Dunkle’s dunk sparks Trinity
By Jerin Steele
Staff writer
jsteele@observer-reporter.com
At times, Trinity boys basketball coach Tim Tessmer will ask Jonah Williamson to become a quarterback on the court, much like he is on the football field.
That was the case in the opening moments of the second half and Williamson delivered a perfect ball to Jacob Dunkle.
Dunkle slammed it home to finish off an alley-oop and spark a run that helped the Hillers pull away for a 60-42 victory over Fort Cherry Tuesday night at Hiller Hall.
“We run that one a lot,” Tessmer said. “(Dunkle) is pretty gifted, so if we get a mismatch on him I know he’s able to turn that corner and get it. Jonah is QB1 so he’s able to hit that little post pattern.”
Trinity led by 23-13 at halftime.
Dunkle’s jam coming out of the break helped spark a 15-1 run that made sure the Hillers held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
He finished with 11 points. Sam Johnson was the Hillers’ leading scorer with 16 points. He said the team got a boost from the dunk.
“That set the tone for the rest of the half,” Johnson said. “That dunk got us a lot of points for us down the road, because it got us all up.”
Johnson had a big first quarter, scoring nine of his game-high 16 points to help the Hillers jump out to a 13-6 lead.
Tuesday’s game was the first time this season Trinity (3-1) was able to relax in the final minutes of a game. The previous three games were decided by less than five points.
For the second year in a row, the Rangers are coming off an extended football season after winning the WPIAL Class A title and reaching the state semifinals.
Rangers coach Eugene Briggs said it’s tough for the players to go straight from football right into playing basketball, but they are working through it and have some experience from last year’s run to dwell on.
“When you play (football) that long and get the crap beat out of you, the question for us is do you get them healthy or get them in shape?,” Briggs said. “They have to get healthy and then play their way into shape. That’s basically what we’re doing. I thought they did pretty well tonight, but we got a little tired in the third quarter and made some mistakes to open the door for them.”
Shane Cornali led the Rangers with 11 points and Jack Kitzmiller scored 10.
Trinity, 53-21
The Hillers girls basketball team made it a sweep on the night, using hot outside shooting early and strong defense throughout to earn a 53-21 victory.
They scored the first 11 points of the game and held a comfortable 31-7 lead at halftime.
Gabby Rieg hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter. Bently Layhue and Riley Venick added one apiece.
The Hillers (4-0) held Fort Cherry (2-2) to one field goal in the first half, a 3-pointer by Amarah Martino in the first quarter, and five for the game. Martino hit a pair of free throws and Bella Bianchini and Jazlyn Martino hit one each in the second quarter.
Sutton Williams led the Hillers with 15 points.
She was pleased with how her team played on defense in their final dress rehearsal before opening Class 5A, Section () play against Bethel Park on Thursday.
“We really take pride in our defense,” Williamson said. “Our defense then created our scoring for us, so it’s a main point of focus.”
Rieg and Vitt Emerich scored 11 points apiece for Trinity. Williamson, Rieg and Emerich are sophomores.
Fort Cherry played without standout senior Olivia Kemp, who Rangers coach Clarence Edwards said is on the mend from surgery. He’s hopeful that Kemp will be back in the lineup soon, maybe even later this week.
“Olivia’s our senior and you want that senior leadership, but sometimes you have to learn,” Edwards said. “Sometimes she might not be there. She might be in foul trouble. We have to learn to play without her, but at the same time we’re crisper and in sync when she’s in there.”
Gianna Bianchini led the Rangers with seven points.