'It just wasn't enough tonight': Alyssa Geiser's late-game heroics fall short vs. Trinity
STRUTHERS — Near escape at every turn.
Waynedale avoided defeat multiple times in the fourth quarter and overtime against Trinity in the Division III Struthers District semifinals — sometimes miraculously.
Eventually, the Golden Bears luck ran out in a 47-39 double-overtime upset, with Trinity ending Waynedale’s district title bid early.
"They played really hard, they extended," Waynedale coach Rick Geiser said of Trinity. "We didn't do our job offensively. Thirty-nine points in a double-overtime game isn't going to win you very many."
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Trinity’s defense shut down Waynedale most of the night, including allowing zero points in the second overtime to pull out a win that almost didn’t happen.
Alyssa Geiser was the main reason for that.
With the Bears unable to score, Geiser took it on her shoulders in the fourth quarter and OT, hitting a college-range 3 off the dribble to tie the game in regulation and coming up with a steal and seamlessly stepping behind the 3-point line for another game-tying shot at the OT buzzer. Multiple shots most high school players will never hit during their careers.
Fellow senior McKenna Baney helped keep the Bears in it during the third quarter when all other offense was coming up empty, scoring five straight points after Trinity built a 26-20 lead to make it a one-point game heading into the fourth. But as much as Geiser and Baney tried, Waynedale needed a little more to escape with a win.
The two seniors scored 21 of Waynedale's 22 second-half points (and 31 of their 39 overall) as the Bears felt the absence of star guard Addesa Miller, who sustained a season-ending injury against Hiland late in the regular season, against a quick group of Trinity guards. Geiser finished with a game-high 19 points before fouling out in the second overtime while Baney had 12.
"They've been through a lot of battles like that and their will to win is very high," coach Geiser said. "Their ability to raise their level, they've just always done that. It just wasn't enough tonight."
Ultimately, Trinity — led by Iniya Charlton’s 18 points — did enough on both ends to gut out a win and advance to Saturday’s district final.
Waynedale’s senior class – Geiser, Baney, Miller, Cheyanne Chupp and Tiana Mast – left as the most accomplished class in program history. And while not all of them were a part of the varsity program all four seasons, they helped build the Bears into a perennial contender in the Wayne County Athletic League and the state, winning back-to-back regional titles in 2021 and 2022 and winning at least 19 games every year.
"We talked about it in the locker room how there was a lot to be proud of," Rick Geiser said. "My seniors — Alyssa, Addesa, McKenna, Cheyanne and Tiana — have invested a lot and have earned the right to all those victories. I'm really proud of them. They were staples of our program and now it's going to be time for the next crew to step up and fill some really big shoes."
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Girls Hoops: Trinity upsets Waynedale in district semis
