Girls Basketball: Trinity cruises to GCAC title with romp over Loyola
By Patrick Kelly Contributor February 4, 2012 10:20PM
Trinity's Alyssa Dengler passes to an open teammate as Loyola's Michelle Ricolcol defends. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:17PM
If stifling defense is going to be a component for a deep IHSA playoff run for Trinity, it was definitely on display Saturday night against Loyola in the GCAC Red Division conference championship.
In a rematch of last year’s final, the Blazers limited Loyola to single digits in all four quarters and cruised to a 49-18 title victory in River Forest.
It was the second straight conference crown for Trinity (25-1), which defeated Loyola 39-36 last season.
“It feels really good, because we have been working really hard in practice,” said Blazers forward Alyssa Dengler. “It just feels good because we are growing as a team and everything is coming together for us, so it is really good.”
Offense was not a problem for the Blazers, either, as they built a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter and had a commanding 28-11 lead by halftime.
Sophomore guard Lauren Prochaska led all scorers with 13 points and three assists, while reserve Victoria Harris (5 rebounds) had six of her 10 tallies in the fourth quarter. Harris’ last bucket gave Trinity its largest lead, 49-16 with just over a minute left in the game.
Senior forward Megan Podkowa was dominant on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds, while scoring seven points and adding four blocks and three steals.
The Blazers put up 17 points in the first quarter, connecting on 6-of-12 shots, including knocking down three shots from long distance.
Dengler (three steals) had two three-pointers before the intermission, and Mikayla Leyden (5 points) also added a three in the opening stanza.
“That is where we are different, we have multiple kids that can score,” said Trinity coach Eddie Stritzel. “If opposing teams buy into having to stop one player, we kind of like that. We have eight kids that can go and go hard, we felt that we showed that to the city of Chicago tonight.”
Loyola (21-7) trailed the entire game, but trimmed the lead to 4-3 when Mary Kate O’Malley hit a three-pointer in the opening minutes of the first period. O’Malley also knocked down a three in the second stanza and was the leading scorer for the Ramblers with six points.
Michelle Ricolcol hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes to play in the third period, but the Ramblers were held scoreless in the quarter up to that point. The shooting woes did not improve for Loyola in the final period, as Carly Callans hit the Ramblers’ only field goal in the quarter with 37 seconds left.
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