.
Rather than the follow-the-leader approach, the WPIAL decided on a four-team play-in tournament that paired the quarterfinal losers.
That’s where Trinity and Beaver ended up, thanks to near-misses in those quarterfinal games in Class AAA, where seven teams advance to the state playoffs.
The takeaway from this game was:
• It is better to play than sit. Being dragged into the state tournament by the follow-the-leader approach could mean a wait of more than a week in between games and most coaches hate inactivity for their players.
• A win is wonderful, and a loss is not that bad. Beaver beat Trinity and will play South Park, which defeated McGuffey in the other play-in game, for fifth place. Trinity will play McGuffey for the seventh and final playoff berth from the classification Thursday at Canon-McMillan.
• The emotion expended from the first round of play-in games is not really that euphoric for the winners or that devastating for the losers.
“I liked this format from the start,” said Bob Miles, Trinity’s coach. “It keeps your interest up, keeps you active.”
• The final part of this learning curve was aimed more at Trinity, and it’s pretty simple. Do not allow the opposing point guard to single-handedly defeat you.
That’s pretty much what Lexi Posset, a 5-7 senior guard headed to Rider University, did to the Hillers. Posset, with great quickness and a keen shooting touch, scored all but two of Beaver’s 19 points in the first half, and finished with a game-high 28 points, four above her average. Oh, and she sank 11 of 12 free throws, including eight straight in the final 1:17 to end Trinity’s hopes.
“She’s been doing that the last three years,” said Beaver head coach Greg Huston. “She’s a good athlete and a hard worker.”
Beaver won this game because it countered Trinity’s dominating frontcourt of Mary Dunn, a 6-2 junior; Rachel Phillis, a 5-9 senior forward; and Delaney Elling, a 6-0 junior forward who is first off the bench underneath. The trio accounted for all but eight of the Hillers’ points and 20 of their 25 rebounds.
Dunn had a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds, and her put-back with 1:24 to play gave Trinity a 34-33 lead. But Bella Posset, Lexi’s sister, had a key steal with 42 seconds to play that allowed Beaver to go up three, 37-34, and forced Trinity to foul.
Huston was smart enough to keep the ball in Posset’s hand, sending her to the free throw line.
“I thought we had to play our best to win, but we didn’t,” said Dunn. “Smaller teams double me and I have to be prepared for that.”
What Trinity did not handle was the pressure Beaver put on its guards. Trinity turned the ball over 17 times, including six in a third quarter in which the Hillers scored just three points. Those mistakes helped Beaver turn a 23-19 deficit at halftime into a 28-26 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“Our guards are young, a freshman and a sophomore,” Miles said. “We haven’t executed on offense the last couple of games. Our guards played tentatively and haven’t really attacked the defense.”
Posset scored all but two of Beaver’s 13 points in the fourth quarter and Logan Vuchinich, a 5-9 junior forward, had three of her six rebounds.
“Our sore points seem to be not being able to get into the creases and going to the basket,” said Miles. “We rebounded better, but we needed to contain their shooter (Posset) and we didn’t do that.”