After an easy win at the Class 4A Maine South Regional final on Thursday, Feb. 18, first-year Trinity girls basketball coach Mike Valente referred to his defense as the “Blazer Blitz.”
“We’re playing an aggressive, football style of defense,” Valente said. “Our offense is based on what our defense is doing.”
Third-seeded Trinity beat sixth-seeded Maine South 72-41 in Park Ridge to win its ninth consecutive game. The Blazers (26-5) won their third consecutive regional title, and their 13th in the last 14 years. Trinity will play second-seeded Evanston or seventh-seeded Maine West in the New Trier Sectional semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23.
During the winning streak, Trinity is allowing 35.6 points per game. Valente said his team’s man-to-man defense is “something that is still evolving.”
Trinity’s defense didn’t look impressive in the first quarter when the Hawks (16-15) led 15-11 going into the second quarter. But the Blazers outscored Maine South 25-11 in the second quarter and 26-7 in the third quarter.
Trinity forced 14 turnovers while committing five of its own in the first half and led 36-26 at the break.
“[This defense] is something cutting edge,” Valente said. “It’s our identity now. We like to do it and know that we will not get tired.”
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The Blazer Blitz is built around a full-court press that usually features sophomore Lauren Lee at the point..
“It’s working out [every game],” Lee said. “Defense wins games for us. We’re stopping the ball and containing their points. That’s what we do.”
Trinity placed a full-court press on Maine South for at least 75 percent of the game and otherwise trapped opponents with the ball.
“You have to be mentally tough,” Hawks coach Mark Smith said. “They force you to be precise. You have to rebound the basketball and be able to handle their pressure.”
Trinity kept up its full-court pressure despite playing without two reserves: 6-foot-2 sophomore Alex Fanning (ankle) and 6-2 sophomore Alyssa Geary (knee).
Sophomore Daliyah Brown scored a season-high 19 points to lead Trinity, which had three other players in double figures: senior Annie McKenna (14), sophomore Alisa Fallon (13) and senior Kaitlin Aylward (10).
Maine South
Maine South’s only junior starter, forward Olivia Latreille, led Maine South with nine points and six rebounds in the final game for 11 seniors. Riley Eckhart was the highest scoring senior with eight points, all in the first half.
The Hawks led 15-11 to end the first quarter, but any momentum was lost when Trinity scored the first 11 points in the second quarter.
“This season was unique,” Smith said. “We’ve never had 11 seniors before. We broke the bank on senior night with all their gifts. They played eight seasons with us if you include the summer.”
The only other senior starter to score for Maine South was Julia Spuria, who scored all five of her points in the first half despite playing with a bad back.
Twitter @geomwilcox