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Girls Basketball: Megan Podkowa’s first half powers Trinity past Oak Park
Updated: February 16, 2012 10:10PM
Megan Podkowa scored 20 of her game-high 22 points in the first half to lead Trinity to its 10th consecutive regional title Thursday night in River Forest.
Different game, same result.
The rematch between neighboring Trinity and Oak Park-River Forest Thursday night nearly produced the same score as the first meeting. Once again, there was no doubt who the winner would be. No. 3 and second-seeded Trinity rolled to a 67-38 victory over the 10th-seeded Huskies in the Class 4A Trinity Regional final.
The Blazers (29-1), who have won 22 consecutive games, won their 10th consecutive regional title and will meet another neighborhood rival in the Lyons Sectional semifinal at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday. Trinity will play No. 15 and third-seeded Fenwick (22-9) in the first meeting of the season between the schools. Fenwick defeated St. Ignatius 70-68 on Thursday night at the St. Ignatius Regional final.
DePaul-bound Megan Podkowa led Trinity with 22 points. She scored as many points in the first half (20) than she did in the entire first game against OPRF (13-19), a 63-33 victory Nov. 15 in the season opener between both teams in River Forest.
“In the first game, everyone was nervous. In the first game, we went right at Oak Park. We got stronger and moved on,” Podkowa said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s St. Ignatius or Fenwick, we look forward to playing either team. They are both great teams.”
Podkowa (10 rebounds) scored 12 of Trinity’s 21 points in the second quarter when the Blazers took a 42-17 lead at the break. Her only second-half points came on a pair of free throws in the third quarter. Shannon McGinnis had nine points and Alyssa Dengler added seven points for Trinity, whose only loss came against top-ranked and No. 1 sectional seed Young on Dec. 17.
Against the Huskies, Trinity made 8 of 18 three-pointers. Podkowa had three three-pointers.
Oak Park shot 4-for-16 from the floor in each of the first three quarters. Caroline Kelty (11 rebounds) scored 10 of her 17 points in the second half to lead the Huskies. Illinois State-bound guard Stekara Hall (eight points, 10 rebounds) played her final game for the Huskies and left the court for the final time with coach Bob Biggins, who announced his retirement in December after 15 years in the program and the last six as varsity coach.
Hall played four varsity seasons and led the Huskies to a co-championship in the West Suburban Silver last season.
“There is so much to remember, I can’t pinpoint it,” Hall said. “All the weekend bonding, late night practices, early morning practices and three hour practices. I will miss singing to Biggins [in the van]. My senior year was fun.”
Biggins ends his career with a 109-73 record. The Huskies finished fifth in the conference and took third place in Fenton’s Seasons’ End tournament.
“They played hard. We didn’t always play well,” Biggins said. “We were totally outclassed here tonight.”
Hall was the only senior to start every game for OPRF this season.
“She has been great,” Biggins said. “She’s one of the best players I’ve seen. She’s a well-rounded kid. She’ll have a great career at Illinois State.”
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