Mar 21, 2017 3 min read

McMURRAY – Sierra Kotchman grabbed the inbounds pass and headed down the left side of the basketball court as the time clicked down.

3…2…1.

The senior from Trinity High School pulled up and launched a long-range shot that banked in just as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter. Suddenly, a one-point Trinity lead was now four.

Whether they knew it or not, the South Fayette Lions just had their hearts ripped out by the senior sharpshooter.

Kotchman was dazzling Tuesday night, finishing with 30 points to propel the Hillers to a 61-51 victory in the PIAA Class 5A semifinals at Peters Township High School.

The victory sends the Hillers to the state finals against Archbishop Wood at the Giant Center in Hershey Saturday.

Kotchman had seven three-point baskets, none more important than the buzzer-beater that gave the Hillers a 43-39 lead heading into the final eight minutes. When Kotchman hit a three-pointer just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, Trinity’s lead was seven and South Fayette was finished.

“Kotchman was in another world,” said South Fayette head coach Matt Bacco, whose look of disbelief was still apparent 20 minutes after the game. “She’s beating three defenders and hitting half-court shots. You just have to tip your hat to her. I don’t think she missed a shot. I’m sure she did but I don’t remember one.”

While this was not exactly a half-court shot for Kotchman – she was about 25 feet away from the basket – it was her fourth buzzer-beater of the season and helped to extend Trinity’s record to 27-3.

“I just tried to take it down. I looked up at the clock and just let it fly,” said Kotchman, who became the school’s basketball scoring leader in a quarterfinal win over Archbishop Carroll Saturday.

“I knew it was going in once it left my hand. It definitely gave us momentum going into the fourth quarter and we pulled away from there. We got great momentum from those two threes.”

Some might consider it luck to make such a difficult shot under those circumstances but head coach Bob Miles knows that isn’t totally so.

“We practice those every day. We do,” he said. “At the beginning of practice, all the varsity players take a shot from half-court. I thought she had a good shot of making it, to be honest with you. … I knew if we could get (the lead) to eight or more, we would have a good chance of winning the game.”

Miles was right. The closest South Fayette got was within five points in the fourth quarter. Bacco moved his defense out to nearly midcourt, and managed to hold Kotchman to just four more points. But that left the lane unguarded and Trinity took advantage, forcing South Fayette to foul. Rachel Lemons, Riley DeRubbo and Alayna Cappelli went a combined 6-for-6 at the free throw line.

When the buzzer sounded to end the game, the Hillers celebrated under a shower of Hershey Kiss chocolates lofted into the air by their fans.