Kotchman leads Hillers’ comeback to advance to semifinals
Members of the Trinity girls basketball team are all smiles after the Hillers beat Gateway in overtime for a WPIAL Class 5-A playoff game Saturday at North Allegheny.
Trinity guard Sierra Kotchman shoots past Gateway defender Jordan Edwards in the Hillers’ 58-54 overtime victory. Kotchman was Trinity’s leading scorer with 23 points.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Alayna Cappelli powers past the Gateway defense for two of the nine total points she scored in the HillersþÄô 58-54 overtime playoff victory on February 25 at North Allegheny High School.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter
Trinty freshman Riley DeRubbo drives along the baseline past Gateway’s Mary Kromka. DeRubbo contributed eight points to Trinity’s 58-54 overtime win in the WPIAL playoff game on February 25 at North Allegheny.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter TrinityþÄôs Jayme Britton and Alyna Cappelli share a victory hug after the Hillers beat Gateway in overtime in the WPIAL playoff game at North Allegheny on February 25.
WEXFORD – After watching his team fall behind by five points after not scoring a field goal in nearly eight minutes, Trinity head coach Bob Miles called a timeout.
Knowing the Hillers needed a basket, Miles drew up a play for senior Sierra Kotchman.
Wide open behind the arc, the Hillers’ star senior came off the planned screen to connect on a three-pointer to shift all the motivation Trinity needed to say to themselves, “We can do this.”
Kotchman’s three-pointer, along with another that rimmed around for several seconds before falling to tie the game with 1:54 remaining, helped Trinity pull out a 58-54 overtime victory in a Class 5-A, WPIAL quarterfinal game against Gateway Saturday afternoon at North Allegheny High School.
The win advances Trinity to Wednesday’s semifinals against Chartiers Valley at a site and time yet to be determined. A win against the Colts would get Hillers to the site on which they have had their eyes set and calendars marked since last March: back to the Peterson Events Center.
“I had no doubt we were going to come back and win that game,” Kotchman said. “Ever since last year our main goal was getting back to the Pete to win a WPIAL championship.”
Trinity (22-2) earned its opportunity to achieve that goal after connecting on 10 of its 12 free throws in the overtime session, where the Hillers never trailed after scoring the first four points.
“That’s how you win basketball games,” Miles said about his team’s performance from the foul line. “That’s why we stress it daily. It’s talked about before games. It just comes down to getting the ball in the right people’s hands and we were able to do that.”
To get to overtime, the Hillers relied on a shutdown defense; their calling card for the entire season after only giving up slightly over 35 points per game.
Prior to Kotchman’s three-pointer, Gateway head coach Curtis Williams had his team go into a stall, bleeding one minute off the clock before Alayna Cappelli came up with a steal with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Miles called the timeout as Cappelli fell to the floor.
“We knew defense was going to win this game,” Cappelli said. “We had a game like this earlier in the year against Upper St. Clair. Having a game like that really helped us tonight.”
Heading into halftime deadlocked at 28-28, the Hillers needed to find a way to slow down the big, athletic Gators, who had four different players standing 5-10 or taller.
“Their length was definitely an issue,” Miles said. “They were much more athletic than what we saw. We didn’t think we could press the whole game, despite doing it a couple of times and stinging them early. We just didn’t want to give their guards creases to the basket, so that’s why we were predominantly in the 2-3 zone.”
Gateway (17-7) broke down the zone successfully on several occasions to get easy opportunities for Jordan Edwards, who finished a team-high 21 points. Amani Carter was able to provide an inside presence off the bench for the Gators with 13 points.
Trinity was helped by performances from Cappelli and Riley DeRubbo, who finished with 10 and nine points, respectively. Kotchman led all scorers with 23 points.
And a couple of big shots.
“Put the ball in Sierra’s hands,” Miles chuckled. “We ran that play for her out of the timeout and she got a good screen. She knocked it down and from then on out things just rolled.”