Munster coach Mike Hackett was asked how senior forward Brandon Trilli has improved this season.
Hackett cut right to the chase.
“He was pretty damn good last year,” he said, “and he’s having a really good year again for us.”
Indeed, Trilli has created an impressive legacy in his two seasons with the Mustangs. Since moving with his family from Arizona in the summer of 2021, he was named an Indiana Junior All-Star and scored more than 1,000 points.
Trilli didn’t slow down in the first round of the Class 4A Munster Sectional on Wednesday, when he had 26 points and six rebounds in the Mustangs’ 61-55 win against Merrillville.
“He does a lot for us,” Hackett said. “He rebounds. He helps handle the ball. He scores. He does a lot for us. We’re happy to have Brandon Trilli on our team.”
Junior point guard David Cundiff added nine points and seven assists for Munster (23-2), which is ranked No. 7 in the 4A poll by The Associated Press and No. 15 in the state coaches poll and will play Lake Central (16-8) in a sectional semifinal on Friday. Junior guard Nolan Kinsella also had nine points.
Sophomore forward Robert Kennedy paced Merrillville (8-15) with 17 points. Junior guard KeyShawn Mitchell-Andrews had 13, and senior guard Darrin Weaver added 10.
The 6-foot-5 Trilli, a Northern Michigan recruit, is averaging 21.1 points and 6.7 rebounds this season.
“Coming in here this year from last year, I feel like I’ve gotten more coachable,” he said. “I feel like I learned more about our style of offense and how we play.
“Individually, I feel like I became a better shooter. My biggest thing was trying to be more of a leader. … Picking up a leader role was the most important thing for me.”
Cundiff agreed Trilli has added another dimension to his game this season.
“He really improved his 3-point shot,” Cundiff said. “He shows every game, so now when he pops, you know he’ll shoot it from the 3-point line. He’s been doing it all year.”
Trilli set a single-season program record for points last season, and he scored his 1,000th point in a Munster uniform during a Feb. 14 victory against Lake Station. He became the program’s eighth player to reach the milestone. That group includes his father Mike, a 1989 graduate.
“It was very important to me,” Trilli said. “When I moved here, my points in Arizona never counted. They reset to zero. Scoring a thousand points at your school, it’s one of the coolest things ever.
“Being able to pass my dad on the scoring list, that’s something I’ll always be able to talk about. That’s something I’m really grateful for.”
Munster had defeated Merrillville 59-47 on Jan. 14, but Hackett anticipated a tighter game in the rematch. He noted the Pirates knocked off his team in a sectional semifinal in 2020 and upset Valparaiso in a sectional opener last season.
“It wasn’t the cleanest performance, but Merrillville is hard to play against. … When we drew them, I knew it was going to be a battle,” Hackett said. “I just knew it. Bo (Patton) does a good job of getting his guys ready at sectional time.”
Munster, which won its sixth straight Northwest Crossroads Conference title, returned four starters after winning a sectional championship last season. To have a chance to repeat, the Mustangs will have to avenge one of their only two losses this season, as Lake Central won 47-44 on Dec. 20.
“We all played together this year and last year. … Us all being very close from the moment I moved here to this season, we’ve gotten a lot closer,” Trilli said. “We’re like a family. We all know what we’re going to do. We’re all on the same page all the time.”