They started fast. They were finished quicker.

The girls of Trinity High basketball jumped to a 5-0 edge over top-seeded Winnacunnet. But a pitiless, business-like press from the defending Class L champs gave them a seven-point edge after one quarter.

The deficit swelled to 23 at halftime, and the eighth-seeded Pioneers eventually dropped a 72-41 decision to the Warriors in the Class L quarterfinals at Southern New Hampshire University on Sunday, March 2.

“We got whitewashed, start to finish,” said Trinity’s head coach, Pat Smith. “You know, we prepared for that pressure, but Winnacunnet is so good, it didn’t look that way.”

Natalie Wilson provided the Pioneers with that early edge, hitting two jumpers – one a three-pointer – in the first 70 seconds of the game.

From that point, said Smith, none of his guards handled the Warriors’ in-yourface defense well. The statistics back up that claim: Winnacunnet scored more than half its points – 38 – off turnovers.

Karima Gabriel, Trinity’s 6-foot-2 sophomore center, barely touched the ball in the first half because of the press. She netted seven of her team-high 11 points in the second half. She also grabbed 12 rebounds.

It was the final game for the Pioneers’ departing seniors, Mary Garon and Nikki Howe.

“Today is not the mark of what we did this year,” said Smith. “Our 12-6 (regularseason) record is, and that’s due in large part to (Garon and Howe’s) senior leadership. It’s stuff they did that didn’t always show up in the stats, but we weren’t expected to do much of anything this year. “We had a good win against Exeter (in the preliminary round of the playoffs),” added the Trinity coach, “and they deserve the credit.”

Garon scored five points, collected five rebounds and dished three assists against the Warriors, while Howe hit a field goal for two points and grabbed two boards. Freshman Jasmine Theroux scored seven points, as did Wilson, a junior. Her classmate, Sam Monohon, scored six markers. While Emily Martin hit both of her shots – a field goal and a free throw – for three more.