Triton Overcomes Slow Start, Rallies To Beat Oregon-Davis
January 5, 2023 at 2:24 a.m.
Triton Overcomes Slow Start, Rallies To Beat Oregon-Davis
By Connor McCann-
“If you saw our team in the two weeks before Christmas break, that’s how ugly our first half was,” Triton head coach Kennedy Krull said. “I’m glad they decided to play in the second half.”
With each team not having played since before Christmas, the shaking off of rust dominated the early contest. Turnovers came in bunches and easy shots were left unconverted as both sides struggled to get anything going. Set plays were run, but without the urgency or familiarity one might expect at this point in the season.
“We had some great practices over break so I was kind of surprised to see this team show up. It was a total lack of execution,” Krull said.
One thing that was working for Triton was its dominance on the glass. From the opening tip, Triton was relentless in the rebound department. Most possessions, the Trojans would put up multiple shots on their end of the court while only giving the Bobcats one opportunity at the other end. Leading the charge on the boards was center Addyson Viers, who had a monster night with 17 rebounds.
Also a main focal point of the offense, Viers did not do much shooting of the ball. A lot of the Triton offense came from around the perimeter, where the team did not find much success. Despite the rocky start, the Trojans would take a two-point lead into the second quarter.
It was in the second quarter where things went off the rails for Triton. The team would score the first two points of the period in the opening minute and would not score again in the first half. Mistakes seemed to snowball into bigger and worse miscues, and Oregon-Davis was more than happy to take advantage. The visitors would go on a 10-0 run over the final six minutes of the period, with everything going wrong for Triton. After an ill-advised three attempt from well behind the line, Krull threw her hands up in frustration. With things unraveling fast and the team trailing by six points, the Trojans headed to the locker room searching for answers.
The team seemed to find them as they got back onto the court to begin the third quarter. The team got an early basket and followed it up with another one to exceed their second quarter total. Despite the Bobcats continuing to outhustle the Trojans down the floor at times, the Triton defense did enough to keep Oregon-Davis from extending their lead.
“I basically told them at half time that I was sick and tired of watching them mope around,” Krull said. “They beat us down the court so many times in the first half, and they weren’t necessarily faster than us. They just wanted it more.”
Putting in good minutes all night long was Jocelynn Faulkner, who stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. It was Faulkner’s lockdown defense as well as offensive bursts that allowed Triton to fight back.
“As soon as she realized she could drive to the hoop every time she caught the ball, she did,” Krull said. “She was huge for us tonight, especially down the stretch.”
The home team managed to come back and tie the game up with two minutes to go in the third period and took its first lead since the first quarter just a minute later. In the fourth quarter, Viers began to get the ball in the post more often and was able to convert her opportunities. She’d finish with eleven points. The high-energy turnaround from the Trojans had the Bobcats searching for answers as Triton continued to separate.
With just a few minutes remaining, Kinsey Atkins would come up with two huge back-to-back steals and convert them into layups to get the lead to double digits. Atkins was busy defensively all night long, coming up with five steals while also leading all scorers with 14 points.
“That gave us the momentum we needed and everybody on our team needed to see that from her,” Krull said. “Seeing her teammates rally after those plays was what we needed to finish the job.”
The Trojans will look for their first Hoosier North Athletic Conference victory of the season (0-4) when the team travels to Winamac Tuesday.
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“If you saw our team in the two weeks before Christmas break, that’s how ugly our first half was,” Triton head coach Kennedy Krull said. “I’m glad they decided to play in the second half.”
With each team not having played since before Christmas, the shaking off of rust dominated the early contest. Turnovers came in bunches and easy shots were left unconverted as both sides struggled to get anything going. Set plays were run, but without the urgency or familiarity one might expect at this point in the season.
“We had some great practices over break so I was kind of surprised to see this team show up. It was a total lack of execution,” Krull said.
One thing that was working for Triton was its dominance on the glass. From the opening tip, Triton was relentless in the rebound department. Most possessions, the Trojans would put up multiple shots on their end of the court while only giving the Bobcats one opportunity at the other end. Leading the charge on the boards was center Addyson Viers, who had a monster night with 17 rebounds.
Also a main focal point of the offense, Viers did not do much shooting of the ball. A lot of the Triton offense came from around the perimeter, where the team did not find much success. Despite the rocky start, the Trojans would take a two-point lead into the second quarter.
It was in the second quarter where things went off the rails for Triton. The team would score the first two points of the period in the opening minute and would not score again in the first half. Mistakes seemed to snowball into bigger and worse miscues, and Oregon-Davis was more than happy to take advantage. The visitors would go on a 10-0 run over the final six minutes of the period, with everything going wrong for Triton. After an ill-advised three attempt from well behind the line, Krull threw her hands up in frustration. With things unraveling fast and the team trailing by six points, the Trojans headed to the locker room searching for answers.
The team seemed to find them as they got back onto the court to begin the third quarter. The team got an early basket and followed it up with another one to exceed their second quarter total. Despite the Bobcats continuing to outhustle the Trojans down the floor at times, the Triton defense did enough to keep Oregon-Davis from extending their lead.
“I basically told them at half time that I was sick and tired of watching them mope around,” Krull said. “They beat us down the court so many times in the first half, and they weren’t necessarily faster than us. They just wanted it more.”
Putting in good minutes all night long was Jocelynn Faulkner, who stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. It was Faulkner’s lockdown defense as well as offensive bursts that allowed Triton to fight back.
“As soon as she realized she could drive to the hoop every time she caught the ball, she did,” Krull said. “She was huge for us tonight, especially down the stretch.”
The home team managed to come back and tie the game up with two minutes to go in the third period and took its first lead since the first quarter just a minute later. In the fourth quarter, Viers began to get the ball in the post more often and was able to convert her opportunities. She’d finish with eleven points. The high-energy turnaround from the Trojans had the Bobcats searching for answers as Triton continued to separate.
With just a few minutes remaining, Kinsey Atkins would come up with two huge back-to-back steals and convert them into layups to get the lead to double digits. Atkins was busy defensively all night long, coming up with five steals while also leading all scorers with 14 points.
“That gave us the momentum we needed and everybody on our team needed to see that from her,” Krull said. “Seeing her teammates rally after those plays was what we needed to finish the job.”
The Trojans will look for their first Hoosier North Athletic Conference victory of the season (0-4) when the team travels to Winamac Tuesday.
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