South Fayette right at home against Trinity
South Fayette coach Matt Bacco talks to his team during a timeout in the Lions’ game against Trinity on Thursday.
South Fayette’s Sam Kosmacki tries to block a shot of Trinity’s Alayna Cappelli during Thursday night’s game at South Fayette High School.
South Fayette’s Maddie Burnide tries to block a shot by Trinity’s Delaney Elling at South Fayette High School Thursday.
McDONALD – As cold temperatures continued to persist outside, high school basketball teams within the WPIAL are looking to get hot in late January.
Nobody gave the South Fayette and Trinity girls basketball teams that notice because both haven’t taken their foot of the gas pedal since season-opening tournaments commenced in December.
The Lions have tormented teams in the friendly confines of the South Fayette High School gymnasium all season, winning their first six matchups here and beating opponents by an average margin of more than 25 points.
Trinity might prefer playing in any hostile environment thrown at it as the Hillers won their first 10 road games in dominating fashion, handling teams by nearly 30 points per game.
Something had to give Wednesday night.
What gave, in favor of the home team, might have been the time left on the clock. Following a made free throw from South Fayette’s Maddie Gutierrez with 3.9 seconds remaining that put the Lions ahead three points, Trinity ran the baseline looking for a possible, last-second heave. With the inbound pass in mid-air, the clock started and Lions guard Autumn Mozick came down with the ball at mid-court to seal a 43-40 victory over Trinity in Section 5-AAA.
The officials, which departed amidst the angered Trinity sideline, declared that the ball was tipped during the inbound, thus starting the clock.
“The officials would have to make that call and the scorekeeper isn’t supposed to start the clock until (the official’s) arm goes down,” said Trinity head coach Bob Miles. “I just think we caught the officials off guard with the play we ran.”
“I saw Sam Kosmacki tip the ball at half-court before we ended up eventually possessing it,” said South Fayette head coach Matt Bacco. “If the clock started early, we still had possession of the basketball up three points. I think to make the game about what might have happened at the end is not respectful to the effort my kids put forth during the second half.”
The Hillers led throughout the entire opening half following an eight-point first quarter from senior center Mary Dunn.
Trinity (7-2, 13-3) saw a different South Fayette team following the halftime break.
“We held a team that is so good offensively to 20 first-half points,” Bacco said in his halftime speech. “I told them the problem was that we only had 12 points. I thought for the better part of three quarters we defended very well, we just needed to score.”
The Lions went on an 11-2 run, starting at the 6:50 mark of the third quarter, and cut a 10-point Trinity lead down to only one, 24-23.
A deep three from Mikayla Fetchet gave South Fayette its first lead of the night, 33-30, with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
“What we are doing is unbelievable,” said Bacco. “With the injuries we have had and the adversity we are overcoming, it truly is a family in that locker room. It’s the closest group of kids I’ve ever coached and they really do love each other.”
After back-and-forth possessions that resulted in points for both teams, South Fayette (8-0, 13-2) went on a six-point run to extend its lead to 39-32. Five straight points from the Hillers bmade it a one-possession game.
“We were gritty tonight,” said Miles. “In the first game, they beat us to a lot of the loose balls. I thought we handled the pressure a lot better tonight, but (South Fayette) defended Sierra Kotchman very well.”
Kotchman finished with nine points. Dunn had a game-high 16 points and five rebounds.
Leading the way for South Fayette was Kosmacki, who totaled 11 points. The Lions were paced inside by center Emily Anderson, who scored nine points and collected 11 rebounds.
“The atmosphere seemed a lot like a playoff game,” said Bacco. “It’s fun to play in, for sure, and we have had experiences like that with WPIAL title games. We won’t be the least bit surprised if we see Trinity again. In fact, we expect to.”