Trinity stages late comeback to defeat Varsity 63-57

  • Jeffrey Kauffman For The Sentinel

Missing two starters, the Shamrocks survived a first-quarter onslaught to rally to win 63-57 on their home court.

Tresjon Ruiz and Kalen Veres were both not in uniform, but the Shamrocks used a balanced scoring approach and excellent foul shooting to withstand the first-period shooting barrage.

 “We played a very good ballgame today despite their shooting in the first quarter,” Shamrocks coach Larry Kostelac Jr. said. “When we took care of the basketball, we moved the ball well and made shots. People don’t realize why Sean Good is going where he is [Lafayette]. He can go to the basket, he can alter shots and he passes the ball so well out of the post.”

Good just missed a triple-double. He scored 15 points, adding 14 rebounds and eight assists.

District 1 power Conestoga made six of its first seven shots, including four from 3-point range, to take an 18-8 and a 22-12 lead after one quarter.

“We were very good in the first quarter, but then we had an astonishing second quarter for a variety of reasons,” Pioneers coach Mike Troy said. “Overall, I was very pleased with our play today, but we just didn’t hit a couple of shots at the end of the game.”

Matt Long drained a3-pointer to give the ‘Rocks their first lead at 32-31, only to watch Zach Lezanic can his fourth and fifth 3-pointers to give the Pioneers back the lead at 37-35. Lezanic led all scorers with 28 points.

“Zach is a special player,” Kostelac said. “His father coached at Loyola (Maryland) and recruited (former Trinity standout) Matt Walker to play there. Matt is Patrick Walker’s dad. I actually thought we did a pretty good guard of guarding him; he has the ability to blow by people and hit the outside shots.”

The third and fourth quarters went by with mini runs of four to six points by each team until Mike Scarpelli downed a 3-pointer and Good scored in the paint to give the Shamrocks a 52-47 lead. Lezanic hit a jumper and added two foul shots on a technical foul to retake the lead 55-54.

Long hit a 3 and added four other points to end the game, as the Pioneer missed a couple of short jumpers in the lane.

Long also tallied 15, Walker added 13, and Scarpelli added 13 for the Shamrocks. Jack Bucher also added seven, and the Shamrocks hit 13-of-18 at the line while the Pioneers went 5-of-6.