W. Young 60
Trinity 55
Whitney Young got the best of Trinity on Saturday, but the match-up also brought out the best in Monica Albano.
In her team’s 60-55 loss, the Trinity junior guard had two career firsts: 29 points and seven 3-pointers.
“It took me a while to get warmed up, but once I was, I felt on,” said Albano after the game.
The Blazers (19-5) were very upbeat despite the loss to the highly-ranked Dolphins. “We felt we gave a great effort and pushed it through,” said Shakyia Vassar, who had three buckets from behind the arc in the loss.
Whitney Young (21-2) started the game with a 10-0 run until two free throws from Amanda Macchione got the Blazers on the scoreboard. After that, Albano started to connect with her shots. She scored the first of her seven 3-pointers late in the quarter
“We were down 10-0. We had to pick it up or it would be a blowout. We knew we were better than that,” said Albano of her team’s shaky start.
The Blazers’ outside game went into high gear, but they still had a hard time stopping the Dolphins from scoring under the basket.
The second quarter had Trinity in full catch-up mode. Vassar connected with a 3-pointer that was answered with back-to-back treys by Albano. A late 11-2 run by the Blazers cut the deficit to one point, but Whitney Young was able to head into the locker room with the advantage, 33-30. Albano already had four 3-pointers and 17 points by the break.
The second half started with Albano still in the 3-point zone. She hit another two in a row, followed by one from Vassar that gave the Blazers their first lead of the game. Trinity clung to a two-point lead going into the final quarter. Throughout the contest, the Dolphins’ Ashlee Anderson had numerous unsuccessful attempts at the charity stripe. She was 7-of-17, but made five in the final minutes to give her team the edge it needed to win the game. Anderson finished with 20 points.
Vassar finished with nine points. Macchione, who chipped in eight points, commented on the game, “We were definitely the underdogs. We played hard, and it was anyone’s game.”
The tough battle under the boards saw Erica Cross come away with six rebounds and three blocked shots for Trinity.
The Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Tournament began this week and is set to wrap-up at Trinity on Saturday (5:30 p.m.).
“The GCAC is in our house, and we are very excited to defend our title,” said Trinity head coach Ed Stritzel.