The Trinity basketball team put together a significant comeback in the second half of their sectional semifinal game, Tuesday night, as they outscored Montini 16-5 in the fourth quarter, but fell just short in the matchup. The Blazers (23-11, 3-4) were bested by a score of 34-29 Tuesday at DePaul Prep, as junior Zaria Goins notched 23 points for her squad.
“Our energy and communication, and our ability to lift each other up was a positive in this game,” Goins said.
“One of [Zaria’s] goals is that people need to see her,” said Blazers head coach Kim Coleman. “People need to recognize her as one of the top players in the state, and she is that. Every year she has gotten better in some form. She’s elite, and to me she is one of the top players in her class. Next year she’s coming for everything. We’re excited for her to lead our team.”
Goins put together a 10-0 run that started with a 3-pointer from the middle with 3:37 left to play in the fourth quarter and was capped off by a layup from the right side with 29 seconds left to play to put Trinity within four points. After a pair of free throws from Goins with 13.5 seconds left in the game to put Trinity within three points, Montini notched a pair of free throws of their own to end the game and secure their spot in the sectional final.
“We just had to be us,” Goins said. “In the first half, we weren’t playing together, and we weren’t connected, so coming together and everybody being a threat shot us up in the second half.”
“We just got engaged in the game,” Coleman said. “We weren’t engaged in the first three quarters, but this team is resilient, and we almost pulled it off. This one is on us, we don’t feel like we got beat, we feel like we beat ourselves.”
Trinity guard Zaria Goins (left) looks to make a move against Montini Catholic at the IHSA Class 3A DePaul Prep girls basketball sectional, Feb. 25. Goins had 23 points in the Blazers’ 34-29 season-ending defeat. (Carol Dunning) 
Trinity guard Destiny Sacluti shoots a three-pointer against Montini Catholic at the IHSA Class 3A DePaul Prep girls basketball sectional, Feb. 25. The Blazers ended their season with a 34-29 loss to the Broncos. (Carol Dunning)
Sophomore Destiny Sacluti and junior Chole Santos each notched two points for the Blazers, as did Senior Sophia Flynn.
With another season for Goins and Trinity in the books, Goins looks to make even more of a statement during her senior year with hopes to make it back to the sectional and beyond.
“From this season, I’m going to take away that we have to start at the beginning,” she said. “I need to be a four-quarter player.”
“We want to compete and we want to play hard,” Coleman said. “We want to represent the name on the front of the uniform, and we just have to do more. We’ll continue to get the right pieces in here to do that.”