MORGANTOWN — In the third meeting of the season between rivals Trinity and Notre Dame, the Warriors used a solid defensive performance to defend their sectional championship, 51-39.
With the win, Trinity claimed the Class A, Region II, Section 1 title and they will host a regional round matchup next Thursday.
Leighton Croft led the Warriors with 14 points while Kaylie Laskody added 10 more. Notre Dame’s Emilee Henderson led all scorers with 18 points.
The Irish led, 8-7, after the first quarter, but the Warriors would take a lead they would not surrender with an 8-0 run in the second quarter.
Trinity led, 22-17, at halftime. That lead swelled to nine points at the end of three quarters.
One of Trinity’s top offensive weapons, Reagan Sharp, was held to just five points. But she excelled with her defensive assignment, holding Notre Dame’s Taylor Martino without a field goal. Martino scored five points.
“When (Reagan) saw that she was not scoring she did two things — she facilitated and she completely shut down Martino,” said Trinity head coach Mike Baldy.
Trinity (16-8) lost four of their final six games in the regular season, but they have now won both of the sectional games by an average of 13 points.
“It is the same as last year,” Baldy said. “I don’t know why it is this way but I am OK with it. The kids are playing their hardest at the end of the season.”
The Warriors will host the loser of Saturday’s Section 2 championship game between Tucker County (15-6) and Moorefield (13-11). Notre Dame (15-9) will travel to face the Tucker/Moorefield winner. Both regional games are set for Feb. 28.
“We don’t want to travel into the eastern mountains,” Baldy said. “We want to be here at home with our crowd.”
