Trinity senior McGinnins ready for move to McKendree

River Forest, 01/10/13--Trinity's Shannon McGinnis scores on a fast-break layup. Trinity High School hosted Mother McAuley High School in girls basketball Thursday evening. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 22, 2013 6:54AM

Now that Shannon McGinnis’ basketball career at Trinity is over, coach Eddie Stritzel knows precisely what he’ll remember most about the four-year varsity starter.

“If you looked at her knees midway through the season, you’d see 10 bruises and raspberries all over the place,” Stritzel said. “I explained to our younger kids that this is a player that already has her college paid for but she’s still diving for loose balls.

“That will be my favorite memory of Shannon, that she could have taken it easy but chose to play as hard as she could possibly play.”

McGinnis simply played the game at Trinity the only way she knew how.

“I’ve always been competitive and Coach always said that one loose ball can make the difference in a game,” McGinnis said. “I’ve always tried to go all-out and get the ball whenever I can.”

The McKendree University-bound McGinnis posted several career milestones at Trinity, including 750 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists and 200 steals. But those numbers don’t quantify what she did best for the Blazers.

“She can guard anyone and that has made us a very versatile team,” Stritzel said. “We could have her defending big kids and guards and that caused matchup problems for a lot of teams.”

There’s more to defense than having active feet and being physically tough, although McGinnis has both qualities.

“I’ve always been very confident on defense,” McGinnis said. “I know my strengths and weaknesses and (Stritzel) has been very good about giving me tendencies for whoever I’m guarding. Then I could visualize and anticipate what they were going to do and defend it.

“My feet are always are in motion and I always feel like I’m already moving, so it’s not hard to get that first-step advantage.”

McGinnis averaged eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals this season and, along with Loyola-bound Taylor Nazon and St. Xavier recruit Mikayla Leyden, helped lead the Blazers to a 25-3 season.

Trinity’s season ended unexpectedly Feb. 13 in a regional semifinal loss to Proviso East. Fittingly, in a season when the Blazers constantly faced injuries, Stritzel’s squad was down two starters.

“Rankings are what they are, but we were consistently a top-2 to -5 program with two starters out, and that has a lot to do with Shannon and Taylor,” Stritzel said. “Shannon led by example and was a great captain for us this year. The kids loved to play with her.”

McGinnis will miss playing for Trinity as much as Stritzel and his program will miss her.

“Playing basketball at Trinity has developed me as a player and a person, on and off the court. It has taught me so much,” McGinnis said. “Coach (Stritzel) has been a role model for me and I’ve grown into a better person because I played at Trinity.”~.

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