Trinity has all the answers against Mars
Trinity’s Mary Dunn tries to shoot while Mars’ Elise Sheehy guards her during the first half of Wednesday night’s WPIAL Class AAA semifinal game at West Allegheny High School.
Trinity’s Abbey O’Connor shoots from behind Mars’ Brui Buzard during the second half of Wednesday night’s game.
Trinity’s Mary Dunn starts to celebrate as the final seconds of the game tick down against Mars on Wednesday, February 24. Trinity defeated Mars 57 to 39 in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals.
Trinity’s Sierra Kotchman works her way around Mars’ Lauren Wasylson in the second half of Wednesday night’s game.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Trinity celebrates after defeating Mars 57 -39 Wednesday night. Trinity will face South Fayette Saturday for the WPIAL Championship.
IMPERIAL – With a frustrating 2-3 zone defense and a balanced offense that can score in a variety of ways, Trinity is difficult for opponents to solve.
Mars discovered Wednesday night how many problems the Hillers create on offense and defense.
When Mars’ defense quickly moved to stop Trinity’s guards on the perimeter, the Hillers would just as quickly pass it inside to senior center Mary Dunn or junior forward Abbey O’Connor for a layup.
When the Planets collapsed the lane after a ball went inside, a pass quickly went back out, where junior Sierra Kotchman and sophomore Alayna Cappelli were there to make shots, or execute the next offensive set.
The Planets tried everything – zone, man, pressure. It didn’t matter, not on a night when Trinity looked like a team destined for a spot in the WPIAL championship.
Kotchman and Dunn combined for 41 points, and Trinity’s zone defense stifled Mars’ offense to help the Hillers walk away with a 57-39 victory in a Class AAA semifinal game at West Allegheny High School.
“They went outside, inside; it didn’t matter,” Mars head coach Dana Petruska said. “They’re very good and they were clicking on all cylinders. They have five girls on the floor at all times who can score. It’s not easy to stop that.”
Second-seeded Trinity (21-3) advanced to Saturday’s championship game at the Petersen Events Center, where the Hillers will face arch-rival South Fayette, which they lost to twice in the regular season, at 3 p.m.
It was fitting for the Hillers to clinch a spot in the title game at West Allegheny, the same gym where their playoff journey began two years ago with a first-round playoff win over Hampton.
And it was almost déjà vu where, like Hampton, Mars could not stop Dunn, who had 20 points and Kotchman, who finished with 21. But this time, the Hillers had other weapons in their arsenal to sink the Planets (19-6). Dunn also had nine rebounds with three blocked shots, and Cappelli and O’Connor each chipped in seven points.
“It’s like what we said all along; we’re a double-edged sword where we can play the outside game and we also have the bigs on the inside where we can play that game too,” Trinity coach Bob Miles said. “
When Trinity looked hesitant in the opening minutes and forced passes inside to Dunn, it was Cappelli who sank two three-pointers to help the Hillers grab a 13-11 lead after the first quarter.
That’s when defense, rebounding and height took over.
Dunn scored 11 second-quarter points and sparked a 9-0 run to give the Hillers a 9-point advantage. Mars, meanwhile, could not drive to the basket against Trinity’s 2-3 zone. Instead, it settled for two three-pointers from Lauren Wasylson, who had a team-high 16 points, in the second quarter.
“We took their driving lanes away,” Miles said. “We were afraid they’d take the ball to the basket on us, so we wanted to make sure we kept them on the perimeter. We knew they couldn’t knock down shots all night long.”
Though they drew five personal fouls driving to the basket, the Planets had just one field goal within five feet of the basket. When it got close, Dunn, a 6-3 Youngstown State recruit, O’Connor or senior Natalie Cappelli either swatted the shot or altered it.
Trinity also outrebounded the Planets, 32-18, and Mars went more than seven minutes forcing three-point shots. The Hillers got 19 of their 23 second-quarter points from Kotchman and Dunn.
“We got out to the perimeter really fast, so they weren’t expecting us to be there when they wanted their shots,” Dunn said. “When they drove, we had it covered on the inside, too.”
That led to a 36-24 advantage at halftime and that’s as close as the Planets would get. After a steal by Cappelli, Kotchman and Dunn broke down the court for a 2-on-1, where Kotchman quickly dished to Dunn, who was fouled and converted the three-point play.
Moments later, Kotchman made back-to-back three-pointers.
“We get a lot of confidence off that and we feed off each other when we make shots like that,” Kotchman said. “All five of us, no matter who it is, we can all shoot, we can all shoot and all around, we play really well together.”
Trinity led 50-30 at the end of the third quarter, when the Planets shot 1 of 12 from the field, and held on in the fourth to clinch a rematch with South Fayette.
As his players sang the alma mater and locked arms with students who made the trip, Miles smiled in approval.
“It’s so awesome. The first time we ever got a taste of success was here and we’ve been waiting for this forever,” Dunn said. “All the work is finally paying off.”