Once the first 3-pointer went in, a bunch more followed. And each make brought more confidence and momentum to a scorching-hot start.
Penn-Trafford made six 3s in the opening quarter — 8 of 15 in the first half — to build an early cushion and easily dispatched of Latrobe, 69-34, in a Section 2-5A girls basketball game Tuesday night in Harrison City.
Penn-Trafford has scored 70, 63 and 69 points in wins this season. In this victory, it demonstrated pressure defense, hot shooting, depth and patience in a rout few saw coming.
“It gets started when they get a couple to go,” Warriors first-year coach Chuck Fontana said of the 3s. “It’s like blood in the water with piranhas. They see a couple go in, and they go from there.”
Last year, Penn-Trafford had trouble closing out Latrobe in a section sweep. There were no signs of distress this time.
Torrie DeStefano led all scorers with 21 points, Izzy Fontana had 14 of her 16 in the first half and Raya Johnson added 12 for Penn-Trafford (4-3, 2-0), which recently dropped out of the TribLive 5A top-five rankings.
Latrobe, which had won two straight, moved to 2-2, 1-1.
“We feed off each other with the team chemistry we have,” said DeStefano, a Seton Hill commit who made three 3s. “We play the way we practice. When we see one of us hit a 3, we’re happy for each other.”
Penn-Trafford has won 14 straight section games and has 16 straight wins at home.
The Warriors also used each other’s energy to play team defense, forcing 21 steals.
DeStefano played forward Maggie Maiers straight up and limited her scoring. Maiers, who had a game-high 21 points when Latrobe played at Penn-Trafford last year, finished with nine points.
Arabella Nichols also guarded Maiers late.
“Torrie and Arabella both did a great job on Maiers,” Chuck Fontana said. “She killed us the last (few) years.”
Eight Warriors found the scoring column.
“We have to get our starters breaks because we run so much,” Fontana said. “We want to go eight or nine deep.”
Latrobe had eight first-quarter turnovers and fell behind 24-7. It was 36-19 at halftime and 54-28 after three.
“We take pride in our defense,” DeStefano said, “taking away their scoring.”
The lead swelled to 38 in the fourth.
“We literally prepared for the 3s, but they got hot right out of the gate in our zone,” Latrobe coach Mackenzie Livingston said. “We need to go out and show heart. We just didn’t have it tonight.”
Emry Bridge hit an early 3 for Latrobe to tie it 3-3, but Penn-Trafford went on an 11-0 run with Hanna Weishaar connecting on three 3s and DeStefano making two in the opening period.
Weishaar finished with nine points in three 3s.
Maiers scored the first four points of the second quarter to close the gap to 24-11, and Brianna Havrilla and Bridge made 3s. But DeStefano scored on a break, and Izzy Fontana completed a three-point play to give Penn-Trafford a 17-point lead at the half.
In the third, Johnson and Nichols each scored six straight points with Nichols’ layup giving Penn-Trafford a 54-28 lead going to the fourth.
A pair of three-point plays by DeStefano and consecutive baskets by Johnson helped push the lead to 31 and commence a mercy-rule running clock.
“With the way we play, we have to get turnovers to lead to our offense,” Chuck Fontana said. “Our kids are smart and know how to get to the right spots.”
Miley Williams and Sophia Drnjevich each scored eight for the Wildcats, who had three single-digit quarters.
“We’re looking for leadership,” Livingston said. “We don’t have that one girl yet. Our girls had trouble with their pressure up top. We’ll get back to it and work on some things.”