Strong third quarter helps Penn-Trafford ice Norwin

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 | 9:59 PM

Penn-Trafford played almost a perfect third quarter Tuesday at Norwin.

The Warriors scored the first 11 points of the quarter, didn’t miss a shot and pulled away for an impressive and needed 65-43 victory on the road in Section 3-6A.

“They’re good,” Norwin coach Lynn Washowich said after the game. “They run their offense well, and they defended. They did a better job than we did.”

Penn-Trafford (8-5, 3-2) was leading 29-26 late in the second quarter when Jordan Sabol drained a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 32-26 lead at halftime.

Then the Warriors put the game out of reach by executing their offense to perfection and playing tough defense.

The halftime lead quickly stretched to 43-26. Zach Rocco (10 points) hit two 3-pointers during the run, and Kevin Stinelli, who finished with a game-high 19 points, added six in the quarter. Stinelli scored 13 points in the first half.

“I think the run in the third quarter was more defensively,” Penn-Trafford coach Jim Rocco said. “We respect what Norwin wants to do, but we really worked hard limiting (Jayden) Walker inside and following their guards.

“I thought we did really well at the beginning of each half. We were fortunate to execute the plan and had some success with it. We were able to make shots.”

Washowich added: “For some reason we’re not starting third quarters well. I thought we did a good job in the second quarter battling back. We just lost the basketball game in the first four minutes of the third quarter.

“They handle the ball so well. They move with the ball, they move without the ball and they cut to the hoop and get easy looks. They did it better than we did.”

Norwin (6-6, 1-4) was able to take two leads in the opening quarter (9-7 and 11-9), but buckets by Rocco and Luke Fabac gave the Warriors a 14-11 lead and they never looked back.

“It’s always a team effort,” Stinelli said. “We executed the plays, and I got some open looks. It’s always good to get a win on the road against your rival.”

Stinelli said the key to the third quarter was to come out fast, cut hard, run everything right and share the ball.

He scored 10 points in the second quarter as Penn-Trafford built a 26-16 lead.

Norwin was able to pull to within 29-26 on buckets by Nick Fleming and Ty Bilinsky, but Sabol’s 3-pointer was the key to better things for the Warriors in the second half.

Chris Abreu scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds for Penn-Trafford. He also had four blocked shots.

Bilinsky and Walker each had 11 for Norwin.

And as both teams head to the second half of the season, Penn-Trafford finds itself in good position behind Latrobe and Fox Chapel.

Washowich said Norwin’s next two games, at home against Hempfield (Jan. 22) and Connellsville (Jan. 25), are very important if it wants to get back into the playoff hunt.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Norwin, Penn-Trafford