The Trinity Lutheran girls basketball team got right off the bus and before they knew it were thrust into action on Tuesday afternoon at the Toby Yoho Classic at Eastern Greene Middle School.

The Cougars got off to a sluggish start against Barr-Reeve in its first game, but once Trinity settled in, the Vikings didn’t have much of a chance.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Liza Froedge and Kailene Cockerham gave Trinity a 16-11 lead after the first quarter.

“I knew it’d take us a few minutes (to get acclimated),” head coach Mike Lang said. “I liked how we moved the ball. When we moved and when we cut, we were able to find the open area and the open pass.”

Then the Cougars really put it on. They closed the second quarter on an 8-0 run to lead by 17 at halftime, 37-20.

Trinity led by 23 after three quarters (53-30) before defeating Barr-Reeve 72-38.

Bailey Tabeling led the Cougars with 21 points, Froedge scored 19 and Cockerham had 12 as the double-digit scorers in the game.

All of Cockerham’s points came from behind the 3-point line as she hit four. Tabeling nailed three 3-pointers and Froedge made two.

“I see it everyday in practice and it’s something I’ve said we’ve got to start bringing to a game,” Lang said. “I really want Kailene and Liza shooting 10 times a game. Once they’re doing that, all the eyes aren’t on Bailey, and she’s opened up to do a little bit more.”

Jordan Brewer scored eight points, and Madison Keith and Carson Bowling each had six points to round out the scoring for Trinity.

“I was pleased with how all the kids played today,” Lang said. “Carson was huge for us off the bench. This was probably her best game.”

Trinity’s second game of the afternoon came against Eastern Greene with a trip to the semifinals on the line.

The Cougars held a 9-6 advantage early in the first quarter before going on a 9-0 run to lead 18-6 after the first eight minutes.

“They came out with a ton of energy,” Lang said. “I was concerned with the two-and-a-half hour layoff, but they came out with a ton of energy. Once again, we were able to cut and drive.”

Froedge continued her impressive play, scoring 15 first-half points in a variety of ways — getting to the free-throw line, getting to the basket and knocking down outside shots.

“Liza came out hot,” Lang said. “She was attacking, and that’s one thing we’ve talked about in practice.”

Trinity led 42-20 at halftime to remain in command of the game.

Eastern Greene showed some fight in the second half, but the trio of Froedge, Tabeling and Cockerham was too much as Trinity rolled to a 69-49 victory.

Tabeling led the team with 25 points, Froedge scored 21 and Cockerham had 11. Brewer contributed seven points and Keith added five to round out the scoring for Trinity.

With the two wins, Trinity improved to 10-3 on the season, and the Cougars will be in the semifinals this morning at 11:15 a.m. against Brownstown Central.

The Braves and Cougars won both their games on Tuesday, and this second matchup between them will determine who advances to the championship game on Wednesday night. Trinity beat Brownstown on Nov. 16 57-52.

“First off, coach (Brandon) Allman is a good friend. We talked about it, and we hate we have to come over here and see each other tomorrow in the first game, but ultimately it’s a good thing because both of us got two wins today,” Lang said. “We know they’re gonna be ready to come out after us. We have to continue to play aggressive the way we are, and we gotta have three and four players attacking the basket like we have been.

“We don’t want to be one dimensional. Liza and Kailene gotta continue to shoot and look to score.”