Dec 28, 2017 4 min read

The Trinity High School boys basketball team opened its holiday tournament by getting defensive.

While offense was tough to come by early for both teams, the Hillers’ man-to-man defense didn’t allow Chartiers-Houston many open looks as Trinity defeated the Bucs 60-33 Thursday night at Hiller Hall.

The Hillers advance to tonight’s championship round against Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs advanced by beating Brownsville 81-35 in the first game of the tournament.

Whether the Hillers played their aggressive man defensive or switched to a zone, like they did in the second half, they contested C-H shots all night.

“We did a good job of guarding them,” said Trinity head coach Tim Tessmer. “(Cam) Hanley is a guy they like to run a lot of things through and we did a good job of taking him away and not giving up open looks to their other players. We were aggressive and contested shots.”

The Hillers opened the game on a 9-2 run and led just 10-4 after one quarter.

Defense turned to offense for the Hillers in the second quarter as Trinity was able to speed up the game and put together an 18-5 run as they built a 30-13 halftime advantage.

“They were very good defensively,” Chartiers-Houston head coach Eugene Briggs said. “But we weren’t assertive at all offensively. We are usually a lot more aggressive offensively.”

Joey Koroly led the Hillers with 17 points as he was one of four Trinity players in double figures. Zach Ecker finished with 13 points, and Michael Koroly and Jeff Ecker each chipped in 10.

The Ecker and Koroly brothers combined for all 20 of Trinity’s third-quarter points as the Hillers opened a 50-23 lead.

“Both Zach and Jeff Ecker are about 6-foot-7, but that isn’t why they are good.” Briggs said. “They both are so active and they get to balls. That makes a big difference when you have your big guys that active and get to loose balls and be so disruptive on the defensive end.”

A big reason for the Hillers’ success had to do with rebounding as they held a huge edge over the Bucs, limiting C-H to just one possession almost every trip down the floor. Zach Ecker finished with a double-double by grabbing 14 rebounds. Joey Koroly also finished with a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds.

“We did a really good job crashing the glass,” Tessmer said. “I don’t think we allowed very many offensive rebounds all night. Our guys were very active and that made a difference.”

Hanley led the Bucs with 14 points. Zach Southern had 10.

Canon-McMillan 81 Brownsville 35:

Canon-McMillan’s Jason Fowlkes scored 26 first-half points to help the Big Macs cruise to an 81-35 victory over Brownsville.

Fowlkes, who finished with a game-high 30 points, scored C-M’s first 11 points of the game as the Big Macs jumped out to a 26-5 lead after one quarter.

The jump shots weren’t falling early for the Big Macs, so they relied on taking the ball to the basket, which played to Fowlkes’ strength.

“We aren’t just a jump-shooting team, which is the great part of this team,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Rick Bell. “When the shots aren’t falling we have the ability to put it on the floor and get to the rim. And we were able to get out and run off our defense. Having Jason at the top of the defense and Kenyon Lewis when he is healthy, we can get out and run. Jason did a great job of that tonight.”

The Big Macs then put together an 18-3 run to start the second quarter to take a very commanding 46-15 lead at the half.

Elliott Waller scored C-M’s first eight points of the third quarter and finished with 12. Luke Palma also was in double figures for the Big Macs with 11 points.

With the game out of hand, Bell was able to get a lot of players valuable experience for most of the second half.

“It’s nice to get guys valuable experience,” Bell said. “What I was most proud of is how the guys who are usually in the rotation really be up and cheering for the guys who typically aren’t rotation guys every game. That really shows what kind of team these guys are.”

The Falcons were led in scoring by Shandon Marshall and Phil Pace with 12 apiece. Pace was ejected in the third quarter after being hit with his second technical foul.