Great Valley’s impressive season ends in loss to Trinity
CHAMBERSBURG – One of the most successful girls’ basketball seasons in Great Valley history came to a screeching halt on Wednesday in a hail of turnovers and shooting woes.
In round two of the PIAA 5A Playoffs, the Patriots got off to a rough start and then things proceeded to get even worse for a while. It all added up to a 48-28 loss to Trinity, the District 7 runner-up. The Hillers (21-5) advance to the state quarterfinals. Great Valley’s season ends with a 23-5 record.
“Tonight was not a reflection of our season,” said head coach Alex Venarchik. “We had a goal to win our division and make the league playoffs. Anything after that was gravy. We kept saying that we’re playing with house money.
“The run to get to the district championship and getting to the second round of states was a learning process. Nobody is going to hand you things and we will learn from these losses.”
And when you consider that the Patriots had just one senior on the roster – starter Tessa Liberatoscioli – the future looks pretty bright for Venarchik’s program.
“Our juniors were a big part of our season. The postseason was a tremendous opportunity for us to grow and get better for next season,” Venarchik said.
“Next season, we will always hear Tessa’s voice pushing us,” added junior guard Emily DuPont. “She was our only senior, but she made a huge difference in our season. We couldn’t have done it without her.”
The Ches-Mont American champ and District 1 runner-up, Great Valley had all kinds of trouble dealing with Trinity’s smothering, full-court defense. It led to a frantic response by the Patriots, which only exasperated their problems.
“That was surprising to us because we usually can keep our cool under pressure,” DuPont said. “Maybe the stakes of this game became a factor and we kind of got frazzled. And Trinity’s defense and pressure didn’t help.
“It was one of the tougher defenses we’ve faced.”
In all, Great Valley turned it over 25 times. And the Pats opened the game by hitting just four of its first 22 shots from the floor, which is an anemic 18 percent.
“We were coming off a game where we just had five (turnovers),” Venarchik said. “That was uncharacteristic.
“Trinity was very physical. We like to play with a rhythm and we never got into a rhythm. (Trinity) likes to play at a fast pace and we were playing a little helter-skelter style.”
Great Valley looked to be in trouble from the start with turnovers and inaccurate shooting brought on by some poor shot selection. Only down by two after one period, Great Valley was outscored 12-4 in the second to fall behind 18-8 at the half.
In the first half alone, the Pats turned it over a dozen times and connected on just four of 19 from the floor.
“We held a very good team to 18 points in the first half,” Venarchik pointed out. “But running our offense and getting good shots just wasn’t there for the first three quarters.”
In all, the Patriots went more than seven minutes mid-game without a point, and trailed 34-12 after three quarters. Great Valley seemed to get untracked late, but it was much too late. For the game, the Pats shot 10-for-35 (28 percent).
“We needed to take our time,” DuPont pointed out. “The shots we took today were way too rushed. We shot in the later part of the game the way we normally shoot.”
DuPont paced Great Valley with 10 points and Liberatoscioli chipped in seven. Fordham-bound senior Riley DeRubbo led all scorers with 18 for Trinity.
“I am so proud of what we accomplished this season, despite the loss we took tonight,” DuPont said.
There was a lot of pregame suspense as to whether the contest was even going to take place. The worldwide Coronavirus pandemic forced the latter game to be held at Chambersburg on Wednesday – Cheltenham vs. Mount Lebanon – to be postponed until Thursday.
“Until we walked into the gym, I was ready for a phone call telling us to turn the bus around,” Venarchik said. “But once you tip the ball up, it’s still basketball.”
After it was over Venarchik was already looking back fondly on a season that began with some modest goals and ended with the second-most wins in a season by a girls’ hoops team at Great Valley.
“In 20 years of coaching, this is the most fun I’ve had,” he said. “As a team, they were fantastic. It always hurts after a loss, but on the bus ride home I told them to remember this season as a whole. It was awesome.”
Trinity 47, Great Valley 28
Trinity 6 12 16 13 — 47
Great Valley 4 4 4 16 — 28
TRINITY – K. Venick 3 0-1 6; Durig 2 0-0 4; Dahlquist 4 0-0 8; DeRubbo 6 6-6 18; Bozek 2 0-0 4; Clutter 2 1-4 5; Williamson 0 2-2 2. Totals 19 9-13 47.
GREAT VALLEY –Liberatoscioli 2 2-2 7; DeRobertis 0 3-5 3; Sullivan 3 0-0 6; DuPont 4 2-2 10; Lum 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 7-9 28.
Three-point goals: Liberatoscioli.
