Dec 17, 2018 3 min read

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McDONALD – With just more than four minutes remaining in regulation and his team trailing by seven points, Trinity High School girls basketball coach Bob Miles knew something needed to change.

So the longtime coach called a timeout, went to his dry-erase board and drew up a full-court-press defense, something that young Hillers needed to be shown because they had yet to even practice it this season.

Suffocating like a straightjacket, the Trinity pressure defense made undefeated South Fayette unravel with one mistake after another by forcing eight turnovers in the final 4:16. The Hillers ended the game on a 15-2 run to knock the Lions from the ranks of the unbeatens, 47-41, in a Class 5A Section 1 game Monday night.

“We just lost our composure,” said first-year South Fayette head coach Bryan Bennett. “They sped us up, and this being the first time we were in a close game it may have gotten to us.”

The frustrations for the frazzled Lions finally reached a boil when Trinity’s Courtney Dahlquist turned another turnover into points with a layup to break a tie and give the Hillers a 43-41 with 58 seconds remaining in regulation.

Another layup from Dahlquist, a 6-1 forward who finished with a game-high 13 points and eight rebounds, and free throws from Emily Venick in the final 30 seconds cemented the victory.

“We were 5-for-21 in the first half, or something like that,” Miles said of the early shooting woes, which carried over to the free-throw line, where the Hillers missed their first six attempts.

“I thought we panicked quite a few times but we appreciated the fact that they don’t quit. They played hard the whole time. Even when they make mistakes they are aggressive mistakes. As the game went on, we took advantage of getting the ball inside and started making some shots.”

Trinity (2-0, 3-2), starting three sophomores while junior Riley DeRubbo continues to heal from a knee injury suffered in the summer, made nine of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“Something I said to them in our locker room before getting on the bus was that maybe, in a good way, not having Riley is forcing our young girls to step up,” Miles said. “They can’t rely on her. We have to play defense and grind it out.”

Keeping South Fayette (1-1, 4-1) in the lead for most of the back and forth game was three-point shooting. The Lions made eight three-pointers, including a buzzer-beating heave from Jordan Head to take a 32-30 lead into the fourth quarter.

Clare Relihan made four three-pointers to lead the Lions with 12 points. Skyler Aitken had nine points on a trio of baskets behind the arc.

“We live and die by the three because we don’t have a great deal of size,” Bennett said. “We hit eight threes but that might be a season low for us. When the ball isn’t dropping, it’s going to be tough to beat good teams like Trinity.”

It was the second time in as many games Trinity has knocked off an undefeated opponent, also holding section foe West Allegheny to 41 points last Thursday. The smallest margin of victory in South Fayette’s four wins was 18 points entering Monday night.

“We have a lot ahead of us,” said Trinity’s Kaylin Venick, who finished with 12 points. “We are only two games into the section and still have a lot more ahead of us. We are really young but are just getting better every day.”