Trinity battles back, downs Greensburg Salem
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Dylan Kern (13) celebrates with teammates Tuesday night during the fourth quarter of the Hillers’ WPIAL Class 5A playoff game against Greensburg Salem at Peters Township High School.
Trinity’s Zach Ecker scores a basket in the post over Greensburg Salem’s Jack Oberdorf during a WPIAL Class 5A playoff game Tuesday night at Peters Township High School.
Holly Tonini/ Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Dylan Kern gets around Greensburg Salem’s Marvel McGowan to score a fourth-quarter basket Tuesday night.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity head coach Tim Tessmer celebrates with his players after the Hillers defeated Greensburg Salem in a WPIAL Class 5A playoff game. The Hillers play WPIAL champion Mars in the second round for the state tournament tonight at Moon High School.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Joey Koroly drives through the defense of Greensburg Salem’s Cavan Trout (10) and Jalen Page (13) to score a basket Tuesday night during a WPIAL Class 5A playoff game at Peters Township High School.
McMURRAY – On most occasions, playoff basketball is not easy on the eyes in terms of smooth play.
Tuesday night’s Trinity-Greensburg Salem game at Peters Township High School was the embodiment of a tough, grind-it-out game in which the winner not so much conquers, but survives.
The Hillers overcame some inaccurate shooting and sloppy play to outlast the Lions, 61-52, to advance to the next round of the WPIAL 5A Boys Basketball Tournament.
“Two years ago, our guys as sophomores probably don’t win this game,” Trinity coach Tim Tessmer said. “We were hoping they would be ready to win some games like this and tonight they came through.”
Senior Joey Koroly missed his first 15 shots from the field, but steadied himself and his squad down the stretch and finished with 16 points, nine of which came from the foul line. Dylan Kern added 13 points for the Hillers.
“We don’t let missed shots affect us too much,” Koroly said. “We just keep playing.”
Greensburg Salem’s Marvel McGowan led all scorers with 28 points and was almost too much to deal with for the Hillers.
“He is a fantastic basketball player,” Tessmer added. “We did what we could to limit him as much as we could. We tried to mix it up, play some man, play some 1-2-2 zone just to stay in front of him.”
While McGowan was establishing the tone for the Lions early, the Hillers were floundering as they fell behind 15-9 at the end of the first. McGowan scored eight points in the opening quarter while Zach Ecker found himself on the bench with two early fouls.
Trinity (19-4) found some firm footing in the second quarter as the Hillers assumed control. The Hillers finished the half on an 11-0 run, capped by a Jeff Ecker bucket towards the end of the half, giving the Hillers a 24-22 halftime lead.
But the Lions (12-11) would not wilt. In fact, in the third quarter, the Lions went on a run of their own that was capped by a Jack Oberdorf three-pointer that gave Greensburg Salem a 35-31 lead with 1:53 left in the third.
Greensburg Salem extended the lead to 39-31 at the end of the quarter when Dante Parsons made a put back at the buzzer. Seemingly giving the Lions the momentum needed to pull the upset.
“Our section got us ready to play in game like this,” Lions coach Craig Mankins said. “Playing the likes of Franklin Regional and Highlands prepared us for sure.”
But the fourth quarter belonged to the Hillers.
Koroly scored his first bucket from the field early in the fourth to cut the Lions lead to 41-33. Back-to-back layups by Jeff and Zach Ecker cut the advantage to three less than a minute later. Koroly then drained a three to cut it to one. Finally, Dausen Marry’s three on the next Trinity possession gave the Hillers their first lead at 44-42 with 5:02 left to play, capping a 13-1 Hiller run.
“We just tried to speed it up and press them a little more there in the second half,” Tessmer added. “It worked out pretty good for us as the game wore on.”
Trinity’s press eventually wore down the Lions, forcing 16 turnovers for the game.
McGowan’s two buckets put the Lions back in front, 47-46, but the Hillers refused to sag and took over the game.
Marry’s two foul shots gave the Hillers a 48-47 lead with 2:03 left. Koroly then hit a driving lay up to extend the lead to three with 1:35 remaining. Kern’s third three pointer extended the Hiller advantage to six with 1:27 left, giving Trinity all the momentum they needed to hang on.
From there, the Hillers sealed it from the foul line as Trinity made eight of nine.
“That is something we work on in practice and after practice,” Koroly said. “No matter what, we need to make them from the foul line especially in the end of the game when we’re tired.”