Mar 10, 2018 4 min read

FOX CHAPEL – The trouble spot for the Trinity High School girls basketball team during the WPIAL playoffs was slow starts, which eventually had the Hillers needing help from other teams just to make it back to the PIAA tournament.

Once in the state tournament, it was the Hillers’ finish, or lack thereof, that ended their season Saturday afternoon at Fox Chapel High School.

In a defensive-minded, slow-paced game in which Trinity led for a majority of the first three quarters, the Hillers failed to make a field goal in the final 11 minutes and fell to WPIAL champion Gateway, 28-24, in a Class 5A first-round game.

“We got some open looks and just didn’t knock the shots down,” said Trinity coach Bob Miles. We didn’t panic at the end. It was just a matter of their deliberateness that kept us from doing some things we wanted to do. We had the same shots, the same looks (as in the beginning of the game), but just didn’t make those shots.”

The last field goal Trinity (20-5) would see go in was when Julia Chakos found Jayme Britton for a backdoor layup that gave the Hillers a 22-16 lead with 3:01 left in the third quarter. It was the final basket in a 6-2 run and represented the largest lead of the game for either team.

Gateway (22-3), which advances to play Harbor Creek in the second round, awoke with an eight-point run to begin the fourth quarter and take a 26-22 lead.

“(Trinity) is a very good team, the No. 1 team going into the WPIAL playoffs for a reason,” said Gateway coach Curtis Williams. “We just tried to disrupt what they were doing and give them multiple looks, from possession to possession, to break up their continuity.”

The leisurely offense of the Gators – Gateway defeated Oakland Catholic 29-27 to win the WPIAL championship last week – created problems for Trinity down the stretch.

Trinity’s Riley DeRubbo made two free throws in separate trips to the free-throw line with just under two minutes remaining to cut the Hillers’ deficit to 26-24. It also ended a scoreless streak for the Hillers that lasted 9:49.

“Gateway is extremely deliberate,” Miles said. “Even when they run their man stuff it’s at a slow tempo. They kept changing their defense, and it took us a little bit of time to recognize and get to what we wanted to do in our sets. As the game went on, it’s extremely difficult to keep a rhythm going. If you don’t touch the ball for four or five possessions, when you do catch it, you are a little quick or off of the mark.”

The Gators gave Trinity several opportunities to take the lead with four their turnovers in the final 2:27. Gateway had nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.

But shots wouldn’t fall for the Hillers as they missed two three-pointers as the clock ticked under one minute before Gateway’s Jenna Guido iced the game with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining.

The result covered up a sloppy start from the Gators, who were taller but also were dominated 13-7 on the glass in the first half.

“One of the things we really preach is rebounding and limiting the number of second-chance opportunities other teams get,” Williams said. “They were whooping our butts on the boards in the first half.

“What we accomplished last week is gone. We have to refocus. Teams are going to give us their best game, so we have to learn how to respond to the energy and effort the opponent is bringing. We are the hunted, not the hunter. We did a better job in the second half, but we’re still adjusting.”

Britton, who finished with five points and 10 rebounds, made a baseline buzzer-beating three to end the first half and give Trinity a 16-12 lead.

The Gators would have faced a much more insurmountable deficit if it wasn’t for Mary Kromka. She scored the first five points for Gateway and seven of her game-high 11 in the first half.

DeRubbo finished with four points after playing with foul trouble most of the day. She picked up her second foul less than six minutes into the game and was called for her third foul with 3:11 left in the second quarter.

Seniors Allie Scarfo and Alayna Cappelli led Trinity with eight and seven points, respectively.

“Our seniors have won more games than any senior class at Trinity High School,” Miles said of the Hillers’ 84-23 record over the last four seasons.

“They took us to places we might have thought we would never get to.”