Slow start leads to HTC regional loss to W-MU

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BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP
PCC SPORTS

WINFIELD — A loss that ended Holy Trinity’s girls basketball season is a starting point for the next one.
The Crusaders’ 55-48 defeat to Winfield-Mount Union in Tuesday’s Class 1A regional quarterfinal was another block in the foundation being built within the program.
Holy Trinity (11-12) was down 23-7 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 32-14 with three minutes to go in the second quarter before rallying to get to within two points in the second half.
But the Crusaders’ youth, and W-MU’s ability to control the inside, proved to be too much.
“There in the fourth quarter we missed some shots we could make, should make, and will make in the future,” Holy Trinity coach Tony Johnson said. “We were down too big in the first quarter, and then they roared right back, and that’s what we love about them. They never give up, never give up.”
The Crusaders will bring back their top four scorers from this season, but it was one of their seniors who started the comeback.
Kassi Randolph had eight points in Holy Trinity’s 13-1 run to end the first half, bringing the Crusaders to within 33-27.
“They got confidence,” said W-MU coach Mitch Wachs, whose team got in foul trouble late in the half. “You could see their confidence grow, and we didn’t have the inside presence contesting them.”
Randolph finished the game as Holy Trinity’s leading scorer with 16 points. Her last points of the game came on a 3-pointer with 2:50 left in fourth quarter that cut W-MU’s lead to 52-46.
“I was happy for her as a senior,” Johnson said. “You hope they go out with a bang.”
It looked like the Wolves (19-4) were going to silence the Crusaders early. Their inside presence controlled the game — on one possession, they had four offensive rebounds before finally scoring — and Holy Trinity didn’t seem to have an answer. 
But once the Crusaders got going in the second quarter, the W-MU momentum was gone. Senior Raquel Schneider came up with a steal as the clock was winding down in the third quarter and passed the ball ahead to Natalie Randolph, who was able to get a layup before time expired to bring Holy Trinity within 43-41.
But after Kassi Randolph’s 3-pointer in the fourth, the Crusaders wouldn’t get another field goal.
“Like I told our kids in one of the timeouts, it’s going to come down to players making plays,” Wachs said. “I can’t do anything — the coaches are out of it, so players are going to have to make plays. So I was like, ‘Hey, you’re experienced. Somebody go make a play.’ 
“I thought defensively we forced them into tougher shots on the perimeter, and I thought we got control of the defensive boards back.”
Natalie Randolph had 15 points. Mary Kate Bendlage had eight.
Johnson was already thinking about next year, knowing what his team accomplished this season.
“I thought there were only a couple of games where we played badly,” he said. “Every other game, we were in and either won or had chances to win. We’ve got to clean up turnovers, free throws and rebounding, and we’ll be right where we want to be.”
The work, he said, starts in the offseason.
“Just some mental hurdles we need to get over,” Johnson said. “We can’t put the ball up and not pick it up for the next eight months.”

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