MORGANTOWN – After splitting the season series with one win each, the Trinity Christian and Valley girls basketball teams began the postseason, where they started the regular season high on the hill in Sabraton as the fourth-seeded Warriors hosted the fifth-seeded Lumberjills in the Class A Region I girls basketball tournament.
Trinity Christian controlled the game from the jump, never trailing in the contest, on their way to a convincing 62-24 victory. The Warriors will now advance to the Region I final against top-seeded and defending Class A state champion Cameron on Tuesday evening with the winner punching a ticket to Charleston.
TCS senior Kaylin Kurilko lifted her team to victory with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds. Marlo Flecker matched Kurilko’s effort with 20 points for the Warriors.
“Very proud of the way we played tonight,” TCS head coach Chad Williams said. “We moved the ball, made shots, our defense was ready, and we shut down their most dangerous player. I thought Jillian Conn did a great job on the matchup.”
The Warriors began the contest red hot on offense, converting their first five shot attempts and opening an early 11-2 lead.
The hot shooting continued throughout the opening quarter and was capped by a triple by Flecker at the buzzer that gave the hosts a 21-8 lead after one.
After the strong start on offense, the Warriors ramped up their defense in the second, only allowing Valley to score three points in the quarter and leading 34-11 at the break.
“I wish every game was like that,” Williams said with a chuckle. “We came out ready to play, and played loose.”
His club picked right back up in the second half where they had left off in the first half and extended their lead to 42-13 midway through the third quarter.
The Lumberjills managed a more-positive quarter with 10 points across the eight minutes, but the Warriors lead was too large for the difference to be made up.
Kurilko grabbed her tenth rebound two minutes into the fourth for her double-double.
“Kaylin has really worked hard this season to be more of an all-around player,” Williams said. “We’ve been using her more outside recently on offense and she is knocking down some shots. We even drew up a play on offense for her specifically recently and it worked well tonight.”
TCS outscored Valley 14-3 in the fourth on its way to a Regional semifinal victory.
BOX SCORE
Trinity Christian 62, Valley 24
VHS 8 3 10 3 – 24
TCS 21 13 14 14 – 62
Valley – Dawson 5 1-1 12 Pittman 1 2-2 4 Miller 2 0-2 4 Derby 0 1-1 1
Trinity Christian – Kurilko 8 1-4 20 Flecker 9 1-2 20 Deal 1 1-2 4 Williams 2 0-0 4 Conn 3 0-0 6 Blake 3 0-0 6 Moorehead 1 0-0 2
3pt goals made: Valley 1 (Dawson); Trinity Christian 5 (Kurilko 3 Flecker 1 Deal 1)
