Dec 8, 2018 3 min read

Canon-McMillan girls basketball coach Shawn Urbano was not a happy man.

Trinity’s Kaylin Venick had just coasted in for back-to-back layups to start the nightcap of the Trinity Tipoff Tournament contest against the Big Macs. So Urbano went about making sure those easy scores would not happen again.

The result was a 59-41 Big Macs win over the hosts, one that put a smile on the demanding coach’s face at the end of the contest.

“I saw then that we wouldn’t be able to stay in man-to-man defense,” Urbano said. “That was enough for me, so we switched to zone. It was a gut feeling, but I think the zone worked well for us.”

The zone defense worked to the tune of forcing 18 turnovers and harassing the Hillers (1-1) into bad shots for much of the contest.

“We didn’t deal with their zone very well, especially in the second half,” Trinity coach Bob Miles remarked. “We made too many lazy passes that they were waiting on.”

The Big Macs (1-1) roared out of the locker room to start the second half. Jenna Cromp’s eight third-quarter points keyed a 19-8 surge that put the visitors in control.

“We stressed rebounding and defense at the half,” Urbano said. “We weren’t rebounding very well early and our defense was a bit shaky as well. But we got some things corrected as the game went on. We need to do those two things well if our shots aren’t falling.”

Tamara Mathis was able to get her shot falling as she finished with 20 points. Cromp, along with sophomore Olivia Ulam, each chipped in with 12 points to pace the balanced attack.

“Everyone is going to key on Tamara, so it is important we get some help from that aspect and we got that from Jenna and Olivia,” Urbano added.

Miles agreed that Mathis was a force that his team could not deal with as the game wore on.

“She’s a heck of a player that we did not have an answer for,” Miles said. “She forced us to go zone as well.”

Mathis showed her athleticism with a steal and eventual layup that put the Big Macs up 36-28 with 1:45 left in the third quarter. The Hillers worked hard to try to get back in the contest, but an Ulam old-fashioned three-point play put the Big Macs up 14 midway through the fourth.

Trinity was able to snag a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to Kaylin Venick’s six points. Her two easy layups forced an angry Urbano to call a timeout 62 seconds into the contest.

Venick was the lone double-digit scorer for the Hillers with 12 points.

Riley DeRubbo, who averaged 17.1 points per game last season, remains unavailable for the Hillers as she continues to rehab a knee injury she suffered this summer.

“She is progressing and working hard to get back,” Miles said. “She definitely wants to play and our team misses her.”

The first half was mostly a back and forth affair as Mathis did her part to keep the Big Macs in the contest with 12 first-half points. A Mathis mid-range jump shot gave the Big Macs a 14-13 lead early in the second.

Julia Chakos appeared to give the hosts some momentum with a putback to give the Hillers a 23-22 lead at the half. But it was short-lived as the Big Macs took control and never looked back thanks to Mathis, Cromp and Ulam’s work in the second half.