Trinity picks up right where it left off

Tri-State Sports & News Service

It might have been unrealistic to expect Trinity to be as successful as it was last season, not after graduating Class 5A state player of the year Sierra Kotchman and a few other valuable players who helped the Hillers reach the PIAA title game.

Yet here Trinity is, sporting a record similar to last season, leading its section, and looking like this could be the year it wins its first WPIAL championship.

“We kind of sat down at the beginning of the season and thought we could be as good as last year, but you need to have a lot of things happen to make a run like we did,” Trinity coach Bob Miles said. “We thought that we could play uptempo and thought we could go out and defend better than last year. That’s what our expectations are and we compete.”

Trinity was 14-3 overall and stood atop Section 3 with a 8-0 record heading into Thursday’s game against Greensburg Salem. The Hillers are the Post-Gazette’s No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A. They are once again playing uptempo — they boast one of the top scoring offenses in the class — and Miles said this team is better defensively as they are playing man-to-man moreextensively.

Just as it did last season, Trinity is getting outstanding guard play. The two standouts have been sophomore shooting guard Riley DeRubbo and junior point guard Alayna Cappelli. DeRubbo, a Division I prospect, is averaging a teamhigh 17 points per game, while Cappelli is averaging 14 points a game and scored 25 in an impressive, 52-39 non-section win against Thomas Jefferson on Jan. 9.

“Up until recently, they’ve beencarrying us in the scoring column,” Miles said. “They’re starting to get some help from [seniors] Allie Scarfo and Jayme Britton. We were looking for that third scorer. It’s kind of one night, one girl, anothernight, another girl.

“I think [Cappelli and DeRubbo] set each other up well. When defenses concentrate on Alayna, she’s able to go to Riley. Riley is a great penetrator and can dish. She’s a very versatile player.”

Serra Catholic

When Bill Cleary took his first coaching job as the seventhand eighth-grade grade boys coach at Saint Angela Merici in White Oak in 1976, he said he didn’t expect to be coaching as long as he has.

And he certainly never imagined he would go on to win 600 games.

Cleary, who is in his 31st season as a high school head coach, earned his 600th win last Friday when Serra Catholic defeated Mapletown, 6013.

“It’s just an incredible feeling,” Cleary said. “A flood of memories start coming back. All the kids you have coached. Big games you have won. Losses that were tough. A flood of memories.”

Cleary is one of just a handful of basketball coaches in WPIAL history with 600 wins. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic coaching legend Don Graham holds the record with 801.

Under Cleary, Serra Catholic has won four WPIAL titles and owns the best record of any WPIAL girls team since 2000, going 345-100 (.775) entering this week’s play.

Will Cleary coach long enough to reach 700 wins?

“We’ll see,” he said. “At this point you take it year by year, but I still feel great.”

Southmoreland

One of the WPIAL’s top juniors is out indefinitely due to a knee injury.

Southmoreland junior Cali Konek was injured in a loss to Keystone Oaks last week. She returned to the game with her right knee wrapped,but missed last Friday’s win against Greensburg Salem. Southmoreland coach Brian Pritts said Konek would not play this week and would be re-evaluated Friday. Pritts said the injury is being treated as an MCL sprain.

Konek is averaging 17.9 points, 4.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. She’s shooting 34 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range. Southmoreland was 9-7 overall and 3-6 in Class 4A Section 3 heading into Wednesday’s game at South Allegheny. Konek averaged 45.4 points per game as a freshman at Imani Christian and played her sophomore season at Riverdale Baptist in Maryland.

“She’s a dynamic player, but she tweaked her other knee earlier this year and her shot has been struggling a little bit. But she makes things happen,” Pritts said.