Cappelli’s shooting adds pop to Trinity as Hillers reach semifinals
McMURRAY – Holding a slim two-point lead at halftime and with a trip to the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals on the line, Trinity High School’s girls basketball team needed a second-half spark.
Sophomore point guard Alayna Cappelli gave the Hillers one.
And another.
And another.
Cappelli, a sophomore guard, sparked a 9-0 Trinity run to start the third quarter with three consecutive three-point shots to give the Hillers all the breathing room they needed, as Trinity advanced with a 56-41 victory Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals at Peters Township High School.
The second-seeded Hillers (20-3) advance to the semifinals and will play Mars Wednesday with a trip to Petersen Events Center and the WPIAL finals on the line.
Cappelli made another three-pointer late in the third quarter as Trinity took a 40-30 lead into the fourth. She finished the game with 17 points.
“I have been in a rut with my scoring, but I came in very confident,” Cappelli said. “They were playing a box-and-one and someone had to step up. This was a big win. It’s exciting to move on.”
South Park (18-6) was committed to not let Trinity guard Sierra Kotchman beat them as the Eagles paid her close attention to her the entire game.
One thing the Eagles weren’t counting on in a close game was Cappelli making making shots from the perimeter.
“We weren’t going to let Kotchman beat us,” said South Park head coach Juliet Highberger, a Washington native and former player at Wash High.
“The three-pointers were unexpected, but give her credit for making them. We didn’t want to risk Kotchman going on a run as that hurt us the first time we played (Trinity).”
The Hillers defeated South Park by a similar margin, 64-51, earlier in this month.
South Park also had to worry about finding a way to stop Trinity’s Mary Dunn, which proved to be impossible.
Dunn had another impressive game, finishing with 23 points and 16 rebounds, both game highs. When the score was tight in the first half, the Hillers went to Dunn on almost every possession, and when the game needed put away in the fourth quarter, it was Dunn who carried the Hillers.
“When they guard me tough, rebounding was where I needed to contribute. I got a lot of my points from rebounding,” Dunn said. “I just had to use my strength as an advantage. I know we can keep going.”
Another big factor for the Hillers was their typically tough zone defense. Trinity forced South Park into too many turnovers and blocked 11 shots.
The Eagles struggled all afternoon to get open shots, and when they did, Trinity made them work hard for their points.
“The goal was to hold them to 35,” said Trinity head coach Bob Miles. “We were right there until the final seconds. We wanted to make it tough on their shooters. Natalie Cappelli played a heck of a game defensively. We still have a lot of work to do on the zone, but we were pretty good with it today.”
Things were tight in the first half with both defenses making it tough on the opponent.
The Hillers went on a 7-0 run in the first quarter to gain some separation. Kotchman made a tough layup and got to the free-throw line to complete a three-point play, and Dunn and Natalie Cappelli followed with baskets to give Trinity a 14-6 lead.
Trinity got sloppy after that as South Park put together an 11-0 spurt to take an 18-14 lead midway through the second quarter. Trinity turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions and the Eagles took advantage.
A jump shot by Dunn followed by a three-point shot by Kotchman helped the Hillers regain the lead. After that, it was a large dose of Dunn for the rest of the half. The Trinity senior center scored nine second-quarter points as the Hillers took a 26-24 lead to the locker room.
“The message at halftime was we are in a real game,” Miles said. “When we played them a couple weeks ago, we might have snuck up on them. We knew they would come out with a high level of intensity and they did. We told them it was a 16-minute game and someone had to step up.”
That person turned out to be Alayna Cappelli as her shooting helped Trinity build an 11-point lead in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter belonged to Dunn, who scored eight points down the stretch to secure the win.
South Park was led by Natalie Clydesdale’s 17 points. Brittany Andrews and Allison McGrath each had 10 points.
In addition to the big games from Cappelli and Dunn, Kotchman also finished in double figures for Trinity with 14.
“Alayna gave us a tremendous spark,” Miles said. “We told them that the first three minutes of the third quarter were going to be crucial. Mary was also very big for us. We challenged her at the half to own the glass and she stepped up.”