Cocalico soars past Wyomissing in district opener
DENVER- Night’s end found Cocalico sophomore guard Aidan Trynosky cradling a green Tupperware container filled with Hershey Bars, a gift from his mom to him and his teammates.
Because that’s what moms do.
Aidan’s own gift came in the form of a 22-point barrage, including a career-high six 3-pointers, as the Eagles topped Wyomissing 66-41 in a District Three Class AAA first-round game in Denver.
Because that’s what shooters do.
Three of his triples came in a 1:18 span late in the third quarter, when the sixth-seeded Eagles (18-5) took the lead for good en route to a quarterfinal meeting with No. 3 Bishop McDevitt (17-6) Friday at 5 p.m. in the Giant Center in Hershey. (Hence the candy bars.) The Crusaders dispatched Manheim Central, 75-54.
In all Trynosky generated 19 of his points in the second half, including five threes. And Cocalico, sluggish offensively in the first half, shot 13-for-20 from the floor in the final 16 minutes (7-for-10 from the arc) while outscoring the Spartans 45-20.
“If I’m feeling it, I know in my mind I’m going to keep shooting,” Trynosky said, “and I know I can make them.”
Tucker Lescoe added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles, and Moses Ulysse had 14 points and nine boards.
Colin Smith paced No. 11 Wyomissing (17-8) with 18 points, but Jarvay Bolton, who came in averaging a team-high 20 a night, finished with eight. Bolton did not start – coach Toph Miller said he missed a practice because of family obligations – and he fouled out with 1:55 left.
The matter was decided well before that, however.
“They got hot, we got cold,” Miller said after his club shot 34.1 percent, 27.3 percent in the second half. “That’s a scary combination. … They’re a good shooting team. They were a great shooting team tonight.”
Trynosky, who finished 8-for-11 from the floor (including 6-for-7 from the arc), was the ringleader.
“I had seen him in four games,” Miller said. “I hadn’t seen him that assertive in the games I’ve seen. I knew he could play. I knew he could shoot. That was impressive.”
The game was tied at 21-all at halftime, and knotted again at 28 apiece on a basket by Wyomissing’s Ben Croft with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
Lescoe made a free throw, then a foul-line jumper, then another free throw to put his team up four.
And it was at that point that Trynosky detonated, drilling three 3-pointers in as many possessions – the first from the right wing, the second from the left wing, the last from the right wing again – helping stake the Eagles to a 41-34 lead at quarter’s end.
He continued his own personal game of Around the World in the fourth quarter, nailing a triple from the left corner early in the period and another from the top of the circle with 4:38 to play. The latter bomb triggered a game-ending 16-0 flurry on the part of the Eagles.
“I did my job,” Trynosky said, “and just kept going.”
Cocalico coach Travis Wealand, once a fine player at Ephrata, knows something about visiting The Zone, knows what it’s like when the basket seemingly grows in size.
“For any shooter, once you see it go in,” he said, “it starts to build confidence.”
And he had some suspicion his team would find the range after a first half in which the Eagles missed 12 of 18 shots from the floor, including nine of 11 3-point attempts.
“A lot of shots in the first half we normally make, we weren’t making,” he said.
Finally they fell, as did the Spartans. Hershey Bars all around.
Cocalico 66, Wyomissing 41
WYOMISSING (41)
Croft 3 0-0 6, Smith 7 1-3 18, Westwood 0 2-2 2, Larkin 1 3-5 5, Maldonado 0 0-0 0, Bolton 3 2-2 8, Lewis 1 0-1 2, Smychynsky 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-13 44.
COCALICO (66)
Ulysse 4 5-6 14, Lescoe 3 13-16 20, Arcudi 0 0-0 0, Trynosky 8 0-3 22, Fabiani 0 0-0 0, Haines 1 1-2 4, Heck 1 0-0 2, Landis 1 0-0 2, Paiano 1 0-0 2, Fester 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 19-27 66.
Wyomissing 10 11 13 7 – 44
Cocalico 9 12 22 23 – 66
Fouled Out – Westwood, Bolton. 3-Point Goals: W 3 (Smith 3), C 9 (Trynosky 6, Lescoe, Ulysse, Haines).