EDINBURGH
Trinity Lutheran coach Mike Lang counted up five different defenses the Cougars threw at West Washington on Saturday night in his team’s IHSAA girls sectional basketball final.
Although the sets have numbers, they also have nicknames. He just didn’t want to reveal any cute references to full-court pressing, half-zone pressing, man-to-man and half-court zones.
Taken together, you could call Trinity’s efforts “the boa constrictor defense.” It squeezed the life out of the Senators in the 67-31 victory that propelled the Cougars on to regional play next Saturday in Springs Valley.
Trinity, now 20-4 and the No. 1-ranked team in Class A, meets Loogootee (17-4) at noon.
That was the reward for sweeping through this sectional, which also included an 86-23 triumph over Shawe Memorial on Friday night.
“We kept them mixed up defensively,” Lang said.
This was Trinity’s third time in four years holding up the sectional trophy and the second year in a row.
The combination of heavy pressure early and freshman Liza Froedge’s outside shooting gave the Cougars a 19-4 first quarter lead, and West Washington could never recover from that.
Suspecting the 8-15 Senators, who bested Edinburgh and Crothersville to advance, would try to shut down scoring stars Sydney Jaynes and Bailey Tabeling with double teams, Trinity geared the early offense to Froedge. At times, she was so open on the perimeter she could have sent up a signal flare.
Teammates were looking to pass to the 5-foot-8 forward so she didn’t have to wave her hands much. Froedge swished five three-pointers by two minutes into the second quarter and finished the game tying a school record for threes with six. She had a team-high 20 points.
“Going into the game, we knew they would be leaving me open,” Froedge said. “I was told to be ready to shoot.”
Froedge thinks this was her best high school game, and she believes her accuracy will help later in the tournament.
“My shooting is really going to give me more confidence,” she said.
The Cougar defense was the signature of the night, however, from the opening tip.
“Oh yes, it all comes down to who plays better defense,” Jaynes said.
And Froedge provided the retaliation to West Washington’s game plan fizzle.
“Liza stepped up. She was hitting everything,” Jayne said.
Whatever type of trap Trinity threw at West Washington seemed to provoke a turnover, and 11 minutes into the game, the lead was 27-7.
Senior Genesis Munoz, the team’s first player off of the bench, sometimes isolated defensively on the Lexi Griffiths, the Senators’ top scorer, and also cornered her on some zone assignments.
“Defense wins championships,” Munoz said, sounding like a football coach evaluating a playoff win. “Our scoring will come. We always get points. Making baskets is fun, but to us, when you’re playing defense well, it gives you more excitement.”
Munoz knew Griffiths was quicker, but she also trusted her teammates to back her up on switches.
“We work a lot on help side defense,” she said. “I love the challenge in any game. It pushes me to be my best.”
The Senators regrouped in the second period and fought back to close within 29-20 before Tabeling fired in five points in the last 30 seconds of the first half to give Trinity a 34-20 margin at the intermission.
Trinity dominated the third quarter by hitting long-range shots and converting errant passes into fast-break layups. Guard Kailene Cockerham, Jaynes, Tabeling, Froedge and Emma Schepman all scored in the third, and the period-long run left the Cougars with a 52-25 lead going into the fourth quarter.
There were not many fouls and not many foul shots, and without many whistles, the game moved swiftly, over in about an hour and five minutes.
As evidence of the toll taken by the defense, Tabeling had eight steals and Froedge collected five. Jaynes was the top Trinity rebounder with six, and Cockerham had six assists.
Due to social distancing requirements because of coronavirus protocols, there were not many fans in attendance. When the final buzzer sounded, though, the Cougars made their own noise. They jumped around at center court and hugged in celebration, cut down the nets, posed for pictures and paraded around holding up the sectional trophy.
Lang reveled in the scene and the achievement. In his 10th season as head coach, Trinity has won five sectional crowns. They are all memorable.
“Every time,” Lang said. “No one is more special than another one.”
At Edinburgh
Trinity Lutheran 67, West Washington 31
West Washington;4;16;5;6;—;31
Trinity Lutheran;19;15;18;15;—;67
West Washington (8-15): Riley Hall 4 0-0 8, Alandra Johnson 2 1-2 6, Lexi Griffiths 4 1-2 11, Madison Brown 1 1-2 4, MacKenzie Brown 0 0-0 0, Shelby Griffiths 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 3-6 31.
Trinity Lutheran (20-4): Liza Froedge 6 3-4 20, Emma Schepman 1 3-4 5, Kailene Cockerham 4 2-2 10, Sydney Jaynes 7 0-0 14, Bailey Tabeling 5 0-0 12, Genesis Munoz 2 0-0 4, Hannah Durham, 0 0-0, 0, Kayla Goecker 0 0-0 0, Emma Myers 0 0-0 0, Morgan Brewer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 8-10 67.
3-point goals: West Washington (L. Griffiths 2, Johnson, Madison Brown), Trinity Lutheran (Froedge 5, Cockerham, Tabeling)