Jan 17, 2017 3 min read

MONONGAHELA – Trinity High School’s boys basketball team solidified its playoff positioning with a 66-54 win at Ringgold Tuesday night in Class 5-A Section 1.

A priority for the Hillers heading into the contest was neutralizing Ringgold’s Dakota Browning, and they did it during the first half as they held the 6-5 senior scoreless over the first 16 minutes.

“We competed well and came out of the door shooting well,” said Trinity coach Tim Tessmer. “When we do that, it gives us confidence and it’s just a matter of getting us to play 32 minutes that way. We have enough big bodies this year that we were able to lean on (Browning) with three guys.”

Ringgold coach Phil Pergola said his team has been making the same mistakes all season, which is preventing the Rams from making significant progress.

“We hit a couple of early shots and then missed a couple of easy ones,” he said. “We are still making too many mental mistakes and we shouldn’t.

“We shot four airballs in the first half and I don’t understand it.”

Junior Joey Koroly paced Trinity with 21 points to pace the Hillers (4-2, 8-6), who are tied for second place in the section. Trinity has won three in a row.

Koroly was joined in double figures by teammates Dylan Kern (11 points) and Jaden Nelson (10).

“Joey had a good game and Dylan and Jaden (made some shots),” said Tessmer. “When we are playing well, we are getting three or four guys in double digits.”

Ringgold’s Jake Mayer converted a three-point play for the first points of the night, and it would be the last time the Rams would lead.

Trinity made a trio of three-pointers early to take a 9-6 lead, and the Hillers would go on a 10-6 run to take a 19-12 lead into the second quarter.

“They hit those threes to get going,” Pergola said. “And they pushed the ball.”

Trinity opened the second quarter with 8-2 run, and the Rams went cold as they only hit three shots over the eight minutes.

By the time Mayer made a shot for Ringgold (7-8, 2-4) to end the half, Trinity had opened a 35-21 lead.

Browning, who finished with 18 points, finally got going in the third quarter as he scored 14 of Ringgold’s 20 points and the Rams trimmed the Trinity lead to 47-41.

“He got going in the third quarter but it’s like I told the guys, we will take it because he was hitting contested shots,” Tessmer said of Browning.

Trinity opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run to take a 57-43 lead and Ringgold did not get closer than 10 the rest of the way.

“They went on that run to start the fourth and we couldn’t answer,” Pergola said.

Anthony Pampena scored in double figures for the Rams with 10 points.

Ringgold had 19 turnovers to Trinity’s 11.