EDINBURGH — Trinity Lutheran made six 3-pointers in the third quarter to break open a close game and defeat Crothersville 63-42 in the opening game of the Class A Edinburgh Sectional Tuesday night.
The Cougars held a 29-26 lead at the half before Kailene Cockerham and Sydney Jaynes made 3-pointers early in the third period to boost their lead to 35-26. Cockerham and Maddie Bell both made two 3-pointers, and Savannah Harweger also added a three in the period, to increase Trinity’s lead to 49-32 at the end of 24 minutes.
"You want to get the first one under your belt," Trinity coach Mike Lang said. "The nerves got to us a little bit, like the start of any other game. I’m really proud of our guards tonight because they ran the offense well, and we didn’t force it inside like I was afraid we might do. I knew they were going to clog it. The guards stepped up and hit.”
Harweger got off to a hot start with three 3-pointers and two deuces to spark the Cougars (16-8) to an 18-11 lead at the end of the first period. A basket by Harweger at 6:30 of the second period increased Trinity’s lead to 24-11.
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The Tigers (12-12) then went on a 15-5 run to close the gap to 29-26 at the half.
“When they got back into the game, we stopped attacking," Lang said. "We kind of got stagnant. We talked about that at halftime getting back after it, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”
Harweger topped all players with 27 points. Bell had 12 and Cockerham 11 for the Cougars, giving the guards 50 points.
“Savannah played really well against Madison," Lang said. "She is healthy right now. We knew if we got Savannah attacking and going to the basket, it would open some things up, and if they sagged off of her, we knew she was capable of hitting that outside shot.”
While Trinity combined for six 3-pointers, Crothersville was 0 for 12 from the field in the third quarter. Those numbers enabled the Cougars to outscore the Tigers 20-6 in the period to increase their lead to 17 points going into the fourth.
Lang credited the defense of Jaynes and Hannah Sabotin with doing an excellent job defending inside. Jaynes had 11 points, and both her and Sabotin had nine rebounds.
Crothersville coach Kevin Hensley said the third period made the difference when the Cougars made their 3-pointers.
“I was talking to Mike, and that is the game plan that he would have had. That’s the best they ever shot,” Hensley said. “We had the right game plan, it was just their night. That’s all you can say.”
Trinity shot 23 for 57, and the Tigers made 14 of 54 from the field. The Cougars held a 30-29 advantage in rebounds.
Trinity advances to play Medora in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
