TROY — Dominant play in the first and fourth quarters propelled Tappan Zee to a 54-48 victory over Notre Dame of Utica Sunday and earned the Flying Dutchmen the first NYSPHSAA championship for their girls basketball program.
Tappan Zee (23-4), Section I’s Class A champion, jumped ahead 12-4 to start the game and led 18-8 at the end of the fourth quarter. The teams were tied after three quarters, and the Flying Dutchmen outscored Section III’s previously-unbeaten Jugglers (25-1) 17-11 in the fourth.
Notre Dame, which had trailed 25-21 at halftime, actually led 37-31 with less than one minute left to play in the third quarter.
Adrianna D’Orio’s three-point shot ended an 11-0 Notre Dame run, and Maureen O’Donnell’s three from the left corner tied the score in the closing seconds.
O’Donnell started the fourth quarter with another three, and Tappan Zee led from that point to the end. The two threes were O’Donnell’s only points.
The Flying Dutchmen led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter and seven in the fourth. Notre Dame’s largest lead had been the one late in the third quarter, and the Jugglers never led in the first half.
Ella Trinkaus, who broke Notre Dame’s career scoring record in last weekend’s regional playoff victory over Franklin Academy from Malone, had 19 points and 15 points to lead the team in her final scholastic basketball game Sunday, and her final basket, a three-point shot with 6.3 seconds remaining in the game, gave her a new Section III mark with 2,532 points.
Sophomore Lily Johnson scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Jugglers, and Erin Trinkaus added seven and seven.
Alyssa Sanchez led Tappan Zee with 18 points while D’Orio added 13.
Trinkaus breaks scoring record
Notre Dame senior Ella Trinkaus led the Jugglers with 19 points and 15 rebounds in the loss, and her final basket, a three-pointer with 6.3 seconds left and her team trailing by seven, gave her 2,532 points, breaking a Section III record previously held by 2022 South Jefferson graduate Jackie Piddock who had broken 2014 Notre Dame graduate Emily Durr’s previous mark which was also the Jugglers’ school record Trinkaus passed last week..
Tappan Zee wins 54-48
Tappan Zee never surrendered its final lead, and got up by as many as seven points in the last minute on the way to a 54-48 victory over Notre Dame and its first state girls basketball championship.
Two minutes to go, Tappan Zee by three
Back-to-back baskets by Eve Girardi and Alyssa Sanchez stretched Tappan Zee’s lead to 46-41. Ella Trinkaus just scored with an assist from her sister Erin, and Notre Dame trails by three with two minutes left to play.
Notre Dame led by six points with one minute remaining in the fourth quarter but has not led in the fourth.
Tappan Zee strikes first to start fourth quarter
Maureen O’Donnell followed her three-point basket at the end of the third quarter with another to start the fourth, breaking a tie and giving Tappan Zee a 40-37 lead.
Tied at 37 after three
Notre Dame extended its run to 11-0 and led 37-31 before Adrianna D’Orio and Maureen O’Donnell hit three-point shots to pull the Flying Dutchmen even at 37 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jugglers take a lead
Tappan Zee had the first two baskets of the second half and stretched its lead back to eight before Lily Johnson scored six straight points and gave Notre Dame a 32-21 lead with the free throw that completed a three-point play with 3:36 remaining in the period.
Halftime leaders
Ella Trinkaus has eight points and six rebounds for Notre Dame, and Erin Trinkaus has five points and two steals.
Alyssa Canchez leads Tappan Zee with 11 points and has three of the five three-pointers for the Flying Dutchmen.
Tappen Zee leads by four at halftime
Notre Dame got back to within two points with an extended 11-0 run, but an Emma McHugh layup in the closing seconds put Tappan Zee up 25-21 at halftime.
Fast start for Tappan Zee
Tappan Zee jumps ahead to start the game and leads by as many as 12 points in first quarter. Erin Trinkaus hits a jumper for Notre Dame at the buzzer following a turnover, and Tappen Zee leads 18-8 after one quarter.
How they got here
Notre Dame is undefeated this season and has won 34 of its last 35 games, losing only to Franklin Academy of Malone in last year’s Class A regional. The Jugglers are 68-7 over the last three seasons, and they avenged the Franklin Academy loss with a 79-21 victory in last week’s regional playoff rematch with the Section X champions.
Notre Dame beat Rochester’s Our Lady of Mercy Monarchs from Section V 62-44 in Saturday’s first semifinal with Ella Trinkaus scoring 39 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. The Jugglers started the game with a 10-2 run in the first two minutes of play and finished with a 14-2 run after a Mercy starter fouled out with 4:24 left in the game.
Tappan Zee, the Section I champion from Orangeburg, defeated Section IX Highland 69-23 and Section VIII Plainedge 47-44 in regional play, and added a 60-52 over Section II Albany Academy in Saturday’s second semifinal to claim the spot in the championship game opposite Notre Dame. The Flying Dutchmen have won eight consecutive games since their most recent loss in February.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Tappan Zee defeats Notre Dame in Class A girls basketball title game
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
