Trinity girls hold off PT rally for win
Peters Township’s Alyssa Konopka drives past Trinity’s Riley DeRubbo to the basket during Monday night’s non-section game at Peters Township High School.
Trinity’s Sierra Kotchman drives past Peters Township’s Alexandra Zuccarini to score during Monday night’s game.
McMURRAY – It was all slipping away from the Trinity High School girls basketball team, a commanding 23-point lead and a seemingly easy victory slithering through the Hillers’ fingers as if they were trying to catch water with their bare hands.
Peters Township used some long-range shooting and pressure defense to swing the game’s momentum and stage a dramatic comeback, trimming Trinity’s lead to a single basket late in the fourth quarter.
However, before things could get any worse, freshman Riley DeRubbo threw the Hillers a lifeline in the form of some clutch free throws, and the Hillers reached back and made a defensive stand that preserved a 53-50 victory in a wild non-section matchup of unbeaten teams Monday night.
Peters Township (2-1) trailed 33-10 with one minute left in the first half, but when Alyssa Konopka drove for a basket off an inbounds play with 1:11 remaining in the game the Indians had whittled Trinity’s lead to only 50-48.
DeRubbo, however, showing calmness that belies her youth, made three of four free throws in the last 70 seconds and Peters Township misfired on a pair of desperation three-pointers over the final three seconds that could have sent the game to overtime.
“That was an excellent game for us,” a relieved Trinity coach Bob Miles said. “We’re not going to get many games in which we have to do everything well and make some free throws under pressure. It was a tremendous experience.”
Trinity (3-0) scored its final eight points from the free-throw line and converted 14 of 17 from the stripe in the game. After Konopka’s basket that pulled PT to within 50-48, DeRubbo made two free throws to again make it a two-possession game.
The Indians’ Hannah Stuck drained two foul shots with 57 seconds left to bring PT to within 52-50, but DeRubbo made the second of two attempts from the stripe with 18 seconds left to give the Hillers a three-point advantage. DeRubbo finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
“Riley is only a freshman but she’s getting better all the time,” Miles said. “The older kids have taken her under their wing, have been teaching her and she listens. At times in this game, she was as upset as any player we had because she has high expectations for her play.”
Peters Township had the option of playing for the three-point shot or taking a quick two-pointer. The Indians opted for the long-range shot but Trinity defended it well, forcing a desperation heave from the top of the key that hit off the rim. The ball bounced to the left baseline and directly to the Indians’ Makenna Marisa, whose three at the buzzer came up short.
“We wanted to get the ball to Makenna off a screen and pop (Isabella) Mills to the other side for a three-pointer,” PT coach Bert Kendall explained. “We didn’t execute it the way we wanted.”
The Indians didn’t execute much on offense during the first half. A three-pointer by Trinity point guard Alayna Cappelli gave the Hillers a 33-10 lead with one minute left before halftime. At that point, PT was shooting nine percent from the field (2 for 22). The Indians, however, scored the final seven points of the half, which jumpstarted their comeback.
“The end of the first half was sloppiness on our part,” Miles said, “but give Peters Township credit. They shot the ball well in the second half.”
Six points by PT’s Lillian Young in the third quarter cut Trinity’s lead to 43-31 with eight minutes to play. The Indians made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including two by Konopka, who scored a team-high 16 points.
“I’m proud of our girls. They did not quit and made it a game at the end,”Kendall said. “The bottom line is you can’t shoot that poorly for half the game and expect to beat a good team. It’s early in the season and a lesson learned.”
Sierra Kotchman paced a balanced Trinity attack with 16 points. She was held to four in the second half. Cappelli had nine points and Abbey O’Connor eight.
Marisa scored 14 points for the Indians and Young had 10.