Trinity Girls Live Up To Hoops Hype

The Trinity girls basketball team turned a promising matchup into a mismatch.

The Blazers scored the first nine points and never looked back en route to a 62-35 rout of Morgan Park in a non-conference battle of highly regarded teams Tuesday in River Forest.

Trinity (2-0) is ranked No. 5 by the Chicago Sun-Times and No. 6 by the Chicago Tribune, while Morgan Park (4-3) is rated No. 12 by both newspapers.

The home team wasn’t even at the top of its game. DePaul-bound Megan Podkowa struggled with her shooting through three quarters, and the Blazers made only four of 15 free throws for the game.

Trinity used balanced scoring and an effective man-to-man defense to control the proceedings.

Podkowa gave the Blazers a 4-0 lead in the opening minute on a drive down the lane and a baseline jumper. She didn’t score for the rest of the half, but her teammates made up for that. Alyssa Dengler canned a 10-footer and Shannon McGinnis turned an offensive rebound into a three-point putback to put the host ahead 9-0.

Trinity held Morgan Park scoreless for a stretch of more than five minutes in the second quarter on the way to building a 28-14 halftime advantage. McGinnis led the Blazers at the break with 7 points. The home team held a 25-15 rebounding edge through the first two quarters powered in part by Victoria Harris’ six rebounds off the bench.

“We didn’t do a good job rebounding and we knew that they were a very good rebounding team,” Morgan Park coach Thomas Johnson said. “We just didn’t block anybody out.” 

Holding a 31-20 lead in the third quarter, Trinity blew open the game with a 20-4 run that produced a 51-24 cushion.

Podkowa eventually regained her shooting touch, scoring nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. She had nine rebounds in her team’s first game since its opener two weeks ago.

“We had a lot of time off,” said Podkowa, who rallied to shoot eight of 17 from the field, but went only one for six from the line. “I think it might have affected my shot a little. I definitely need to get in and take more shots when I’m practicing, but definitely my team was there to help pick me up.

“We have a lot of top players on our team. Everyone’s really talented so if I’m not playing well I know that they’ll be there to step up and take control of the game. We just really stepped up, especially on defense.”

McGinnis totaled 11 points, Taylor Nazon and Dengler scored 10 apiece and Lauren Prochaska registered eight.

“When our leading scorer is not producing we can all pull through and work together as a team,” McGinnis said. “I could tell she was off a little, but everyone else stepped up and then she stepped right up, too.”