Stamford's Mackenzie Griffin, left, is guarded closely by Trumbull's Joyce Woolen during Saturday's conference quarterfinal.

Photo Credit: Eric Gendron

Trinity Catholic's Ali Palma, center, looks to pass the ball druing Saturday's conference quarterfinal.

Photo Credit: Eric Gendron

STAMFORD, Conn. - The Trinity Catholic girls basketball team from Stamford seemed to have led Saturday's conference quarterfinal game against Trumbull in every category except the one that mattered most - the score. The Crusaders dominated in rebounds and edged the Golden Eagles in turnovers, but Trinity could not get the important shots to fall.

Trumbull kept its hopes of defending its conference championship alive with a 52-46 victory over the Crusaders.

Trumbull went on a 9-0 run from the third into the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. Trinity chipped away at the Golden Eagles lead, pulling to within two points with 55 seconds to play.

The key moment came on the following Trumbull possession when Trinity could not get a foul called to stop the clock and force the Eagles to shoot free throws. Instead, Trumbull head coach Steve Tobistsch called his final timeout. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Alexa Pfohl was wide open under the net and easily netted the layup to ice the game.

Trinity held Trumbull's leading scorer, Victoria Pfohl, without a field goal in the final three quarters. Erin Moore picked up the slack, however, finishing with a team-high 20 points. The Crusaders could not get the shots to fall when they needed them most, missing a trio of three-point attempts late in the game.

Mackenzie Griffin led all scorers with 22 points. Ali Palma was right behind with 19 points. That duo represented almost all of Trinity's offense, as the next highest scorer for the Crusadres finished with only two points.

Trinity will now prepare for the Class M state tournament next week.