Trish Erickson, one of the two underclassman starters on the Oil City girls basketball team that reached the state semifinals in 1975, died April 9.

Erickson, 66, was a long-time resident of Port Townsend, Wash., and once served as finance manager for the City of Seattle. She studied economics and physical geography at the universities of Alabama and Oklahoma.

But before that she was an “Oilerette.” That’s what Oil City High School girls athletics teams were called in the 1970s.

Erickson was a 5-7 sophomore forward for coach Dixie (then) Cox’s group that went 23-1, losing only to Elizabeth Forward 56-28 in the state semifinals. The team’s exploits captivated the town and surrounding area as it made its way through the state playoffs.

She was a solid starter for that 1974-75 squad, teaming with Jodi Gault, Peg McDougal, Sue Preston and junior Lynn Petulla in the starting lineup. They were the first local team – after the PIAA state tourney was  expanded in 1972 – to create that “playoff excitement” as they mounted their march, which included what has turned out to be the school’s only District 10 title in girls basketball.

Gault and McDougal were the big stars and the players with the most recognizable names from that team. That’s why some might find it hard to believe that it is Trish who holds the school record for most points in a game – 48 against Titusville on Sept. 28, 1976 – her senior season. This was at the start of the late Rick Fletcher’s coaching career.

Hitting mostly from the corner and adding a few fast break layups, Erickson was 20-for-25 from the floor and eight-for-eight from the foul line.

“I’ve just never seen anybody shoot like that,” Fletcher told The Derrick.  Trish also found time to deliver some pinpoint outlet passes off the break to Deb Harkless, who finished with 15 points in the 85-28 rout.

Erickson’s outburst is also a Venango County record, and that includes the days of the six players to a side basketball played by girls through the 1960s.

And it got her picture in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd.” 

Years later, in 1986, Bridget Hale twice scored 46 points in a game. The first time, McDougal, who was then Oil City’s coach, took Hale out with three minutes to play. Later, she phoned Fletcher only to learn of Erickson’s record – and so it still stands. 

Erickson finished her career with 1,010 points, reaching 1,000 in the midst of her final game – a 38-35 loss to Villa Maria in the District 10 final at Edinboro. She ranks No. 9 on the Oil City girls' all-time scoring list, No. 10 if one counts the points Joan Smith scored at VC.

At the end of the 1976-77 school year, Erickson and wrestler Gary “Pooch” Stralko won the sportsmanship awards.

Arrangements are being handled by Bradley-Kosec Funeral Home & Crematory in Port Townsend, Wash.