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Trinity stays undefeated, on collision course

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The Trinity girls basketball team’s clash with top-ranked Chartiers Valley Jan 23 is creeping up fast, and it’d be a lot more fun for both sides if each team was unbeaten.

Trinity’s 42-point win over Albert Gallatin in a Class 5A Section 3 game Thursday night at Hiller Hall didn’t hurt.

The Hillers (1-0, 4-0) were in command from the opening tip to the final buzzer, handling the Colonials, 77-35. So dominant was Trinity, ranked second in Class 5A and fifth in the PIAA, that much of the second half was played with a running clock.

“I think that tonight’s been consistent with our first three games in that we’re a very balanced scoring team,” second year coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. “We basically have six starters who can score in multiple ways, so I think it’s challenging for some teams to take one thing away, because we do have a lot of options.”

Alyssa Clutter paced Trinity with 17 points, and Eden Williamson was right behind with 16. Kaylin Venick added 12, and Courtney Dahlquist 11.

This cold, mid-January night was more like a warm mid-July afternoon at Kennywood for the Hillers. Trinity scored the game’s first eight points, and led 20-9 at the end of the first quarter. From there, the lead kept swelling. The Hillers led by 19 at halftime and only got better in the last 16 minutes.

For Albert Gallatin (1-1, 2-1), the night was a cold bucket of water to the face. After winning their first two games by an average of 40 points, the Colonials allowed more points to Trinity (77) than they did to Laurel Highlands and Frazier combined (60). Coach Ellen Hildenbrand understood what her squad was up against.

“I think we’re trying to learn to play like a team like Trinity,” Hildenbrand said. “I feel like we have a lot of talent. We have a very young team. So, you know, we’re trying to understand the things and take the lessons from this game.”

Albert Gallatin’s next contest is Friday night at Wash High.

Running the show for Trinity’s balanced offense was point guard Emily Venick. The senior played like a prototypical floor general, not scoring a single point but dishing out five assists and finding other ways to impact the game that didn’t show up on the statistics sheet.

“Everybody in the gym knows and understands her heart, how much she loves the game and how much she loves her teammates,” McConnell-Miller said. “She creates for them. She really wants to be that point guard that passes first and takes shots second. There are games she doesn’t even shoot the ball. Definitely, she wears her heart on her sleeve. She takes charges. She commands the offense. She does a great job running our team.”

Trinity’s impending matchup with Chartiers Valley is big for a number of reasons. The teams are ranked first and second in Class 5A, respectively, and it will be the first time they’ve met since the Colts handled the Hillers in last year’s WPIAL final, 58-40. It will also be another chance for McConnell-Miller to acquire bragging rights over brother Tim, who will be on the opposite sideline.

The Hillers have work to do in between, however, with games against Norwin and Uniontown. For now, they look to keep getting better in this the most unusual of seasons.

“With that break that we took for three weeks, we’re a little bit further behind than we would normally be at this point,” McConnell-Miller said. “So with that said, I think we get back in the gym, we get refocused, and we go one game at a time, and then, by the end of next week hopefully we’ll be further along.”

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