BOURBON - Sparked by a 22-point first quarter, the Triton girls basketball team defeated the Jimtown Jimmies 56-36.

Melissa Nifong started the scoring onslaught for the Trojans as she scored the first six Triton points of the game.

Betsy Salyer stepped in for the next six Trojan points as Triton took a 12-5 lead halfway through the first quarter.

At the end of the first frame, Triton held a healthy 22-9 lead over Jimtown.

The Jimmies came back in the second quarter to outscore Triton 16-10 behind 10 points from Mindy Pontius.

"We had a sloppy second quarter, but we got back into the game," said Triton coach Mark Heeter. "It was nice to see that we never gave up or let the game get away from us."

At the half, Jimtown had cut Triton's lead to seven, 32-25.

Defense was a key in the third quarter as both teams combined for just 11 points in eight minutes as Triton outscored Jimtown 6-5 to increase its lead to eight.

Heading into the fourth frame, Triton held a 38-30 lead over Jimtown, and the Trojans continued their scoring domination through the quarter.

Salyer and Nifong combined for 15 of 18 Triton's fourth-quarter points as the Trojans held the Jimmies to six points in the final frame.

Brandi Ganshorn sank a three-pointer at the buzzer for the Trojans at the buzzer to give them a 56-36 victory.

Nifong led the Triton scoring squad with 20 points while Salyer added 19 of her own.

Salyer also pulled down 12 rebounds to earn a double-double for the night.

"This was our best game of the year," said Heeter. "We really picked up the intensity in the fourth quarter and finished the game on a strong note."

"To be successful, we need Besty (Salyer) and Missy (Nifong) to put numbers on the board and get help from everyone else."

Triton is now 3-1 overall and 2-4 in the Northern State Conference.

Triton 56, Jimtown 36

Triton 22 10 6 18 - 56

Jimtown 9 16 5 6 - 36

Triton FG FT R A S Pts.

Salyer 9-11 1-1 12 2 2 19

Nifong 9-14 2-2 5 3 3 22

Blackford 2-4 0-1 6 4 1 6

Ganshorn 1-6 0-0 1 3 0 3

Speicher 2-6 0-3 6 5 2 4

A. Feldman 0-2 0-0 2 2 3 0

Roberts 1-1 0-0 2 1 0 2

Bell 0-3 0-0 4 0 0 0

Salisbury 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 24-47 3-7 38 20 11 56

Jimtown FG FT R A S Pts.

Armour 5-18 1-2 3 0 7 13

Pappas 1-2 0-0 1 3 1 2

Lewinski 0-1 2-2 2 2 0 2

Pontius 4-11 0-0 6 0 2 10

Cunningham 3-3 1-2 2 2 2 7

Rhodes 1-2 0-0 2 1 0 2

Groh 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 14-20 4-6 16 8 12 36

Three-point goals -ÊTriton 5-10 (Nifong 2-4, Blackford 2-4, Ganshorn 1-2), Jimtown 4-19 (Pontius 2-7, Armour 2-12). Turnovers -ÊTriton 18, Jimtown 16. Total fouls -ÊTriton 13, Jimtown 16.

JV Score -ÊTriton 34, Jimtown 19

Triton JV leaders -ÊShelly Miller 9 points, Feldman 5 points, Bell 5 points. [[In-content Ad]]