MCHENRY — If you had told Landon Todd his Southern team would be tied with Trinity entering the fourth quarter Saturday, he’d have looked at you like you were crazy.
Just one day prior, Todd and his coaching staff watched as Trinity, from outside Washington, Pennsylvania, scored 20 unanswered points at the tip-off in a 67-46 rout of defending area champion Mountain Ridge.
But Southern took care of the basketball against Trinity’s vaunted press, battled down low despite giving up size at every position, played inspired man-to-man defense and hit 17 of 19 free throws to give itself a chance to win.
The result was a 39-all game entering the fourth.
No. 2 Southern eventually ran out of steam after Sutton Williamson came off the bench hit a pair of buckets early in the decider, falling 56-47, but its showing Saturday on the final day of the Deep Creek Holiday Classic was the most impressive by any area team thus far in 2023.
“I couldn’t be happier. In our book, I take that as a win,” Southern head coach Landon Todd said. “If Vegas was here making the line, we had to be 25-point underdogs. Going into the game, I probably wouldn’t have disagreed with them. To come in and lost by nine, that’s a win in my book.”
Southern (6-2) had no chance on paper, but games aren’t played on paper.
Trinity had at least two inches on every Southern starter, the most notable discrepancy the five inches given up between Sam Horne (6-foot-1) and Carly Wilt (5-8) down low.
Even Trinity’s guards, Maddy Roberts (5-10), Agatha Niccolai (5-10), Ruby Morgan (5-9) and Macie Justice (5-8), dwarfed their Rams’ counterparts.
And Southern appeared to be headed to a lopsided defeat after Morgan — who scored 22 points in the first half against Mountain Ridge Friday — buried back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second quarter to put Trinity ahead 23-13.
Instead, Southern battled to trail 34-28 at the half, and it closed the third quarter on a 9-2 flurry to level the tally after three periods following a pair of Jayden Weaver free throws.
Southern’s press break was so effective that Trinity abandoned the press in the fourth quarter.
“Biggest thing was their press,” Todd said of what he took from Trinity’s game with Mountain Ridge. “We knew they would play some pretty intense defense. We knew that they would press. But it obviously bothered Ridge.
“We knew we had to handle the press early or we were going to be looking down the barrel real quick. We put in a specific press break for their press, and the girls executed.”
Southern’s tight defensive pressure in the halfcourt appeared to bother Trinity, resulting in turnovers, too much dribbling and contested shots. The Hillers scored just five points in the third period.
“They communicated,” Todd said of his defense. “They switched really well. They didn’t get mixed up on screens too often. I think that was the biggest difference, we talked.”
Morgan, a Division 1 soccer commit of Eastern Kentucky, didn’t score her first points on the second half until a 3-pointer with 5:54 to play in the fourth, which made it 46-41 Trinity.
Morgan matched Roberts with a game-high 18 points.
Southern also held big 6-foot-1 Horne scoreless, frustrating her enough that she was called for a technical foul in the third quarter. Horne never returned after picking up her fourth foul with 2:34 left in the third.
Carly Wilt topped Southern with a team-high 17 points, hitting all nine of her free throws. Jayden Weaver made 7 of 8 free throws and scored 13 points, Emelee Parks tallied seven points and Kelsey Ward scored seven.
Southern’s 17 for 19 effort at the free-throw line compared to Trinity’s 6 for 13 also allowed the Rams to flirt with an upset.
Southern will look to build off Saturday’s momentum when it heads to Frankfort on Wednesday at 7 p.m.