Koroly, Hillers hand Brownsville 1st loss
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Trinity’s Joe Koroly tries to get past Brownsville’s Tryvon Brown during a tournamen at Trinity High School on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Trinity wore a warm-up t-shirts for Luke Blanock with the words #Lukestrong before their game against Brownsville in the tournamen at Trinity High School on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Trinity’s Robert Nelson takes a shot against Brownsville ‘s Cory Lent during a tournamen at Trinity High School on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Canon-McMillan’s Britton Beachy goes in for a layup against Quaker Valley’s Wolfie Moser during a tournament at Trinity High School on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Canon-McMillan’s Carson Miller pushes past Quaker Valley’s Ricky Guss during a tournament at Trinity High School on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015.
Trinity had leaned on shooting three-pointers early in this season with marginal success.
So head coach Tim Tessmer came up with a different game plan for the Hillers in the opening round of the Trinity Holiday Tournament against previously unbeaten Brownsville.
Instead of spotting up at the three-point arc, the Hillers would get more aggressive in the lane and see if they could create opportunities near the basket.
The change in plans worked like a charm as the Hillers jumped out to a 14-3 lead and held on for an 82-73 victory Monday night over the Falcons.
Trinity (4-4) will face Quaker Valley in Tuesday’s championship game, which begins at 6 p.m. Canon-McMillan will play Brownsville in the consolation game at 7:30.
“When we have struggled, we have shot too many threes,” said Trinity head coach Tim Tessmer. “We can’t win shooting 20-25 threes per game. We wanted to be aggressive and take the ball to the basket.”
Brownsville (7-1) stuck with the Hillers by trying to speed up tempo of the game. Big man Noah Brown scored 13 of his 25 points in the first half as the Falcons chipped away at the Trinity lead, eventually cutting it to one at 25-24 midway through the second quarter.
But every time the Falcons got close, the Hillers had an answer.
Often it was sophomore guard Joe Koroly, who led the Hillers with 27 points. Koroly had help, including a big lift from freshman guard Jaden Nelson, who scored 15 points. Nelson made big plays at both ends of the floor late in the game.
“We are still a very young team,” Tessmer said. “We want these guys to play through tough situations. If we can avoid the two- to three-minute stretches per game when we collapse and completely fall apart, we will be alright. When we go on runs and play our style we can be a pretty good basketball team. A kid like Jaden, you could see start to grow up out there late in the game.”
Brownsville closed to within 36-32 at the half and made the first basket of the third quarter. The Hillers responded this time with an 11-1 run to go back up double digits.
But Trinity couldn’t put the game away as the trio of Noah Brown, Tryvon Brown (20) and Shandon Marshall (19) kept the Falcons in contention
“We didn’t defend as well as we usually do,” said Brownsville head coach Brian Brashear. “Trinity is a very good team and they have a lot of depth. We gave them too many opportunities to score and they did exactly that.”
Brownsville made it a one possession game several times in the fourth quarter before the Hillers pulled away late. Trinity showed its depth as several players scored down the stretch to pull away.
Junior Robert Nelson also finished in double figures for the Hillers with 12.
“We have asked these guys to grow up under fire,” said Tessmer. “Some of these guys experienced that last year. They are going to make mistakes. Some of the stuff we can live with but we want them to play their game. (Quaker Valley) is going to present a whole different set of challenges for them.”
Quaker Valley 71, Canon-McMillan 52: Quaker Valley jumped out to an 18-5 lead six minutes into the game and cruised to a 71-52 victory over Canon-McMillan.
Quakers’ guard Coletrane Washington hit four of his six three-point shots in the first quarter as Quaker Valley (8-1) led 25-12 after one quarter over the Big Macs (3-6).
The Big Macs got the deficit into single digits in the second quarter before another three-pointer by Washington sparked a 12-2 run to close out the first half for the Quakers, who took a 39-20 advantage into the locker room.
“We have some good guards,” said Quaker Valley head coach Mike Mastroianni. “We are young also. We only played one senior tonight. The idea was to pressure their guards and have our guards make plays.”
The Big Macs played the Quakers even during the second half, but the 19-point first-half hole they dug was too big to overcome.
Washington and center Colin Hill led all scorers with 18 points apiece. Quakers guard Amos Luptak added 15 while Ricky Guss chipped in 14.
C-M was led in scoring by Britton Beachy and Jake Davey, who each finished with 14.
“We’re in a funk right now,” said Canon-Mac head coach Rick Bell. “We lost a couple close conference games, and Char Valley and these guys beat us pretty good. Most of our games have been one or two possession games. We just have to keep getting better and get back at it.”