LANCASTER, Pa. — No Giant Center stage for District III basketball championship games this season. Instead, the top seeded teams hosted the title games.
Trinity took advantage of the familiar surroundings and won their 16th District III title in school history. They captured the 3A crown with a convincing 62-46 victory over their rivals York Catholic.
Linden Hall was hopeful to win their first state championship in 2020 before the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lions set out in 2021 to win a district championship because their team was full of young talent and some have never played the game of basketball before. A number of the Lions players haven't been able to go home and see their families. Wednesday Night, they not only won the 2A District III Championship, the Lions won their third consecutive title with a 54 to 33 win over Columbia. Now their next goal, a state title.
"The energy was great, tonight," said Ellen Bair, Linden Hall head coach. "We came out just like we hoped to and I'm really excited as we continue to put the pieces together. They can feel the magic. Feel the joy. It doesn't really matter if someone is having an off night, somebody else is going to pick it up."
In the 3A title game York Catholic and Trinity squared off at the home of the Shamrocks.
At the break Trinity held a double digit lead but York Catholic would not go away.
Irish guard Drew Kile seemed to do it all trying to light the spark. First she found Juliana Bona on a nice wrap around pass and then showed off her range with a big three that had Coach Bankos nodding in agreement.
The Shamrocks lead would fall to ten but that is as close as the Irish would get.
Even though the Irish were red hot from three, Trinity kept scoring buckets as well.
Anne Spila scored with an 'and one' to bring the home crowd to their feet. The Shamrocks also did it in transition to counter the frantic pace set by York Catholic. Mandy Roman forced a few steals out top and also broke away for an easy score to maintain the advantage.
Trinity senior Ava Stevenson put this one on ice in the fourth with an old school three point play as the Shamrocks advance to the state tournament as 62-46 winners.
After the game Stevenson said there was no doubt that the Shamrocks were going to bring the energy.
"We went up against some tough teams this year and we knew were going to have to come out because they are a very well-coached team, and we brought a lot of energy and we just wanted that gold medal so bad so we brought all the energy and we got it done."
Coach Kristi Britten has a lot to like about her team, but maybe the most impressive thing is how unselfish they play the game.
"This is a really unique group. I really do like this team. Nobody is looking for the limelight, nobody is looking to take over. If we have the advantage in the paint they use it, if we have the advantage on the perimeter they use it, and they feed off each other in that way ."
That type of play will be needed as Trinity heads to the state tournament next week.