MORGANTOWN — A down third quarter threatened an otherwise solid game by the Trinity Christian girls’ basketball team finished its regular season with a 52-34 victory over East Hardy on Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors (17-5) comfortably outscored the Cougars (6-13) in the first, second and fourth quarters, but Brooklynn Tinnell scored 15 points in the third as East Hardy threatened to erase Trinity’s 18-point halftime lead.
“We have a lot of skill on this team and we got away with not playing great defense at times,” Trinity coach Mike Baldy said. “We know (Tinnell) for East Hardy is a really, really good player so she makes it challenging for us.”
The Warriors bounced back to start the fourth quarter on a 12-3 run that locked up the win. Baldy said he hopes it wasn’t a case of his team letting off the gas because they were leading at the break.
“I wish it wasn’t that because the same thing happened at East Hardy,” Baldy said. “We were up 20 going into half and they cut it all the way to three. I do think we recognized that and battled back a little sooner than we did at East Hardy.”
Junior Kaylin Kurilko was the driving force for Trinity, scoring a team-high 15 points while anchoring the Warriors’ defense and cleaning up on the glass.
“I thought she was tremendous for us,” Baldy said. “At the back of our press, the center is supposed to jump the pass up the line and steal it. We’ve been saying all year whichever center can start doing that will break through and be the starting center and she did that a couple times.”
Tinnell finished with a game-high 26 points but couldn’t get enough help as her teammates only scored eight.
Ella Lynch finished with 12 for Trinity on four triples. Jenna Barnett scored seven but needed to be helped off the court in the final minute with an injury.
With the win, the Warriors end the regular season 17-5, the winningest season under Baldy.
The team now turns its attention to the postseason, beginning with its upcoming section tournament.
“I think we can win the state championship,” Baldy said. “I don’t think we’re the favorite to do it, but I keep telling people that (making it to Charleston) isn’t our goal anymore, our goal is to win the state championship. I really think we have that kind of team this year.”
BOX SCORE
Trinity Christian 52, East Hardy 34
EH 8 3 13 5 — 34
TCS 16 13 11 12 — 52
EAST HARDY (6-13) — B. Miller 1 0-0 2; C. Miller 1 3-4 6; Tinnell 9 4-6 26; Cowgill 0 0-0 0; Gue 0 0-0 0; Lefollette 0 0-0 0.
TRINITY (17-5) — Moore 2 0-0 6; Williams 0 0-0 0; Kurilko 6 2-4 15; Lynch 4 0-0 12; Barnett 2 2-2 7; Fisher 0 0-0 0; Conn 1 3-4 5; Deal 2 0-0 5; Flecker 1 0-0 2; Dinkel 0 0-2 0; Lohmann 0 0-0 0.
3-Pt. Goals — East Hardy 5 (Tinnell 4, C. Miller 1). Trinity Christian 9 (Lynch 4, Moore 2, Kurilko 1, Barnett 1, Deal 1).
