Kotchman leads Trinity past C-H
The biggest concern prior to tip-off for the Chartiers-Houston girls’ basketball team was the avoidance of self-inflicted turnovers and protecting the basketball.
The goal for Trinity head coach Bob Miles might have been more simple. He wanted to make sure his team forced them.
After 10 turnovers in the first quarter by Chartiers-Houston, which led to a 15-point run by the Hillers, the tournament host was able to set the pace in its first-round win over the Bucs, 47-31, Friday night at Trinity High School.
Trinity will play Canon-McMillan at 6:30 tonight for the championship after the Big Macs defeated Moon, 64-34, in the first game.
“I knew coming in that ball security would be really important,” said C-H head coach Laura Montecalvo, after watching the Bucs turn the ball over to Trinity 27 times. “We wanted to push the tempo, or at least try to do that, but unfortunately we made a lot of bad decisions.”
When mistakes were made from the Bucs, senior guard Sierra Kotchman made sure to take advantage of them with a game-high 29 points, the only Hiller to score in double figures.
“Ever since last season, we’ve been looking forward to coming back out and playing again,” said Kotchman, referring to Trinity being bounced in the first-round of the state playoffs. “It fuels all of our fire.”
After falling behind early by 12, Chartiers-Houston outscored Trinity in the second quarter, 10-3, cutting a halftime lead to only four points.
Having any idea of a comeback was seemingly erased after Trinity regained command with a floater from Kotchman over the lengthy Alexa Williamson with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
“We came out extremely strong in the second half,” Miles said about keeping the comeback-hopeful Bucs at a distance. “Anytime you can finish off transitions like we were able to, it’s beneficial, but slowing it down is really important to us. Our two guards have an awful lot of experience so it takes a lot to get them flustered.”
The cool and composed Hillers kept Chartiers-Houston in the rearview mirror after connecting on 12 of their 15 free throw attempts, all coming in the second half.
“It is really difficult, especially when Kotchman shoots the way she did tonight,” Montecalvo said. “She was basically lights out and it really makes it hard to mount a comeback when somebody has that ability.”
The only other double-digit scorer was Williamson, who saw her first action since tearing a knee ligament last season. Williamson scored 11 points, collected eight rebounds and had seven blocks.
Chartiers-Houston will play Moon in the consolation game tonight at 5 p.m. at Trinity High School.
Canon-McMillan 64, Moon 34
First-game jitters for the former section foes were obvious with a combined 61 turnovers. However, dependable senior guard Cheyenne Trest’s 24 points led to the Big Macs defeating Moon, 64-34, in the first game of the Trinity Tournament Friday night.
C-M’s suffocating pressure defense created 20 consecutive points for the Big Macs to extend an early second-quarter lead, 31-5, after an acrobatic layup from Trest.
“Cheyenne is an excellent driver to the hoop, a great outside shooter and all around a good player,” C-M head coach Lou Waller III said. “We are trying to move her off the ball a little bit this year to get her more open looks, but you can’t rely on one person. You have to be a team with seven or eight people contributing every night. We are a small team so playing fast paced is important. We have to maintain that speed while making sure we are under control.”
Waller found that secondary scoring from sophomore guard Tamara Mathis, who scored 18 points and collected eight rebounds, after the C-M’s defense only allowed two first-half field goals from the Tigers.
“There were some first game jitters because even though we have a lot of veterans, we still have many newcomers,” Waller said. “They are trying to find each other, learn more about one another and continue to find out how to play as a team. The good thing is they hustle, work hard and try. Overall, I’m pretty happy with tonight.”