MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In the third meeting of the season between North Central West Virginia rivals Trinity and Notre Dame, the Warriors used a solid defensive performance to defend their sectional championship, 51-39.
With the win, Trinity claimed the Class A, Region 2, Section 1 title and they will host a regional round matchup next Thursday night.
Leighton Croft led the Warriors with 14 points while Kaylie Laskody added ten more. Notre Dame’s Emilee Henderson led all scorers with 18 points.
The Irish led 8-7 after the first quarter but the Warriors would take a lead they would not surrender with an 8-0 run in the second quarter. Trinity led 22-17 at halftime. That lead swelled to nine points at the end of three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Croft and Rosen controlled the game in the post, accounting for eight of the Warriors’ seventeen points in the final frame.
One of Trinity’s top offensive weapons, Reagan Sharp, was held to just five points. But she excelled with her defensive assignment, holding Notre Dame’s Taylor Martino without a field goal. Martino scored five points. “When (Reagan) saw that she was not scoring she did two things — she facilitated and she completely shut down Martino,” said Trinity head coach Mike Baldy.
“We have so much respect for Taylor. She is the first player on my first team all-state list. We think Taylor is awesome. And the fact that Reagan was able to shut her down, I am really proud of Reagan for that.”
Trinity (16-8) lost four of their final six games in the regular season but they have now won both of the sectional games by an average of 13 points. “It is the same as last year,” Baldy said. “I don’t know why it is this way but I am okay with it. The kids are playing their hardest at the end of the season.”
The Warriors will host the loser of Saturday’s Section 2 championship game between Tucker County (15-6) and Moorefield (13-11). Notre Dame (15-9) will travel to face the Tucker/Moorefield winner. Both regional games are set for Feb. 28.
“We don’t want to travel into the eastern mountains,” Baldy said. “We want to be here at home with our crowd.”