Hillers dial long distance to beat Mt. Pleasant
Trinity’s Joe Koroly grabs a rebound during the first half of Friday night’s game against Mount Pleasant at Peters Township High School.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Trinity’s Jaden Nelson makes his way to the basket during the first half of the game against Mount Pleasant.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Trinity’s Ben Phillis tries to keep the ball in bounds during the first half of the game against Mount Pleasant on Friday, February 12.
McMURRAY – With no seniors on the roster, the Trinity High School boys basketball team might be the youngest squad in the WPIAL playoffs. The Hillers, however, have figured out the advanced mathematics of their sport.
The Hillers know that three points beats two points any day.
Trinity applied that knowledge to its game Friday night against Mt. Pleasant in the preliminary round of the Class AAA playoffs. The Hillers made 10 three-pointers, including three in a pivotal 45-second stretch of the fourth quarter, and defeated the Vikings 73-66 at Peters Township High School.
The win sends Trinity (13-8) into a first-round game Tuesday (8 p.m.) against Highlands at Fox Chapel.
Trinity made six of their long-range baskets in the second half, four coming shortly after Mt. Pleasant (7-16) had cut a 14-point Hillers lead to only two points (47-45) late in the third quarter.
But Trinity guard Joey Koroly, who did not play in the Hillers’ 47-36 regular-season win over Mt. Pleasant just six days earlier, made a key three-pointer that stopped the Vikings’ momentum and gave the Hillers a 50-45 lead.
After Mt. Pleasant’s Keith Kalp, who scored a team-high 20 points, opened the fourth quarter with a basket, Trinity broke the game open in a 45-second stretch and did so from the behind the three-point arc. Dylan Kern, who scored 11 points, tallied more than half of that total in just seconds with consecutive three-pointers. On Trinity’s next possession, Korloy buried one of his five three-pointers and suddenly the Hillers had a 59-47 lead with 6:14 remaining.
“We haven’t been shooting the three-pointer well, but we have the ability to make them,” said Trinity head coach Tim Tessmer. “We preach shoot it freely, just take good shots.”
Trinity was 10-for-18 from three-point range.
“We knew they’re a good shooting team,” said Mt. Pleasant coach Don Porter, who had his team in the playoffs one year after losing nine seniors.
“We tried every defense we had against them. We tried a 1-3-1, a flex defense, we tried jumping and double-teaming. They made everything. Trinity is a good basketball team.”
Mt. Pleasant never recovered from the Hillers’ three-point barrage early in the fourth quarter. The Hillers pushed their lead to 14 points before the Vikings closed the game with a flurry, pulling to within 69-64. A fast-break layup by Dausen Marry with 24 seconds left sealed the win for Trinity.
“Everyone says its next year for us, but we’re a little selfish,” Tessmer said. “We want to win as much as we can this year.”
It was that kind of urgency, along with some tough defense, that sparked Trinity to a 13-0 run in the third quarter. After another slow-paced half against Mt. Pleasant that ended with Trinity leading 28-25, the Hillers started the third quarter in high gear, picking up the pace of the play and forging a 41-27 lead. Koroly, who had game highs of 27 points and eight rebounds, capped the 13-0 spurt with a three-pointer. Jaden Nelson scored four of his 11 points in the run.
Kern and Ben Phillis also hit double figures, each scoring 11 points.
Jake Newill scored all of his 17 points over the final three quarters for Mt. Pleasant.
“We’re young in terms of class, but we have a lot of players who have started for two years,” Tessmer pointed out. “We have more playing experience than a lot of teams. That helped us in this game.”