Trinity Titans remember playoff loss

DARLINGTON—Remember Holly Hill.

For Trinity Collegiate’s girls basketball team, those three words have been both a painful reminder and a rallying cry this season.

The Titans fell to Holly Hill, a team they had previously beaten twice, in the semifinals of last year’s SCISA Class 2A state tournament.

“They had a guard who early on we just couldn’t stop,” Trinity Collegiate coach David Rector said. “We were down by 13 or so in the third quarter and made a run to get back within one.

“But we missed some layups and free throws down the stretch.”

Holly Hill made its free shots count and the result was a bitter 54-50 loss for the Titans, whose season ended one win shy of a state championship game appearance.

Rector has made sure his girls haven’t forgotten that feeling.

On several occasions, he’s shown video of the final quarter of the Holly Hill game to his team, making sure to include the celebration at the end.

“I don’t know how many times we’ve watched that video,” junior Ashton Avent said. “But it does make you more focused. We’ve taken things a lot more seriously this year.”

“I know the girls hate me for it at times, but I think it’s good for them,” Rector said.

“Whenever we get lazy on defense or don’t take an opponent seriously, it never hurts to have that reminder.”

So far, the psychology has proven fruitful. The Titans are 21-5 overall and ended the regular season as SCISA Region 4-2A champs.

Somewhat new faces

Even with the added motivation of last year’s loss, a return trip to the final four was not a given at the start of the season.

The Titans lost two starters from last year’s squad and seven out of 10 players overall.

The Titans returned a lot of talent in Avent, Rebecca Leviner and Lindsey Zubel, but two big additions have helped Trinity return to form quickly.

One-time starter Molly Jones left the team last year when her family moved to Louisiana.

“I wanted to come back here for my senior year and play basketball,” Jones said. “A lot of my old friends are still here and I played with them over the summer, so we all kind of learned to play together again.”

Jones stepped right in and leads the team with a 10.2 points per game average, including 33.7 percent of her shots from 3-point range.

“Molly’s one of our best all-around players and has really stepped into that leadership role,” Rector said. “She’s given us another good guard, which is one of things I thought we were missing last year.”

Mary Stuart Jernigan, a transfer from Florence Christian, has also stepped in as a reliable starter. Jernigan leads the team in rebounding (6.5 per game) and has been a constant defensive presence, Rector said.

“I played basketball last year and I love the game, so when I came I decided to give it shot,” Jernigan said. “It was probably a little harder (to adjust) for me because I never played in such an intense, defensive system before.”

The Titans have also gotten an added boost from their bench. Madi Smith, Lindsay Burner, Elizabeth Buyck and Natalie Hahn have been regular contributors.

“If you had told me our bench was going to play a lot this year, I would have laughed to start the season,” Rector said. “But they’ve really stepped up and done a good job of coming in and the team not missing a beat, so I feel confident about replacing starters now in key situations.”

More offense

Rector has always been a defensive coach. Last season, Trinity’s points came almost exclusively on transition baskets set up by the defense.

But that changed this year. With the team comfortable enough with the defense, Rector devoted more time to offense and running set plays.

“We’re doing a lot better on zones and stretching out the man-on-man defenses,” Avent said. “We still try to get the layup, but now we can also go to one of the guards and get that outside shot.”

While Jones is the only player averaging double figures, all five of Trinity’s starters are averaging six points a game or more, giving the Titans a lot of options to choose from offensively.

“Everyone can shoot, so there’s no pressure on just one person to perform every night,” Jones said. “Even if a play breaks down or we don’t run the right play, we still have enough shooters to make up for it.”

Erasing the memory

While Rector has not spoken openly with his team about state, he’s aware it’s probably on the minds of all the girls.

“My job is to keep the team focused on our next opponent,” Rector said. “I think the road in Class 2A is a lot tougher this year, so it’s going to take our best effort to get back to where we were last year.”

“We know we have a lot of targets on our backs,” Jernigan said. “But that, along with the Holly Hill loss, has driven us all season.
“We’re just trying to realize that goal now.”