Gallery: Trinity Catholic tops Father Lopez in girls hoops

Trinity Catholic’s Rose Gravel (15) and Liliana Rosario (35) battle for a loose ball with Father Lopez’ Alana Francis (20) during a basketball game at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

Trinity Catholic junior forward Rose Gravel scored eight of her team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter to pace the Celtics to a 38-30 win over Father Lopez Catholic in girls basketball on Wednesday night.

The loss dropped Father Lopez Catholic (Daytona Beach) to 2-3 on the season, while the win improved Trinity Catholic, which committed 21 turnovers, to 3-1 overall.

“It was a sloppy win,” said Celtics coach Matt Moyer. “We’re young and we’re going to make mistakes but we have to do a better job of handling the ball. I love this group of girls and we have to dig a little deeper, continue to buy in and continue to push each other to get better.”

Wednesday’s contest featured a rematch of last year’s Class 3A-District 3 final which Trinity Catholic won by a score of 65-40.

The Celtics had a number of good looks at the basket in the opening quarter but couldn’t get the ball to fall with any consistency and despite a 3-pointer by senior Micaela Gomez, trailed the Green Wave by a score of 9-8 heading to the second period.

Father Lopez extended its lead as senior guard Madison Kollar knocked down a 3-pointer from the right baseline and scored seven of her game-high 16 points.

Trinity Catholic guard Alessa Washington buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Celtics within 17-15 at the half.

Trinity Catholic came out focused for the third quarter and played great defense forcing Father Lopez into numerous turnovers.

Delaney Baker stole the ball and scored on a layup and Liliana Rosario, who pulled down seven rebounds, converted a pair of free throws and scored on a put-back to give the Celtics a slim 21-20 lead heading to the final eight minutes.

Trinity Catholic went to a full-court press and it paid immediate dividends as back-to-back Father Lopez turnovers were turned into points on a layup by Gravel and a basket by Baker to take a 26-25 lead.

The Green Wave, which committed 19 turnovers, answered as sophomore guard Adelae Fulton drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 28-26 lead with 5:55 left in the game.

Gravel, who had 12 rebounds, went to work inside the paint and scored on a put-back and swished three of four free throw attempts to put the Celtics up 31-30 with 3:03 left to play.

Trinity Catholic pulled down a Father Lopez missed shot and executed its offense to perfection with Baker swishing a 3-pointer from the right baseline to put the Celtics up by four points.

The Green Wave continued to battle but with time running out was forced to foul and Trinity Catholic made its free throws to seal the victory.

The Celtics will have a quick turnaround with a game on Thursday night at Buchholz (Gainesville).

“We got the win and if we ever put four quarters together, there are a lot of teams that are in trouble,” coach Moyer said. “We’ve got a game on Thursday night at Buchholz and we have to handle the pressure better because they’re going to be in our face.”

Trinity Catholic vs. Father Lopez Girls Basketball