Trinity girls basketball rallies in second half to beat Goffstown in D1 playoffs

GOFFSTOWN - After 16 minutes of basketball it looked like a victory for the Goffstown High School girls basketball team was assured, but Colby Guinta wasn’t going to let her career end that way.

Down 15 points at halftime, the Trinity senior took over. Guinta scored 22 of her game-high 26 points in the second half to lead a massive comeback for the Pioneers, and it was her 3-pointer with 16 seconds left that pushed Trinity past the Grizzlies 39-38 in a Division I Round One playoff game.

“She does it all, and it showed,” Trinity coach Natalie Wilson said. “We needed her to hit those big 3s down the stretch and she did it.”

Guinta saved her best for last, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter. Her two 3s, her only 3s of the game, both came in the final 30 seconds to put Trinity over the top.

“Going into the second half, down 15 was definitely tough,” Guinta said. “We haven’t gone to the playoffs before since I’ve been here. I did what I could. They couldn’t stop me in the middle of the paint. We pulled it out.”

While Guinta kept pouring in points, the Trinity defense kept aggravating the Goffstown offense. Trinity forced 24 turnovers by the Grizzlies. By contrast, Trinity only gave the ball away 10 times.

Trinity held Goffstown to 12 points and only four made field goals in the second half.

“Our pressure kind of rattled them,” Wilson said. “That’s what we executed on. Our tenacious defense up top was great. They got steals, read the pass, and were able to execute.”

Trinity lost the rebound battle 38-21 but the massive turnover advantage helped nullify Goffstown’s superiority on the glass.

The Grizzlies’ control of the glass in the first half (23-10 advantage) was key in allowing Goffstown to turn a 5-5 game early into an 18-7 lead after opening eight minutes.

Trinity did close the rebounding deficit in the second half, but Goffstown still held a 15-11 advantage.

“We didn’t do well in the first half with rebounding and that’s what we talked about at halftime: we need to box out and rebound because they’re tall and lengthy,” Wilson said. “That’s what we did in the second half.”

Goffstown’s young core played well but faded late. Sophomore Ava Winterburn had a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds and freshman Maggie Sasso had seven points to go with a pair of steals.

“It’s hard to simulate that kind of pressure or explain pre-playoff what it’s going to feel like,” Goffstown coach Steve Largy said. “I think we dealt with the pressure early and were fine. We’ve seen Bishop Guertin, Hanover, teams that apply pressure constantly, and it didn’t get to us as much as it did (Tuesday) just because I think it was additional playoff pressure you have in the back of your head.”

The win sends Trinity to the preliminary round on Friday, where the Pioneers will play Concord on the road.