Girls Basketball: Megan Podkowa leads Trinity past Resurrection

Updated: December 3, 2011 11:42PM

Trinity senior Megan Podkowa set the tone early as she scored eight points in the first three-and-a-half minutes and dominated the offensive boards to lead the Blazers to a 76-32 home victory over conference rival Resurrection Saturday afternoon in River Forest.

Podkowa scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the opening period and added seven rebounds in three quarters of play to help keep Trinity (3-0, 1-0 Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division) undefeated. The 6-foot-1, DePaul-bound Podkowa received plenty of offensive support from her teammates as 10 players tallied points in the rout.

“This is always a big rivalry, and we wanted to get off to a quick start and get a big lead right from the beginning so we would have the momentum for the rest of the game,” Podkowa said. “We practiced hard all week and came out and played as a team – we have good chemistry, good camaraderie – and I think that helps because no one is selfish and we share the ball with everyone and look to score.”

The Blazers’ bench contributed 25 points compared to just five for the Bandits (5-4, 0-1). Junior Mikayla Leyden came in and contributed eight points and five rebounds, senior Vicky Harris scored six points and three blocked shots, and Mallory Gonzalez popped in four points and added a pair of rebounds and steals.

“We need the bench to contribute because we plan to go far this season,” Gonzalez said. “When I come in I try to do something right off the bat to make me feel the power – something to make the fans and the rest of the team go crazy. Whether it be on offensive or I do something defensively, I want to provide a spark.”

The Trinity starters weren’t too bad either, and head coach Eddie Stritzel said he believes Resurrection’s man-to-man defense might have actually energized his squad.

“We were surprised with the man-to-man, we thought Res would sit in a zone against us and they came out man the first half and we’ve been waiting for some team to go man on us so we can run more and we were able to utilize the new offense we put in over the summer,” Stritzel said. “That gave us the opportunity to run seven or eight different sets the first half, and the kids did just wonderful. I think the girls were energized by that because we worked all week on zone offense in practice and had worked on the man offense the whole offseason. They gave us the opportunity to try some things.”

Resurrection could only stay close for the first three minutes of the game as it trailed 8-7 before senior Alyssa Dengler (11 points) ignited an 12-0 run with a three-pointer before the Bandits’ Alyssa Ruehl (9 points) canned a trey to end the streak and pull Resurrection to within 21-10 after one period. Things continued to digress for the Bandits as a 21-4 run in the second quarter, sparked by two straight hoops by Harris, gave the Blazers a commanding 44-18 halftime cushion.

Trinity sophomore Lauren Prochaska and junior Taylor Nazon each scored eight points for the Blazers. Resurrection junior Liz Rehberger tallied nine points for the Bandits, while junior Jenny Spychala chipped in four points, four rebounds and two blocks.

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