DISTRICT 3-AA BOYS’ BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
(6) Trinity (Mid-Penn, 11-12) vs. (1) Hanover (YAIAA, 19-6) at Giant Center, 6:45 p.m.
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ABOUT TRINITY
Probable starters
3 Brendan Latimore 5-10 jr (3.3 ppg)
4 Dominick Antonelli 6-1 sr (16.4 ppg)
14 Kyree Calli 6-3 so (7.8 ppg)
15 Josh Trumpy 6-6 sr (19.7 ppg)
23 Brandon Kuntz 6-5 sr (7.4 ppg)
Top reserves
1 Lorel Robinson 5-11 sr (3.6 ppg)
2 Mike Hanes 5-10 jr (1.2 ppg)
11 Austin Gilbertson 6-0 fr (1.5 ppg)
33 Jack Walsh 6-5 so (0.8 ppg)
About the Shamrocks: Larry Kostelac Jr.’s Shamrocks are making their third straight appearance in a District 3 championship game, two in Class AA (2013 and 2014) and one in Class AAA (2012). … To get here, Trinity defeated Camp Hill 57-47 and Columbia 57-52. … Trinity lost to Berks
Catholic in the 2012 final and to Delone Catholic in last season’s 2013 title game. … Trinity has won its last six games and 10 of its last 14. … The Shamrocks started the season 1-8. … Antonelli, an all-state selection as a junior, has canned 46 3-point goals. … Trinity is 1-0 against YAIAA 4 opposition, having defeated York Catholic in its season opener. … Trinity is appearing in its 18th District 3 championship game. The Shamrocks are 11-6 in title games, last claiming gold with a 77-65 win over Lancaster Mennonite. … Calli has scored 14 points in each of Trinity’s 3-AA wins. … Trinity is one of seven Mid-Penn Keystone Division programs to reach postseason play. The Shamrocks were the fourth Keystone Division side to clinch a berth in the state tournament. … Trinity is 8-11 against teams that qualified for postseason play. … Following its second-place finish a season ago, Trinity defeated Meyers, William Sayre and Loyalsock in state play before falling to Holy Cross in the semis. … Kostelac has 612 career victories.
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ABOUT HANOVER
Probable starters
2 Nick Trish 6-0 sr (13.5 ppg in 3-AA play)
10 Kyle Krout 5-11 so (8.5 ppg in 3-AA play)
11 Brady Goodfellow 6-0 sr (0.0 ppg in 3-AA play)
13 Dylan Krieger 6-3 jr (20.5 ppg in 3-AA play)
30 Jake Rhodes 6-3 jr (8.0 ppg in 3-AA play)
Top reserves
3 Trace Russ 5-10 sr (2.5 ppg in 3-AA play)
12 Jared Peterman 6-0 sr (3.0 ppg in 3-AA play)
20 Cameron Bosserman 6-0 jr (2.0 ppg in 3-AA play)
About the Nighthawks: Top-seeded Hanover is appearing in its seventh District 3 championship game. Nate Myers’ Nighthawks claimed the school’s first 3-AA crown in 2011 with a 54-51 win over Delone Catholic. Overall, Hanover is 1-5 in district finals. … Hanover claimed the YAIAA Division 4 title, but tumbled in the YAIAA quarterfinals against West York. … Trish and Krieger have been Hanover’s primary scoring threats all season. … Myers’ Nighthawks are 9-6 against teams that reached postseason play. … Hanover lost twice during the regular season to York Catholic — which Trinity defeated in its first game of the year. Myers’ ballclub also split with Columbia, the program Trinity downed in Wednesday’s semifinal round. … To get here, Hanover routed Upper Dauphin 69-35 before edging Delone Catholic 51-47 in overtime. … A season ago, Hanover reached the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champ Delone. … The Nighthawks have won two straight and 12 of their last 15.
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MOVING FORWARD: The winner of tonight’s game will meet the loser of Saturday’s District 4-AA final between Lewisburg and Loyalsock. … The loser of tonight’s game will collide with the District 2-AA runner-up, Holy Cross or Meyers. … Both games will be played at District 3 venues.
ANALYSIS: Might seem redundant to those who stopped by Hershey’s Giant Center to witness Wednesday night’s scrap between Trinity and a gutsy Columbia side — or Hanover’s overtime dustup with Delone — but Kostelac’s Shamrocks have an excellent chance to mine gold if they can exploit the interior with Trumpy, Kuntz and Calli. The reason? Hanover’s going to spend much of
its 32 minutes playing three guards and that means one of those youngsters is going to have to try to put a collar on Calli. Given the kid’s quicks, hops and want-to — and a physical matchup issue — that’s not going to be a simple task to complete. Trumpy came into districts riding an unbelievably hot stretch, so some two games into the tournament, he’s bound to go off. Might even be today. As they have all season long — or have tried to do — Myers’ Nighthawks must find a way to find space for Trish and Krieger to do their thing on the flanks and the edge of the paint. Krieger had some success against Delone, but he’s not encountered anything quite like Trinity’s frontcourt trio thus far. Trish never really got comfortable against Delone — might have something to do with the Squires knowing him so well — but he’ll probably need to crank out a super effort for Myers’ Nighthawks to be successful.
THE PICK: Although has been driving toward the .500 mark for the better part of two months, Kostelac’s Shamrocks can get there today. And if Trinity can use its frontcourt length to exploit Hanover’s interior, the Shamrocks might finally be able to reel in yet another District 3-AA championship. Even if Hanover is able to keep a lid on Kostelac’s remarkably mobile, athletic bigs, having Antonelli firing away from the perimeter should keep the Nighthawks’ defense stretched and vulnerable. Quite frankly, Trinity just has too many thoroughbreds and too much size for Hanover to keep up — without canning a huge number of treys. So, despite a rugged start that threatened to short-circuit a promising season, Kostelac’s Shamrocks finally get a satisfying reward they’ll cherish for some time. Trinity by 7.
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