South Fayette catches Trinity in trap, gets win
Trinity’s Alayna Cappelli is fouled by South Fayette’s Carlee Kilgus, left, Thursday.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Trinity’s Delaney Elling tries to get a shot past South Fayette’s Carlee Kilgus during the first half of Thursday night’s game.
South Fayette’s Samantha Kosmacki dribbled past Trinity’s Natalie Cappelli Thursday during the second half.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Members of the South Fayette team cheer as one of their players gets a three-pointer during the second half of Thursday’s game.
South Fayette head coach Matt Bacco celebrates with players Samantha Kosmacki and Autumn Mozick Thursday after the Lions defeated Trinity.
The two schools are far from being neighbors, but the players for Trinity and South Fayette are familiar with each other. The same goes for the coaches after the Lions and Hillers battled for the Section 5-AAA title last season.
That’s why Matt Bacco knew exactly how he wanted to attack Trinity’s offense, which features two players taller than 6-0, including senior center Mary Dunn, and a pair of experienced guards. Instead of showing the strategy early, South Fayette’s head coach waited until the opportune time. When he finally turned to the half-court trap, the Lions’ quick guards forced turnovers and they capitalized with baskets in transition.
South Fayette forced five third-quarter turnovers to spark a 14-0 run and held on in closing minutes to defeat Trinity, 54-46, Thursday night.
Senior guard Mikayla Fetchet had a game-high 17 points, including two three-pointers during the 14-0 run to help the Lions grab a 14-point lead late in the third quarter.
“It was a big game for us. It was our first on the road and playing Trinity, even when we were little kids, it’s always a big game for us,” Fetchet said. “We knew what we were coming into. With what we have back and what they had coming back, we both know each other. It was about who came out and played with the most heart.”
The Lions (2-0, 5-0) led by three points at halftime and Hillers junior guard Sierra Kotchman, who scored a team-high 16 points, opened the third with a three-pointer on a high ball screen to tie the score.
That’s when Bacco switched back to the press, forcing Trinity into five turnovers in the eight-minute span. With the Lions’ guards pressing on the perimeter, the Hillers tried passing into the lane with no success. South Fayette senior center Emily Anderson deflected high passes away from Dunn and the Lions answered with six points in transition. Anderson helped contain Dunn, a Youngstown State recruit, to six points, including two in the second half.
Trinity (2-1, 4-2) had 16 turnovers and was outrebounded 27-15.
“The turnovers came at bad times,” Trinity head coach Bob Miles said. “They were making that run in the second half and we were forcing it. The entry pass into the post has to be a bounce pass or it has to be a pass where the post player isn’t meeting the basketball. We weren’t doing that and Anderson played well defensively in the post. You have to keep the ball away from her.”
The Hillers did answer the run with one of their own, outscoring South Fayette 10-1 in the final two minutes of the third quarter to cut the deficit to eight, but turnovers and the inability to rebound reappeared in the fourth quarter. Though the teams traded baskets for the next six minutes, Trinity missed three of its final attempts at the free-throw line and the Lions closed the game with a Carlee Kilgus’ fast-break layup.
Anderson had eight rebounds with three blocks and eight points, and Autumn Mozick and Samantha Kosmacki both had 10 points for the Lions.
“We aren’t interested in trading baskets,” Bacco said. “We want to get stops and go on runs. We felt that if we could distance ourselves coming out of the locker room (in the second half) it would let us settle in. Playing on the road in tight games, these kids have experience, they’re comfortable.”
The comfort of returning five starters showed early. The Lions drove around Trinity’s defenders, forcing the Hillers’ defense to collapse and giving open shots to guards on the perimeter. South Fayette made three three-pointers in the first half and seven different players scored.
Both teams entered Thursday night ranked among the top-five teams in PIAA Class AAA by PennLive.com and it showed on the court.
Trinity looked tentative at times, particularly after South Fayette began to press, but sophomore guard Alayna Cappelli excelled in the first half, scoring nine of her 13 points with three steals.
“It’s another thing to add to the checklist,” Fetchet said of the win. “Beating Trinity is always a great feeling. A game like this helps you prepare for bigger games, but we look forward to seeing them again.”
South Fayette 60, Trinity 49:
South Fayette got to the free-throw line 27 times and used a big fourth-quarter run to defeat Trinity, 60-49, in a Section 5-AAA game.
The Hillers (2-1, 2-3) tied the score 32-32 with 1:50 left in the third quarter on a layin by junior forward Saul Wells, but the Lions (2-0, 2-0) answered with a 17-2 run. South Fayette made 19 of its 27 attempts at the free-throw line, including 12 of 19 in the fourth quarter.
The Lions were led by junior point guard Matt Thomas’ game-high 15 points and junior forward Rhyan Culberson added 12. He made all six of his attempts at the line in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
South Fayette lost all five of its starters from last season, but against the Hillers’ pressure defense, head coach Rich Bonnaure was able to lean on Thomas.
“We’re a work in progress,” Bonnaure said. “We’re trying to figure out our identity. I thought we probably played harder than them the whole game and that gives us a chance. We have to do that until we get better. By January, we can be a pretty good team.”
Wells led Trinity with 14 points and sophomore guard Joey Koroly added 12. Trinity, which does not have a senior on the roster, trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter and made nine of 13 free throws in the second half.