SHILLINGTON -- If the other guys are willing to concede the deep look -- even when they keep falling -- there's only one approach to take.
Keep shooting them.
And that's what Trinity did ... and did ... and did.
Getting 26 points from Dylan DeFrank and 23 from Dom Antonelli, the Shamrocks scooted past Philadelphia's William Sayre 74-47 in a PIAA Class AA second-round game Wednesday at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School.
DeFrank was an amazing 7-for-9 from beyond the arc -- and he came off the bench -- while Antonelli knocked down five of his nine deep rips.
Trinity's remarkably efficient night from the floor propelled the Shamrocks (20-7) into Saturday's quarterfinal round against Loyalsock at a site and time to be determined. Loyalsock knocked off Communications Tech 51-48.
Wednesday's successful performance also locked up the 600th career victory for Trinity skipper Larry Kostelac Jr., who has spent the past 29 seasons at his alma mater. Kostelac will go for No. 601 on Saturday.
"That's a milestone, I guess, and I'm appreciative of it, the recognition" Kostelac said. "But guys that know me and been around a long time know I am seriously about the next possession.
"That's what I coach for and when I stop thinking along those lines, then it's time to pack it in. But I think I have a whole lot of possessions left in me."
Antwan James, Richard Burton and Darius Savage shared 35 points for Sayre (18-10) -- the Philadelphia Public League entry and fourth seed from District 12 -- which was making its first state tournament appearance.
Sayre actually led, too, until DeFrank started to heat up.
Trailing 11-9 late in the opening quarter, DeFrank's 11-5 spurt allowed the Shamrocks to barge in front (20-16) with 1:37 gone in the second quarter. Nine of the 6-0 senior's 11 points came from the arc.
He'd add yet another trey before halftime -- Antonelli buried two as well -- as Kostelac's bunch carried a 31-22 lead to the lockers.
"They came out in that 1-2-2 and we knew if we worked the ball, we were gonna get open shots from the perimeter," said DeFrank, who missed his first two shots yet finished 9-for-11 from the floor.
"We were talking about that all week at practice, we did a good job of swinging the ball and our big guys did a good job of flashing and turning opposite and finding me, Dom, Brad [Wesner], all the shooters.
"They fell for us tonight, it was nice."
With Antonelli canning three more bombs, Wesner chipping in one and DeFrank knocking down another, Trinity's lead ballooned to 52-30 with 2:49 left in the third. Still, Sayre refused to shuck its zone D.
"If I'm hot and Brad's hot, us two guys get the ball a lot," said Antonelli, who also snagged five rebounds. "Tonight it was just me and Dylan -- and we were just making a lot of shots. It was a lot of fun.
"Our confidence was definitely up," Antonelli added. "We just got excited and had a lot of fun out there."
Remarkably, Trinity was 8-for-10 from the floor in the third quarter. Even more remarkably, the Shamrocks were 5-for-6 from the arc.
Oh, Trinity also racked up 18 assists on its 25 field goals. Jay Agnew dished out seven assists, while Antonelli finished with eight.
"Everybody was just knocking down shots," said Agnew, who also buried a trey. "It didn't matter where they were on the floor. If they were open, they were shooting and they were making 'em.
"And when that happens, it just makes everything else so easy," added Agnew, Trinity's defensive stopper. "We got just about every shot we wanted tonight and we were in that zone."
Pretty much.
Game over?
Game over.
Time to pass out the celebratory T-shirts for a Trinity outfit that finished 25-for-43 from the field -- and 14-for-22 from the arc.
"That's unbelievable," Kostelac said of his team's shooting night.
And time to start thinking about Saturday's game.
MICHAEL BULLOCK: mbullock@pennlive.com
BULLOCK ON TWITTER: @thebullp_n