Jillian Sidney fights for posession with Trinity's Vitt Emerich.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — On an afternoon when the defense played well enough to get the team a win, the offense belonging to the Hollidaysburg Lady Tigers did not, and it was a matter of you can’t have one thing without the other.

Trinity definitely had the one thing and that was its long-range shooting from point guard Vitt Emerich, and to some degree, Sutton Williamson, as the Lady Hillers ended Hollidaysburg’s season, 39-29.

Emerich scored 17 points in the first three quarters — 15 on 5 3-pointers — and Williamson added 13 points in a game Trinity led the entire second quarter and second half.

“We probably had their whole schedule on film. We knew (Williamson) had the ability to really change a game around. We were not expecting their point guard (Emerich) to come out with that kind of firepower that she did,” Hollidaysburg coach Deana Jubeck said. “We knew she could control the tempo of a game for them … she made some very good shots that allowed them to move on to the next round.”

Trinity coach Bill Poletti said he had a feeling about Emerich earlier this week.

“She shot the ball great for us,” he said. “This week at practice she probably shot the ball better than she did all season for us. You always want that to carry over and you hope it does, and it did.”

Emerich, a junior, hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter as Trinity jumped out to an 8-6 lead after one. Hollidaysburg had two leads in the game, both in the first quarter. Alana Lightner hit the first shot of the game for Hollidaysburg to make it 2-0. Teammate Clare Padamonsky hit a bucket at the 4:13 mark for a 4-3 lead for the Lady Tigers.

After that, Trinity went up with under two minutes to play in the opening frame, and carried that to a 16-12 halftime lead. It was 16-9 until Jillian Sidney hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left for the Lady Tigers. That cut the deficit to four points.

“We have a lot of respect for Hollidaysburg. Their whole team, really, is good. We watched them on film. They are so disciplined on defense,” Poletti said.

Padamonsky hit a bucket at the 6:10 mark of the third quarter to cut the deficit to two points at 16-14, and then Lightner tied it at the 5:39 mark at 16-all. However, in the blink of an eye, Williamson and Emerich took the Lady Hillers on a 7-0 run for a 23-16 lead at the 3:51 mark.

Hollidaysburg was getting shots, and it got to the foul line 17 times, but not everything was falling.

Padamonsky again helped the team cut the lead to four at 24-20 (2:04) and Lightner at 27-24 with 37 seconds left in the frame. However, Emerich drained a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left for a 30-24 advantage heading into the fourth.

“Basketball is a pretty simple game on paper this time of the year,” Jubeck said. “It’s free throws and layups and if you’re not shooting a high percentage from that range, it makes the game more difficult.”

Hollidaysburg cut the lead to 30-26 early in the fourth on a Lightner bucket, but Trinity extended its lead to 37-26 at the 2:35 mark on two Williamson foul shots. The closest the Lady Tigers got was eight points, 37-29, at the 2:20 mark on a Makenna Weimert three-point play.

“No. 13 (Gabby Humphreys) did a great job of protecting the rim for them,” Jubeck said of the Lady Hillers 6-foot-2 sophomore forward. “She made it difficult for us to make shots we’re used to hitting so kudos to them for having her in there and challenging every shot.”

Padamonsky wound up leading the Lady Tigers with 10 points. Lightner and Weimert each added eight points. All three are seniors along with Sidney.

“You hate to lose a first-round playoff game, especially when we had a good opportunity to move through to the second round,”Jubeck said. “These senior leaders carried the weight of this team on their shoulders.”

TRINITY (39): Ki. Behrens 1 3-5 5, Emerich 6 0-0 17, J. Burt 0 0-0 0, Rieg 0 0-0 0, Humphreys 2 0-0 4, Williamson 4 4-6 13, Layhue 0 0-0 0, Ka. Behrens 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 7-11 39.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (29): Lightner 3 2-2 8, Padamonsky 4 2-4 10, Weimert 2 4-9 8, Sidney 1 0-0 3, Steiner 0 0-0 0, Hayer 0 0-0 0. Totals — 10 8-17 29.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Trinity 8 8 14 9 — 39

Hollidaysburg 6 6 12 5 — 29

3-point goals: Trinity 6 (Emerich 5, Williamson); Hollidaysburg 1 (Sidney).

Records: Trinity (22-4), Hollidaysburg (18-7)

Officials: Dan Solomon, Clark Adelman, Bill Musser.