City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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When they stroll confidently into Hershey’s Giant Center Wednesday night — a venue that’s been a mighty friendly locale to Trinity’s basketball program — Larry Kostelac Jr.’s Shamrocks will be chasing yet another District 3 championship.
 
Yep, a fourth straight title is within reach for the suburban Harrisburg program.
 
And while the previous three came at the Class AA level — Kostelac’s Shamrocks (21-3) have captured 14 District 3 crowns — Wednesday night’s scrap (8 p.m.) against a terrific Lancaster Mennonite club (23-3) will decide the Class 3A championship.
 
By the way, Mennonite’s last appearance in a District 3 final was in 2010 — when Geoff Groff’s Blazers dropped a 77-65 decision to a Trinity side capping a three-peat.
 
A victory Wednesday night over Mennonite and the Shamrocks will match the four straight championships they rattled off from 2001-2004.
 
Since Trinity defeated Mennonite 72-47 in mid-December in Lancaster — both sides spent all season in City of Basketball Love’s Class 3A rankings — Kostelac’s Shamrocks figure to be favored. If they win, Kostelac will sock away career victory No. 675.
 
As for Trinity locking up its return trip to Hershey — the Shamrocks are appearing in a district final for the sixth straight year — Kostelac’s bunch made that happen Thursday night by easing past fourth-seeded Columbia 80-45 at Red Land.
 
Senior 6-4 forward Timmy Edwards rang up 20 points for the top-seeded Shamrocks, while 6-11 junior Sean Good nearly pocketed a triple-double (12 points/18 rebounds/8 blocks) against the Crimson Tide. The Mid-Penn Keystone Division champs also picked up 12 points from 6-5 junior forward Jack Bucher, winning for the 10th time in 11 games.
 
Edwards, the Shamrocks’ leading scorer, averages 18.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per outing. Pace (N.Y.) recruit Austin Gilbertson, Trinity’s 6-3 senior lead guard, checks in at 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per outing.
 
Gilbertson, part of Trinity’s District 3 title as a freshman in 2014, would complete a perfect 4-for-4 if he pockets yet another district gold medal Wednesday night.
 
Good is averaging 8.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per contest, while Bucher offers 7.3 points and 5.0 boards every time he plays. Marcus Hall, Trinity’s 6-3 senior defensive specialist, averages 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per.
 
Additional help comes from the likes of 5-11 sophomore Matt Long (4.5 ppg), 5-11 junior Mike Scarpelli, 6-6 sophomore Kalen Veres (3.4 ppg/3.2 rpg) and 6-1 junior Tresjon Ruiz (1.5 ppg). Veres arrived at midseason from Red Land.
 
As for Mennonite, which collared the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s Section 3 with a perfect 14-0 mark, Groff’s third-seeded Blazers overcame a 10-point, second-half deficit to defeat No. 2 York Catholic in two overtimes (64-63) Thursday at Red Land.
 
Isaac Beers extended the game into OT by burying a long triple just before the regulation horn. Eventually, the Blazers won it in the second OT when Javan Terry scored with three seconds to play on a bucket from the low blocks.
 
Beers finished with 17 points — two more than Terry — as Groff’s Blazers avenged an earlier loss to York Catholic while winning for the 10th time in 11 games. Another shared 24 points came from Richard Rosas (9), Carter Hurst (8) and Timmy Stefanosky (7).
 
Terry, a 6-3 senior, leads the much-smaller Blazers in scoring at 14.7 ppg. Rosas (10.7 ppg), a 5-10 senior, and Beers (10.5 ppg), a 6-3 junior, also average in double digits for a Mennonite program that last won a district title (AAA) in 1997.
 
In addition to those three, 5-11 junior John Gillespie (9.1 ppg), 6-1 senior Stefanosky (7.1 ppg) and 5-10 junior Hurst (6.9 ppg) are dependable offensive performers.
 
As for the earlier meeting, Edwards banked 22 points, Gilbertson chimed in with 14 and Good rang up 12 as the Shamrocks pulled away to the 25-point success. Edwards, Good and Gilbertson also combined for 20 rebounds.
 
Bucher added nine points and Long eight for Trinity, which led 31-27 at the half. The Shamrocks also shot 58 percent from the floor at Mennonite.
 
Terry was the lone player to reach double figures, collecting 20 points.
 
Wednesday’s victor will open the PIAA’s Class 3A tournament March 10 against District 12 No. 6 seed Strawberry Mansion. District 3’s runner-up will meet the third seed from District 12, either World Communications or Philadelphia West Catholic.
 
So will Trinity bounce away from Giant Center with a fourth straight District 3 championship or will Lancaster Mennonite play spoiler by avenging a mid-December setback to the Shamrocks? Well, those are two mighty big questions.
 
The answers will arrive Wednesday night.